Medicine 2018 part 3

[SomersetS]

Hope you all find this - didn't realise I took 999! Whoops.

[mumsneedwine]

Specialted could you ask your DD how long it took for her to access the accommodation portal. My DD firmed on Thursday and got email today confirming but still won't let her register to apply for accommodation. Is it just their UCAS number they need ? Unfortunately Uni closed until Tuesday and DD bit frustrated she can't just sort it and then put it away until results day. Thanks so much - she's had some conflicting advice from on line chat thing.

[mumsneedwine]

Don't worry - all working now. Not many options left for en suites but she did get to put some down so fingers crossed. All v exciting (& expensive). Happy Easter

[bluehaze]

Hi All, thanks for this thread, wish I'd found it months ago! Just wondering if anyone knows more about Bristol?

My DD is STILL waiting to hear from Bristol, but she does have an offer from UCL (AAA), which will be her top choice.BUT its been so long waiting to hear from Bristol - I think the interview might have been in November - DD thinks she's definitely going to be rejected and wants to go for UCL as first choice and her 5th choice offer as her back up (Biochemistry at Bristol).
I think she should wait to hear from Bristol in case they give her an offer and if they do it might be lower than AAA. Then she''' have a medicine back up plan. She disagrees and thinks theres no chance now that she'll get an offer and says they never make lower offers. And she wants to get on with accommodation choices etc. Does anyone know if she's right? or have any advice?
thanks ladies, and congratulations to everyone who has got through the process so far!!

[mumsneedwine]

Hi bluehaze. Bristol will continue to give out offers until the end of April and possibly later - they are always late. Unless UCL offer accommodation in a first come basis (like Nottingham) then the only harm in waiting is the stress it causes. But their normal offer is AAA so a good insurance to have ! There is no easy answer as waiting is hard - my own DD is more motivated now she finally decided where she wants to go.

[Needmoresleep]

She should wait. The first standard offer is AAA, and their contextual one, given to pupils of the 40% lowest performing sixth forms (quite a lot!) is AAC. Last year they appear to have been quite generous with dropped grades.

It is quite a different course to UCL.

[specialted]

mumsneedwine, sorry just picked up your question, glad DD got it sorted. Had been attempting a device free weekend! Fingers crossed they will hear soon about accommodation, would be nice to hear before offer day in april so DD can check it out for themselves!

[mumsneedwine]

Thanks specialted. Wasn't much left so glad DD decided to firm. Have a lovely Easter - be so lovely if they were near each other and became friends 😁😁. Fingers crossed might get to meet you in a sunny day in September in the field that is Nottingham Uni.

[specialted]

Mumsneedwine, that would be lovely!

[swingofthings]

bluehaze, she should definitely wait. It's difficult to know whether schools are likely accept lower offers. We know they did last year but who knows this year. If she had an offer, it would be a pity to miss out if she had 3 As, rejected from UCL but accepted at Bristol.

How is everyone getting on with accommodation? I didn't appreciate how big Manchester Uni was and how much choice of accommodation there was. DD and I are feeling very unsure as what best to choose, catering vs self-catering, en-suite vs not. Catering is not much more expensive, only a few more £££ a week, but it doesn't appeal to DD that much. The difference between en suite and nothing is massive though, £1,600 more a year. Initially, DD was adamant she wanted en-suite but now starting to wonder whether using communal showers is really that bad. Then there are more amenities but tiny room vs small halls but larger rooms. Arggg, it feels like having to go through picking schools again!

Any advice?

[adrinkofwater]

Well done to everyone who's DC's have firmed their uni's! We are going to 2 more offer holders days during the Easter holidays and then DD will decide.... hopefully without too much trauma

Accommodation sounds tricky, swing. At the moment DD is keen to save money and not have ensuite. But in the end it all seems a bit of a lottery - you spend ages picking several choices and could be allocated any of them. Good luck with choosing. Hope you find someone who knows some Manchester specifics!

[swingofthings]

Good luck with the offer holders day adrinkofwater? Which one are they?

