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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Medicine 2019

999 replies

kaykay72 · 05/06/2018 16:32

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 :-)

OP posts:
hoodiemum · 15/11/2018 23:18

Nightowl: On the deferred entry thing, I know that Manchester is ok with deferring, and many other unis. Others e.g. St Andrew's say it's not an option. It's possible to ask to defer after you get an offer, but the uni might say no, obviously. Emailing them before interviews/offer decisions to ask to defer would probably be better. And it's OK to apply for deferred for some unis and not for others.
However, as others say, your DD may feel much more positive about it all once she has an interview in the diary. It's such an exhausting term at the best of times, this one, even without the uni and exam stress.

mumsneedwine · 16/11/2018 06:44

Nottingham ask if you want to defer once you've got an offer ! Or they did this year

Nightowlpossibly · 16/11/2018 12:09

Can anyone confirm that you can still add a 5th choice on UCAS up until january. Everything I have read suggests that you can, but DD says her head of year has told her differently. I am not sure this is correct.

Monkey2001 · 16/11/2018 13:06

Yes, you can add until 15th Jan. What ypu can't do is change a choice more than a week after it is submitted.

Needmoresleep · 16/11/2018 23:00

Nightowl,

DD has just started her second year. Be reassured. Medical school is nothing like as tough as Yr13, which was awful, made worse by the fact that DD did not get an offer till late March, by which time with mocks, coursework etc, she was totally drained.

Her offer was from a med school which had clearly stated they did not allow deferrals. She wrote, acknowledging this, but explained why she hoped they might make an exception. There was a bit of a calculation as it was about the time they knew how many acceptances they had, so we hoped they had too many, so might actually welcome her request. They replied by return, agreeing.

DD had a brilliant gap year and arrived with her head in a much better place. It does no harm at all to be a year older with a proper break between school and University.

Good luck to your daughter.

Monkey2001 · 16/11/2018 23:35

@hoodiemum has DD seen the posts on TSR about St Andrews interviews last year - sounds like they were a bit "different" - see www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4874330&page=53 post 1045

hoodiemum · 17/11/2018 10:37

@Monkey2001 That link is SO useful. Thank you! (Glad it's her not me having to go through all that...)

HostessTrolley · 19/11/2018 16:18

Kings interview received today after a difficult weekend with family stuff. Hope you’re all well x

4catsham · 19/11/2018 16:39

Delighted to hear about Kings interview Hostess,hope you are doing ok.

Monkey2001 · 19/11/2018 16:52

@HostessTrolley sorry to hear that you had a bad weekend, but lovely timing for another interview to come through. Is the timing OK with Sheffield? There are people who have ended up with 2 on the same day.

2 down, 2 to go!

HostessTrolley · 19/11/2018 17:11

@monkey2001 - waiting for a date but according to tsr that’s normal for kings. The last two batches discussed on tsr were on consecutive Wednesdays, if that continued, it would be the weds after Sheffield. Not expecting to hear from the other two just yet, Notts rank on academics, make a cut, then read and score PS, add it on, rank again, then invite from there. The other choice is a BMAT one.

Nightowlpossibly · 19/11/2018 21:54

Kings interview received today!

Hopefully will give DD a boost, and make her feel positive again.

Monkey2001 · 19/11/2018 23:37

Great news Nightowl

HostessTrolley · 20/11/2018 00:00

Yay @nightowlpossibly 😊

BettyFilous · 20/11/2018 00:09

.

mamamedic · 20/11/2018 00:24

Please may I join you? I have posted before in Med School threads as we seem to have been going through this forever!

