Medicine 2018 part 3

[SomersetS]

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

Dear mums could you please help me to chose medical schools for my daughter

Silly question, but why are you choosing medical schools for her?

Rare88 I’d say look at Liverpool, Norwich , Leicester, maybe Hull/York and possibly consider a BMAT option for Brighton, Leeds. There are also a few new medical schools so look at them too . Good luck

And Plymouth.. be strategic and realistic.. then choose he best course suited to how your daughter learns..
www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/
Also mumsnet for 2019 link is
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3269466-Medicine-2019?pg=3

Really good advice is to make a spreadsheet of all the med schools; how GCSE's are scored, what recent UKCAT cut offs have been (there's a good thread on TSR (MEGATHREAD - The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread watch) - sorry I don't know how to post a link ) scroll down to the end and there's stuff about UKCAT cut offs. Look at the course type: CBL, PBL, traditional etc - this can be important regarding your DC's preference in learning, style of interview - would you do better at MMI, panel etc. Some universities have changed selection criteria this year: Bristol and Liverpool (I think) are no longer scoring PS so they have been traditional 'go to' applications for DC with lower UKCAT but likely to now fall into the selection criteria of the other UKCAT med schools. Liverpool scores GCSE As/A the same on their academic selection criteria, most others weight A star/8,9 more than A/7. Beware some use UKCAT after interview too (UEA) Bristol (for applicants on borderline of interview cutoff (75%) last year so ok if you feel your DC would be very confident and score high at interview.
Do sit down with your DC and look at all this with them, all the mums on this thread were fab support for their DC last year (I was a lurker - sorry ). Applying for medicine is a tough process, with everything else that is needed in the application process and nailing those A's at A level, they do welcome our support
Good luck all. Sadly my DD did not get the grades, taking a Gap year and will consider GEM unless life takes her down a different path, they do need huge resilience for this brutal process

Domovoi, was going to suggest the very same link for Rare88, and recently learned how to post a link too.....with the help of a millennial...! 😜

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1043586&page=370

Ah muddlethro...... thanks, I'll ask my DS 😂

Thank you for all the suggestions you gave.

This thread is so useful...DD will be applying for 2020. I know she cannot sit UKCAT until about this time next year ...but I wondered when your DC's started preparation...DD was a bit of a last minute.com with GCSE's but I'm keen to try and nudge her into better habits.

I found this site and just wondered whether there are any others that should be considered.

www.passukcat.com/

Also she has a part time job which she did until GCSE exams started...just wondering whether it is worth carrying on (she can work as much and as little as she wants but when she does work it is all day Saturday (it does deal with general public so has some value)..she does volunteering too.

Oneteen I'd strongly recommend that your DD carries on with the job if she needs/ wants the money and at least quite enjoys the work. It sounds ideal given its flexibility. My eldest DS worked one full day each weekend from Y9 onwards and at his interviews it was clearly thought of favourably (he'd have been in his fourth year of the same job by then) and that was the basis for the people centred questions. He also didn't work term term or volunteer long term at anything like a care home or hospice, which is the more usual thing recommended on MN.

As far as prep for tests goes, DS (who didn't do the UKCAT) bought a book recommended at a July Open Day for the BMAT and started looking at in sometime over the summer but I think not really properly until the September term started again (we were away in the summer and when we were at home he tended to work more at the cafe, not leaving huge swathes of time).

Oneteen, my DS mistakingly heard somewhere that you didn’t need to prep for the UKCAT! He booked himself in to take it, and a couple of weeks before he was due to sit it, he started looking at the sorts of questions he’d be facing (I think he initially looked at the UKCAT website). Needless to say, he got slightly stressed (especially on first attempting AR), so he rebooked his test, paid for “Medify” and practiced a couple of hours a day for about 4 weeks beforehand.
My DS didn’t have a part time job, because he was heavily in to sport. His school also expected him to be available every Saturday, which in the run-up to his finals, was quite tricky, especially with all day cricket matches that sometimes meant travelling miles away from home! It did take a huge chunk out of his revision week, but on the other hand, I think it benefited him. He was able to relax, socialise, and give his brain a chance to recharge away from the academic stuff!!

Thank you goodbyestranger she has been doing the job for nearly 12 months and it is flexible/fairly well paid so I was keen for her to show continuity/commitment too.

Thanks muddlethro...

A word of caution with aptitude tests. Its a bit like 11+. Some will sail through with little or no preparation. Others will pass after masses of preparation. And some will be caught out, partly though taking at face value statements that preparation is not needed. We were told that BMAT was a more predictable test than UKCAT for those from private or grammar schools with good teaching. Which suggests that those with more variable teaching might be wise to check they had covered the basics.

On low UKCAT scores I agree completely with a dispationate look at your DCs strengths and weaknesses. They dont have to be good at everything. Then spreadsheet.

Plymouth Keele and SGUL are obvious. Birmingham Cardiff and perhaps Nottingham (DD was another who got caught out) for those with good GCSEs. Perhaps KCL and Liverpool if the UKCAT is weak but not awful. It might also be worth a look at Belfast (a very high acceptance rate), Dundee and St Andrews. There seems to be lower competition for St A places with clinical in England, as Scottish students dont want to pay fees. And the cut offs for high UKCAT places often seem to yoyo, so it is worth looking back a few years. Its high one year so lots of people are put off, so the next year it is low etc. Look at the 5 new medical schools.