DD got a lot of good info at the offer holder days about accommodation, but it's still hard as in the end, it's very much up to them whether they want to spend more/less, busy hall, quiet one
etc...I think DD is starting to accept that spending £1,600 for 41 weeks for a shower in her room is indeed a bit of a luxury.

It's hard to find the right balance between supporting them reasonably so they have a good experience, but also allowing them to learn the reality of supporting themselves and the compromises that have to be made.

[adrinkofwater]

We are going to Bristol on Wednesday and Leicester at the end of the holidays. Had Cardiff at couple of weeks ago.

The students we have spoken to who share bathrooms all seem to think it's fine. £1600 does seem a lot of money - but then everything to do with university seems to be a lot of money! Hope you can both work out what's the best for her.

[Movingmountains]

Swing I have pm’d you about Manchester accommodation.
We are now looking at Sheffield accommodation choices - most of it seems to be very expensive ensuite. DS not bothered about ensuite especially as DS1 told him that they are a problem when you have flat parties as with no communal toilets the partygoers have to use the ensuites his friend had someone throw up all over his room when they went to use the ensuite!!!

[booface]

bluehaze, Hi, Bristol offers are coming out... my son was lucky enough to get one on Thursday. AAA. So worth waiting if she does like that uni. I suspect what is happening is there is a waiting list going on and as someone rejects them, they are offering, just a guess though.

My son is pretty much sure he is going to firm Edinburgh. But could I just check if anyone knows about the new course at Bristol. There isn't much on the website. It looks like a high percent of independent study, so v different to other schools which are a high lecture content. I think there was a member on here who's daughter was in the first year.

The extra fee for an ensuite in catered at E'boro seems to be about £1500 too. Seems a lot, but the blocks are a bit newer and nicer, so weighing that up!

The studying seems to have gone out of the window over the holidays, so hoping there is a revision plan in there somewhere!!

[watfordmummy]

Think DS is going to firm St Andrews as he like the fact he'd do 3 years and then move back to England for the next part, so he wouldn't be anywhere for 6 years.

He's revising between working out at the gym, past papers seem to be getting a hammering at the moment. Love him x

[specialted]

Well done to DS booface on Bristol!
Re accommodation, good tip about the ensuite and entertaining!! DD not too concerned about ensuite, she put in for shared bathroom (with one other) or single study. Think
She'd rather spend the money she'd save on socialising! Plus I did point out that she wouldn't have an ensuite in a shared house the year after so she may as well get used to it!

[2B1Gmum]

Deferred entry means no lack of urgency here in deciding which to firm and/or accommodation. UEA and Hull both seem to offer self catered only, which works for DD as she is Coeliac and finds it easier to cater for herself. In her gap year she will be doing a lot more cooking though in readiness - smoothie maker bought today as a little bribe to aid revision. She started Easter with clubbing until 3 am with a few friends...... back to normal ish hours now!
Good luck with the decision making and I would be interested to hear if anyone is going to Liverpool offer holders?

[mumsneedwine]

DD v reluctantly turned Liverpool down which she said felt v sad about as really liked it. But liked others bit more. I'm a bit regretful as fell in love with the city and the people.
DD requested either an en suite or a shared bathroom but Notts rooms were so big she's not too bothered which. She never wanted catered but changed her mind after meeting one of the Hall 'mums' at open day who was so lovely. She thought it would be easier to make friends in a flat but think she's hoping the common rooms in halls will be fun. Sheffield accommodation she said was the best and so modern.
And she crawled in on Sunday morning after night out in London at Ice Bar & club. Think she's just got up 😳

[specialted]

Mumsneedwine have pm'd you about accommodation etc

[Needmoresleep]

Booface, DD is at Bristol. She deferred late so ended up, effectively, on a different course to the one she had initially chosen.

Not perfect as she is quite academic and also dyslexic, so might be better off with a more traditonal setup. But she seems happy enough, and liked going on a GP placement in her first week, and then spending quite a lot of time on wards as an HCA. In practice I understand the exams, and therefore assessment, are based on what they are taught. As a dyslexic she particularly likes the fact that lectures are recorded so she can watch again.