DD had 3 offers last year (Birmingham, UEA and Southampton) but missed her grade in IB Chemistry. By a mile! Much despair!
She was offered Biomed in Clearing but decided that it really was Medicine, and Birmingham, that she wanted and it deserved another go.
So as it was an IB resit she was able to resit in November and has worked incredibly hard this time (boyfriend gone off to uni which might have helped in this regard!) She now has to wait for results in early Jan.
She improved on her UKCAT score from 703 to 730 average. Band 2 to Band 1.
She already has 3 interviews at Birmingham, Sheffield and HYMS. Awaiting UEA. This time last year she had none!
She's kept up abit of work experience, with a homeless charity and is planning to take off to Australia for 6 months in Feb - as soon as all interviews done.
Although we had some rough days back in the summer and she was distraught when all her mates took off to uni without her, I really think this setback will be the making of her. And she'll be a very different girl by Sept next year, should she get in.
Have really enjoyed reading about all your DCs, really good luck to them all. X

Tinkobell · 20/11/2018 09:43

@mamamedic......what a story for your DD, i can't help but be hugely impressed by her personal resolve and hopefully that will come out in interviews during the next few weeks and come good for her. Fingers crossed. We have no plan B either - it's this or reapply next year, which we are sincerely hoping won't happen and DH and I are old and feeling knackered enough and feel we need the kids to move on and move out asap. We've got the MMI roadshow next couple of weeks - Sheffield and Birmingham. We are hoping for Notts too but maybe in Jan which we are told can be a tough one!

hoodiemum · 20/11/2018 10:33

Hi Mamamedic, Well done to your DD for persevering - and good luck for the January results. That 6 in IB Chemistry is going to be a challenge for my DD too, but it's really encouraging that there are plenty of good places happy to consider retake applicants. We may be in exactly your shoes this time next year!

hoodiemum · 20/11/2018 10:37

Big congrats to the Kings interview kids.

4catsham · 20/11/2018 10:46

Wow Mamamedic what an amazing and resilient D you have the whole process of med school application is tough ,doing it all over again shows such resove and courage .I am thinking she will shine at her intetviees and fingers etc crossed all goes well with her resits!Identifying very much with the old and knackered here Tinkobell as in bed ill this week,timing not great but when is it ever good to be ill ???!!missed my D s trip to Leicester on Sat but got lots of enthused info on her return ..she really liked it, so renewed positivity now for Interview.

Tinkobell · 20/11/2018 14:14

@4catsham....yes I've heard very good things about Leicester, it's not on DD's list but a girl last year got in there and is delighted.
@medicmamma....UAE is a brill choice. We thought their pbl course was very thoughtfully devised and stood out from the crowd. The lecturer that runs the dissection sessions, Paul, was 👌. They might not have the big name kudos of some of the RG unis but, their grads are highly employable, they want you to succeed there...DD loved it.

mumno11 · 21/11/2018 06:51

Great news @Nightowlpossibly . So pleased for you and dd.
Welcome @mamamedic - really inspiring for all of us and our dc. All the best.
Fingers crossed for the bmat results this week.

Tinkobell · 21/11/2018 09:10

@Nightowlpossibly.....many congrats. DD Has now gone oddly quiet over interviews after the initial elation. First one, Sheffield, is also her favourite....so mixed feelings on that.

Monkey2001 · 21/11/2018 09:20

People on TSR are saying that the 8universities get BMAT results today - is that right? I asked at the Leeds open day and I am sure they said it is only the A level results they get early.

Also, I would be really interested to get some data on correlation of UKCAT/BMAT with GCSE maths. This is because a lot of potential medics on TSR with GCSEs which are weak for medicine ask for advice and the standard advice is that you have to smash the UKCAT/BMAT. It seems to me that it would be very difficult to excel in those tests if you do not have strong numeracy, but it would be helpful to know whether that is supported by data.

Would you be willing to share UKCAT score and GCSE maths result so I can test my theory? I am particularly interested in whether anyone managed to get a top 20% UKCAT score without an A/A* or 7/8/9 at GCSE.

mimiasovitch · 21/11/2018 10:41

Monkey not sure this will help, but my dd has A* for both maths exams, and 750 UKCat

Does anyone know how long it's likely to take after BMat results to hear from Oxford. I'm not sure it'll be dd's preference anyway, but the waiting is a killer. She thinks Bristol is her favourite, and that's her first interview. I think she'd have preferred a warm up elsewhere, but such is life.