It is often worth looking closely at local medical schools. They really want to train students who will stay in the local area, especially if there is a doctor shortage. And perhaps especially those with an interest in rural medicine etc.

And if all else fails remortgage the house and try Buckingham. Private. Fees are about the same as a good boarding school. But you can apply after results in August and start in January and with four terms a year you finish quicker. (And Buckingham U tops this years student satisfaction tables.)

Good luck. DD was lucky that Bristol did not look at UKCAT. I am so sorry that door is closed.

Which suggests that those with more variable teaching might be wise to check they had covered the basics.

This, and then some. Getting an offer is so tricky, it can feel like the process is over once one is bagged.
Lots of DC's cohort missed offers by narrow margins on one grade, so did not make the final cut into the med schools this year.
Just a couple of short form answers on curve ball questions, answered incorrectly, can be enough to tip the balance.
In the post match analysis, whether the pupil has failed to revise or whether the topic has not been gone over in school adequately, can be hard to ascertain. What I do know, is that due to cuts at his state school there were no BMAT prep classes this year, as were the norm in the past.
But even having the purchased support of a good indy: one hundred per cent experienced teachers/time to get through the new harder spec, is no guarantee. One of the top day schools near us, entered over 20 for medicine this year and fewer than five pupils were successful post exams.
It is a brutal process, mainly to cut down on the huge numbers who apply. In the mix there are graduates with first class degrees, unsuccessful people from previous years and students from the EU.

BMAT prep is not something DS got at his state school Zero - you should consider that a luxury.

Teaching in the grammar school sector can be hugely variable Needmoresleep!

And in the private sector.

My point was really that though there are some brilliant pupils that will sail through anything without prep, and perhaps in spite of patchy teaching, competition for medical school places is such that it is worth making sure that a DC has received the preparation required and be ready to plug any gaps.

DDs school provided great BMAT preparation and sent almost all of its applicants to BMAT schools. A bit more independent preparation was needed for the UKCAT route - as we discovered a bit late.

Yes absolutely in the private sector too - though decidedly less so at the top academic schools. That's possibly the only part of either sector to be almost immune.

@sergeantmajormum I would really urge you to do the spreadsheet and look back through TSR threads to see where the best opportunities are to get interviews with your DD's scores. Also don't just look at the headline UKCAT requirements-.some schools may score at a paper level which maybe an advantage if it's only one paper that let your DD down.

It's obvious but no interview = no offer. Those with no offers often just havent played to their strengths.
Y13 is a stressful year particularly so for med school applicants when they're waiting to see if they get interviews and then waiting to see if they're successful, as well as trying to achieve the grades.
It's hard for DC's (and us mums!) when their non medic friends have lots of offers and they haven't any as the uni decision making process can go on until May!

DD had A* GCSEs, 2900 UKCAT SJT1 and a strong PS with a P/T job and work experience. I wanted her to apply to schools where interview was guaranteed. She did for 3, but loved Nottingham so much she was prepared to take the 'risk' - she had 50 pre PS scoring. She was notified mid-Jan she wouldnt be interviewed. She had already been rejected post interview at another school and was very low. Thankfully she was successful with her other 2 and will be starting at Cardiff in a few weeks. It may not have been her top choice to start with but once she had that offer she became excited about it and now couldn't see herself going anywhere else!
Good luck to you and all the other 2019 med mums.

I meant to say Those with no interviews often just havent played to their strengths.

Most schools don't offer any help with UKCAT or BMAT - there's no funding for it ! Kids need to do the preparation themselves and there's loads of free resources on line. They are both horrible tests but a necessary hurdle to jump to get into Med school.
One word of caution for new applicants - always check with the Unis in the year you are applying as they change their rules often and don't always publicise as well as Bristol have. Wherever they end up they will be happy as they are doing the career they want. So agree that getting the interviews is the important part - and then just be you. No prep needed as they know what they want I think.

Dds’ year at state school (which was a brand new school since much improved but with teething issues,had zero support for med / oxbridge .Due to being a remarkable self motivated bunch the aspiring medics coached / supported each other and were record breaking in terms of places achieved. I think sometimes over coaching is evident and counter productive although knowing the system obviously saves time.This group including dd had part-time jobs and researched entry requirements independently of parents .As far as I am aware none paid for any input. I admit to lurking on here and being reassured that she was on the right track ,however I think having the initiative to do this themselves is part of what made this group successful .Dd had 4 medicine offers including Nottingham ( which she rejected)and is about to start her second year . I am not saying we shouldn’t help but perhaps that those who do it themselves have the aptitude that the various selection procedures pick up.

Thank you all for your input. We have the spreadsheet! Unfortunately many of the schools with lower ukcat requirements are either PBL or geographically not right. We’re starting the conversation about risky applications but I think DD would take a gap year if her approach doesn’t work - they won’t always be told! Fingers crossed the low birth year, Brexit and Jeremy Hunts extra places (perhaps the only good thing he did for the NHS!) will help this year’s bunch. Brutal has come up a lot, think it’s so hard to watch too as a Mum.

I think 1000 is the max number of posts. So I have set up Medicine 2018 part 4. See you over there!