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 :-)

ProfessorLayton - getting to London before 9:30 is very expensive. You will often find that going the night before and paying for a hotel costs less. Bristol is particularly ridiculous - peak fare to London is over £200 (return). If you are going peak, coming back off peak, it is better to get singles. It is a lot cheaper to fly to Edinburgh!

And students often use the coach. The good thing about London is that there are direct coaches to just about everywhere, and they are cheap.

Sorry to look like I am only posting to spread DDs good news (I read your posts every night in bed!) but she has a very precious offer from Birmingham! Again! She had one last year and missed her Chemistry grade BY A MILE. Although Birmingham say they won't consider resits, it's the only place she's ever really wanted to go and so she begged, offered them her first born child etc etc. Retook IB Chemistry in November, got the grade she needed and now an offer. Feel a bit weepy as it's been a v tough 6 months and she's shown resilience I never thought she was capable of. Waving off her mates to uni while she studied Yr 13 Chemistry was rough. She leaves for Australia in a fortnight to complete a gap year she never wanted! Im sitting in Volvo main dealer having break pads done so nobody here to share with. I shall continue to enjoy reading all your news of interviews and offers. X

Well done and congratulations mamamedic.

Congratulations to your Dd.. really pleased for her !

Ah that’s lovely mamamedic - just shows that even if things don’t initially work out it’s always worth asking - well done to your DD

Excellent news mamamedic - I guess that means you really are the mama of a medic now!

Thanks everyone. Quite agree Bengalcat. Always worth a phone call or an email if things go pear shaped in the summer. And to remember there are plenty of successful people who suffer set backs along the way. Continued good luck to your DCs.

mamamedic..what fantastic news well done to your daughter and you for keeping going !thanks all for the travel tips much appreciated, will definitely have a look at the two together card etc😀

Great news mamamedic and congratulations to your dd.

So happy for you and your DD - ab fab news! Well done!

Huge congrats to your DD mamamedic....😁

.....didn't want to steal Mamamedics hard earned glory last night ....but DD got a Birmingham offer too - no idea what it is yet, just a congrats note. She's chuffed! Her plan is to quickly relinquish unaccepted offers should she get multiple...so keep a first and second choice to allow unaccepted ones back into the mix .....is this a normal approach?

Great news Tinkobell! Does she have a favourite yet? She sounds like a very able applicant, so she is likely to get several offers.

It can't hurt to let the ones who are rejected know quickly. It must be a nightmare for Admissions teams juggling offers. It is clearly an art they have developed over the years, but it can't help that grade uncertainty is so much greater with linear A levels. Sheffield make over 800 offers for around 290 places, but Leeds say they are planning to make 360 offers for 256 places. They cannot take more than their allocated number, but they have no idea which students will accept! Exeter keep a reserve list - I know a third year who got a place on the reserve list which converted into an offer to her immense joy and relief!

DS is still half hoping for rejections so that he can have another go at applying for Cambridge next year, but is feeling much better than he was on Monday as he has found out that none of the STEM applicants from his school got Oxbridge offers. It is quite shocking to me as it is a large and highly regarded school with some very bright students - around 12 of the year of 250 applied to Oxbridge and they have 1 arts offer he knows of.

Monkey2001

Good schools not getting any or one / two Oxbridge offer is becoming a common theme this year!

Where else has he applied? Till recently Cambridge sent their clinical student to imperial/ UCL/ Oxford. Let him know that it is where you do clinical medicine is what matters at the end. Most Cambridge students end up in London for FP/ CT training. London graduates are already in the game and may have edge in the long run.

Tinkobell that is fab news. Congratulations to your DD and to you. I'm sorry I blurted it out before you had the chance!
Will Birmingham be her firm, insurance or neither, assuming she is deluged with offers?
Email was rather strange wasn't it? Sort of apologetic! DD says it's exactly the same as last year but I don't remember it. She says the confirmation came through within 2-3 days rather than 3 weeks as they say.
I think once their decision is made on firm and insurance choices there's no reason not to let UCAS know so others can be considered. DD still has one interview to go so will relinquish that slot once her offer is confirmed. Exciting times.
Ought to say again that last year my daughter had 3 interviews and 3 offers and at this stage had nothing! Still plenty of time to those who are waiting.

Think her heart may be on Sheffield or Norwich....she really wants the PBL /dissection / anatomy teaching. But one offer may be all they end up getting...in which case you've accept what you get. If the Birmingham offer is very high (AA A) I don't think she'd take it.....it takes such a small margin of error to slip a grade a short as you well know @mamamedic......I'm not aware of a single medicine offer from Oxbridge at DD's school this year and across the board it's way down.

Meant x 2 A stars + 1A

ProfessorLayton thank you for the kind words. He has applied to Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds. He avoided London as he did not want to spend his student years there - too expensive and big!

Tinkobell DS applied to Sheffield because it was not PBL. I think it may have some PBL elements, but not much unless we are wrong. But they definitely do dissection. He wants an approach as close to traditional as possible.

Tinkobell I believe that unless there are contextual points, the offer from Birmingham is always A*AA. (And IB is always 32 points with 766 at HL.)

Sheffield and UEA also on DDs list this time. Plus HYMS. Chosen mainly for being campus unis and integrated courses. And taking resits! Plus DD preferred the hospital at Birmingham and it's proximity to the uni.

@monkey - yes you are right re: Sheffield.

Monkey2001 - our school also suffered in the oxbridge selection this year - only 1 Cambridge offer with 3 discarded into the pool and then rejected. Usually there are about 4-5 offers. All v bright kids with stellar everything. Some will take up other offers, some like you are considering applying again......

Mamamedic- that is fabulous news for your DD well done her for being resilient, not giving up, .and being rewarded with a place at her top choice congratulations!.

Tinkobell- congrats on your DDs offer for birmingham.! Even if not currently her top choice. It is lovely to have the offer and the option should have need it.

It's lovely to see offers starting to come through!

Whoop whoop! Well done Tinkobell Junior and Mamamedic Junior! So pleased for everyone whose hard work is paying off. Especially interesting to hear about Mamamedic's journey, as my DD is also an IBer with a big question mark currently over her chance of getting a decent Chemistry grade. She's determined she will retake if necessary.

Has anybody had a DC do an interview at Newcastle yet? They had to book morning or afternoon. DS booked 2:00 and train is supposed to get in at 12:30. From what people are saying on TSR, it looks like the people booked for 2:00 may be in any of the afternoon sessions, but I am not sure how long they are. Slightly concerned about train reliability so it would be nice to know that DS probably doesn't actually need to be there by 2 if there are delays.

Anyone know?

Monkey re Newcastle. He will need to be there for 2pm. He will arrive, sign in and show his ID and only then be told whether he is on the first or second circuit. I think you are in Bristol? Is he on the Cross Country Plymouth to Scotland train? If so, it was reliably on time last week and again this week (just back from Leeds).