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 :-)

My dd didn't get anything from Oxford either. She seems fine about it, especially as Bristol is her favourite anyway. Her interview was this morning too. All went ok, though it's pretty hard to judge. Fingers crossed.

How do oxford select for interview? Is it mainly on BMAT scores?

Commiserations to those who were hoping/expecting to hear - but looking positive for their other options. We’re up in Sheffield later in the week, Kings next week, and still waiting to hear from Notts and imperial with everything crossed.

Bad luck mimiasovitch good that Oxford wasn't her favourite.

HostessTrolley Oxford selects using a formula which calculates the BMAT score in a particular way, then combines that with contextualised GCSE results. The numbers are literally fed into and emerge from a computer. Then for borderline cases they look to see if there are any special circumstances to put someone over the borderline into the interview category. So yes, overwhelmingly BMAT.

Thanks @goodbyestranger - dd didnt apply to oxford/Cambridge as she preferred the course structures elsewhere, but I was looking at how the stats of people who’ve posted on tsr about having oxbridge interviews seem to vary so widely. My impression was that oxford seemed more bothered about GCSEs than Cambridge, and Cambridge seem to be interviewing people with a very wide range of BMAT scores so probably look at the PS and other aspects. She wanted to go to Cambridge when she was younger but decided not to apply, partly because of he course but I think partly lack of confidence too.

It's a shame that confidence deterred your DD HostessTrolley, although not so much if she positively prefers other courses and places now.

Yes it's quite brutally mathematical at Oxford in terms of shortlisting but once past that stage you have two colleges and usually four interviews in which to answer questions etc, so it's pretty searching/ wide ranging then.

Itsthekissing and mimiasovitch, sorry to hear about Oxford, glad that DCs are able to focus positively on their other choices.

DS got a Cambridge interview today, but the big difference between Oxford and Cambridge is that Oxford shortlist quite brutally - apparently they are only interviewing 425 applicants out of 1792, and will make offers to a high percentage, whereas Cambridge interviews around 75% of home students, but only a third of them will get offers. As you say, it makes it easier for him to feel positive about Sheffield when he has not had a rejection yet.

HostessTrolley you said "we" are going, are you going too? DS is getting the train up on Thursday night and staying all along in a travelodge. I am dreading him over-sleeping and missing the interview! Good luck to your DD.

Hoodiemum Good Luck for St Andrews.

All the best to the other DCs with interviews, looking forward to hearing some good news before too long. I think that in the thread last year there was somebody with an offer before Christmas!

@monkey2001 I’m driving up but will drop her off and go find a warm coffee place nearby. Just for reasons of logistics really, train won’t get her home in time for a party and her car would take about a week to get up there

DD emerged from Sheffield MMI's cautiously chipper. She said the other candidates came across as being impressive which I think freaked her slightly. Birmingham next week. 😕

Tinkobell I think to our kids all the others look older/more confident etc. Mine was saying how they all looked so much older, whereas to my middle aged eyes they were all so young. Cardiff next week, Sheffield the week after that then we're all done. As has been said here, all they need is one offer. After this process the revision necessary for the grades they need seems like the smallest hurdle!

Monkey2001 well done to your DS but just to correct something you say:

Oxford does only interview 425 (or 27%) of its applicants but it's not the case that 'most' get offers. The overall success rate is 10.6%. There are 140 places.

The overall success rate for Cambridge is 19.2%. There are about a hundred more places available at Cambridge than at Oxford.

Very good luck to your DS though!

Very best of luck @mimiasovitch! About an hour post MMI she was absolutely zonked out post-adrenaline rush, so we enjoyed a blissfully quiet trip home 😁

@goodbyestranger - I just meant that a higher percentage of interviewees get offers at Oxford. With the increased numbers, Oxford have 200 places this year, including 186 home. Given that not all students will get the grades, I expect they make around 215 offers, so the people with an interview have around a 50% chance of success.

For 2018 entry, 1,474 students applied to Cambridge. Assuming they interviewed the general 75%, that would be around 1,100 interviews and they made 305 offers, so just under 28% convert to offers compared to 50% at Oxford.

