Medicine 2019

[kaykay72]

Hi,

Does anyone here have a DC applying for medicine to start in 2019? It would be nice to meet others as we embark on uni visits, predicted grades, UKCAT etc

We’re in Kent, d is planning to visit kings, UCL, Nottingham, Sheffield and Newcastle at the moment. She really wanted to go look at Belfast but they want three A’s plus an A at AS level but won’t accept her additional qualification in place of this (despite it having a higher UCAS tarriff). We went to an open afternoon at BSMS which she liked more than she thought she would, so is pondering the BMAT.

I have two older kids (well, adults now), one of whom has just finished his masters, the other just completed his first year elsewhere, but medical applications are just so complicated in comparison to their experiences at this stage.

Hope to hear from others in the same boat :-)

Hi all, we won't be applying this year but had a question on contextual offers for those who might know - if ds was to apply for eg Bristol, we are on their widening participation list for both school and area - would he still only be selected for an interview based on AAA predicted grades and high UKCAT- and then any offer 'contextualised' - or does the context come into the process earlier on?!

Pumpkin, the selection by UKCAT is new for Bristol, so you will probably need to ask their Admissions people. But surely they would not expect predictions above what they are going to ask for.

Sheffield has a lower cut-off for their widening participation scheme (2470 compared to general cut- off of 2,630 this year). As ever they lead the way in transparency in explaining how it works - google "Realising Opportunities Sheffield Medicine" for info of how it works there. RO includes several med schools.

Pumpkin, it depends on the school but most do it on a lower A levels grades offer, usually AAB or ABB some will still want the A in chemistry. I do remember one website that was given all contextual offers but it was a bit out of date so better to go on individual school website.

Manchester considers 30% of its applicants for interview with lower ukcat based on an holistic review of the applications so this is a good one to look into with contextual circumstances.

Pumpkin - This might be the website swingofthings was referring to - www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2357/msc-entry-requirements-for-uk-medical-schools.pdf

...... but that is not great on the detail of process, it is more about eligibility.

Leicester interview offers ...Ds just got email after 4pm, sooooo pleased, it all seems a bit surreal after all the hurdles over the past few months

Warm congrats for your DC @4catsham!

Thanks Tinkobell...and congrats to your D for Sheffield interview, hope there will be some positive emails coming thru for all in the days and weeks ahead..have been keeping in mind "no news is good news" since we heard med schools had received UKCAT scores, feels likes such a tough process for all our Ds this year and somewhere in the middle of it all just remember we must look after ourselves too.

Daughter screamed this morning on way out of the house. As we currently have a major rat problem I screamed too and looked for the nearest chair to escape to. Turned out the scream was because of interview offer from Bristol. Choice of late Nov or late Jan.

Congrats to your DC too, 4catsham!

hoodiemum that made me laugh! We have had rat problems in the past, but have a dog now and she would love to do some rodent control! Congrats to your DD, Bristol is a great city - I did my degree there and now, like more than half my university friends, live here. I think it says a lot for a city if grads don't want to leave.

Congrats to 4cats DS too.

Still waiting for Sheffield - we know it is coming, but I am a lot less patient than DS!

Thanks, Monkey. Yes, Bristol has a lot going for it, and is current favourite. But they seem to interview 4 people for every place so we're not counting any chickens just yet. At least she has until Jan to prepare for this one (although it may be bang in the middle of mocks, which would be interesting!)

Can't be more than a couple more days of waiting for Sheffield...

Congratulations to all who’ve heard about interviews. My D is driving me nuts, she meets all the criteria for Sheffield but hasn’t yet heard, kings interviews have started trickling out but nothing yet, her other choices will be later anyway.

When she’s not home she texts me to tell me she’s stressed 😂🙄

HostessTrolley, same as us except laid back son more rational than me. Sheffield tend to out-perform their targets, so will definitely hear by Friday. Maybe today.....

Well done to all the Dc's with interviews so far - its horrible when you know you have met the interview criteria but are still waiting for the invite ... I'm not looking forward to a years time in fact I think I'm already thinking Yr12 is flying by...

DS's has now arrived. Not the most convenient time as it is 11:00 which means an overnight stay as the early train does not leave enough margin, but DS excited.

In an extraordinary extension to transparency, they have sent a full list of the questions they will be asked at each station. Makes it much less daunting than it might have been!

Great news monkey 2001 and hoodiemum too,thanks esp for that lovely picture just glad it wasnt a rat! hostesstrolley it's so nice to hear your D s talkin to you..its such a stressful time for all our prospective med students,they all deal with it differently,my D often seems to keep it all bottled but eventually it all comes out!this waiting is a tough one now that interviews are coming thru but lots of time yet.

@Monkey2011 - there were quite a few posts about Sheffield (the questions etc ) on TSR which Julian responded too....great to see such transparency making it hopefully a little less stressful. Well done to your DS.

Reading this brings back memories of last year! The waiting to hear about interviews and then outcomes is so stressful, not to mention the actual A level results! Pace yourselves and try to find other things to think about too!

Well done to all those who have heard about interviews so far!

Congratulations to your Ds- monkey2001. When is his interview? We are still waiting!

30th Nov. Won't be long for you now, but I totally understand that until you have the e-mail, it does not feel safe even though you KNOW it is coming!

Congrats to your ds @monkey2001 - and hang on in there @medicmom - hopefully we’ll hear something soon 😊

This week is Sheffield stress, next week is BMAT stress (she’s pretty sure she buggered it up), then there’s the stress about the other unis, then hopefully interview stress - I think I’m getting the hang of how this year is going to be. Maybe need to increase the wine budget 🤔

Thanks monkey2001. 3 more days to go.

@ hostess- it's deep breathing in the day and wine later on!

HostessTrolley they nearly all think they buggered up the BMAT! It is a very odd exam as nobody has time to finish it, so with no negative marking, if you are lucky with your "go to" guess (D for DS) you can get that extra 2 or 3 marks which raises you to the good scores. As a little over 50% is a good score, those lucky guesses make too much difference. I think they should have negative marking but allow 50% more time so they are able to answer to the best of their knowledge.

I wish DS had been able to do the September BMAT.

Advice to Y12 mums If DC is considering BMAT university (other than Oxford), keep 1st Sep holiday-free so DC can do early one and get BMAT results before applications go in. DS has applied to Downing, Cambridge and they weight BMAT quite heavily so, if he does not get at least 5.2 average for first 2 sections, that is the end of the Camb dream. If you know you have lower marks you can apply to a college or other university which does not weight BMAT so highly.