I honestly dont know. Others will probably come along and say that a strong science base is crucial if you want to compete for the more specialist posts, and that the Oxford approach is to be preferred. Apparently the logic is that early patient contact helps a student understand why you are learning something, and that in the modern world, communication (with patients, and with information resources on the internet) are crucial skills.

Lovely city, some good placements, lots of intercalation options either in Bristol or elsewhere.

In terms of accomodation, as well as catered/non catered, and ensuites, I would factor in travel to the medical faculty (DD has 4x 9.00am starts, one a remote village which takes her 90 minutes to get to) and how they select who shares with who. If you look at The Student Room, which often has accomodation threads, sociable can mean partying, particularly at places like Bristol and Manchester. DD thought she was sociable so avoided the hall favoured by scientists, only to discover that she had no interest in clubbing till 4.00am several nights a week, and indeed was not too keen on the same clubbers waking her at 4.30am several nights a week. She has now swapped flats (apparently the majority her new flat, "encouraged" their clubber to move) and it is fine, and next year she will be sharing with people whose idea of sociable is sport, drama etc. Oddly they are currently in the "boring" hall. I guess it depends how you define boring. It is still worth being realistic and accepting that the course is pretty full on, and no matter how lovely as person is, if they are on a course that allows them to be nocternal, sharing with them probably wont be much fun.

Also depending on University "quiet" can also mean single sex, so perhaps a different experience. I think the biggest problem is that students start expecting everything to be brilliant from the word go. Instead everything, course, flatsmates, everything is new. You have to get to grips with the course, find your people, work out your study approach and so on. I think it has taken DD till easter. It may be useful to think through expectations and adjust to ensure they are realistic. That said it is a five year course and DD is confident she has made the right decision.

[SomersetS]

2B1G think we will go to Liverpool offer holders. Almost definitely "Insure" choice. Leicester wins.
Not going to Sheffield or York.
All the same grades.
DD off on Gold DofE tomorrow for 4 days so I'm going to make the cost v space analysis of halls though she liked nearly all we saw at Leic.
DD adamant she wants ensuite. I'm surprised because she's usually quite cautious with money but says after a day looking at who knows what blood & germs she says she'd like her own shower.

[Movingmountains]

I don’t think we are going to go to Liverpool offer holders day. Think it will be the insurance. DS says as he went recently for interview he doesn’t feel the need to go again and it is a long way. He says that what has swung in favour of Sheffield is the friendliness of everyone he met at each stage - open day, interviews and offer holders day. I think the fact they held interviews in an actual hospital helped. I wonder do medical schools consider these things as it was the interview which put DS off Bristol?

[booface]

Hi needmoresleep. Many thanks for that very detailed information on Bristol and also on housing in general. Both areas very useful. I hadn't thought about the sociable meaning party central... My DS likes to party with the best of them, but realistically, with early starts, etc, he will need to get his head down at a vaguely sensible time. He thinks he'll go with a room in a catered hall so that at least for the first year, food is pretty much taken care of.

Edinburgh is currently the favourite. But Bristol a close second as he really loved the city etc, so it was good to hear about the course first hand as it were via your DS. I hope she continues to really enjoy her time there.

[Movingmountains]

Decision made - Sheffield firmed and Liverpool insured. Bristol declined. DS now excitedly looking at accommodation choices and allowing himself to believe it might actually happen! Funnily enough we realised (as we were on holiday) it is exactly a year since we drew up the initial shortlist of medical schools we would visit for open days! What a year it’s been - fingers crossed for the final hurdle now 🤞

[2B1Gmum]

Exciting to hear about decisions being made, DD still seems to have no sense of urgency and doesn't want me asking her about it, or about organic Chemistry! As her choices are all for AAA I don't think she will put an insurance as I am not sure it would have any benefit, am I wrong? She didn't apply for a fifth option as she has a planned gap year, if all went wrong she has time to rethink at that stage.
Somerset let me know how Liverpool goes, even though I am 90% certain she will not choose it. Funny how things change, it was the first one she looked at, the first we visited and I thought the admissions lady was really positive and helpful, as were the students we chatted to - one had 3 offers HYMS, BSMS and Liverpool and chose Liverpool - at the time I didn't know to ask why?