So Oxford has a much lower success rate overall, but once you have an interview, it has a higher conversion rate from interview to offer.

Oxford have 155 places and are interviewing 425.

Oh I thought it (used to be) 140 actual places (as opposed to offers).

Monkey where did you get the info that Oxford has increased its numbers by such a huge margin? That's interesting, but I'm surprised they can expand by so much. Anyhow, by definition the figures I gave are historic (well, last year) but if it's correct that the course has expanded dramatically then I don't think you can make any assumptions about numbers interviewed this year or offers made, because it's new territory.

Also, one would expect Cambridge to increase proportionately too, if this is government led.

Anyhow, it's fair to say that at least until this year a far smaller proportion of applicants were successful at Oxford and yes, once at interview there might have been a higher % given offers but then - this is the age old issue with uni statistics - the standard of those interviewing was arguably higher.

(Apologies! The other thread has got me delving into numbers too much!)

As I said before, very best of luck to young Monkey :)

My figures were from the HEFCE website:

2017/18 target intake = 170 home + 14 overseas
Additional allocation from the 2,000 new places = 16

Strange that there are so many different figures floating around!

<a class="break-all" href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180319123435/www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/healthcare/intake/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180319123435/www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/healthcare/intake/

<a class="break-all" href="https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180319115442/www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/healthcare/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180319115442/www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/healthcare/

Sheffield interviewees whilst we are on stats, the Sheffield ones are very encouraging.

7 applications for each place (something over 2,000)
288 home places (around 18 overseas)
Around 1,300 interviews, of which around 1,150 are home applicants.
800 offers

Assuming offers are in the same ratio as places, that is 750 offers for 1,150 interviewees, so a 65% conversion from interview to offer. So Tinkobell your DD it was fine if the majority of the people she met were impressive, they probably thought she was too!

Good luck to all - yes they may have their favourites but all you need is one offer and then to get the grades - there is no real hierarchy in which medical school you go to . Mrs school is med school .

Typo med school is med school .

Lots of different figures Monkey!

If you look at each of the Oxford and Cambridge official Admissions Statistical Reports it shows a three year average (2015 -17) of 140 places for Oxford and 257 for Cambridge (2017). (I'm quite enjoying my foray into statistics but not enough to go further and see if those numbers include or exclude successful overseas applicants (I think the numbers are tiny in any event)).

As you say - odd, but I'd tend to believe the official statistics from Oxford and Cambridge. An extra 16 for Oxford and 21 for Cambridge sounds realistic though. That would put the places available up to 155 ish for Oxford and 280 ish for Cambridge.

And I agree that Sheffield numbers look comforting!

bengalcat with the rider that you need to be in a place you enjoy living in for five to six years.

Goodbye stranger - yes although clinical attachment geographical areas can be widespread but applicants should be aware of that before they apply

I read somewhere that imperial interview 850/900 and make about 600 offers - if that’s true, that’s another encouraging one

For some schools that's presumably true bengalcat. DS spent very little time away from Oxford. I think he had a few weeks in Reading but always had a tutorial on Fridays for that placement so only had to stay three nights a week in hospital accommodation, the rest of the time he was back in Oxford. Most of his teaching was at the JR. Essentially it was six years in Oxford.

@Tinkobell, DS is stressing about what to wear because Sheffield website is not explicit enough for him(!) School does not have uniform so he lives in jeans, T-shirt and hoodie.

Did you happen to notice what boys were wearing? We have got a dark blue blazer from TKMax (Black Friday bargain!) and he thought smart black trousers and collared shirt but no tie. His objective is to blend in - he does not like to stand out from the crowd visually. Thanks!

We've been having clothes stress here, too. Can't help on boy stuff, I'm afraid, Monkey, but the verdict here is that my more-than-20-year-old dark blue jacket is perfect with her three-quarter length suit-fabric trousers and a traditional cotton collared shirt. And she bought some shoes that weren't trainers and had no massive holes, after much persuasion. In current weather conditions, wellies might have been a better decision though...