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 :-)

Monkey2001 Yes, she did. It was down in the small print; took us a bit by surprise! We’ll wait to see if she gets offers from anywhere else, and then make a call, I guess. It would certainly take some of the stress out of the next 5 months - but it’s the furthest away med school from us!

undergradhopeful - we didn’t go for any medic courses, but definitely recommend Medify for UKCAT prep.

The key thing so far seems to be about having good work experience. My DD sorted herself out a week at a GP’s surgery, volunteering at a nursing home, and a week shadowing doctors at a local hospital. She’d also previously done a couple of ‘intro to nursing’ days - which made her realise she definitely didn’t want to be a nurse (!) but gave her some good experience to reflect on.

Good luck!

undergradhopeful - Yes, would echo Weaverspin's advice. Medify is great for UKCAT. My DD pretty much ignored UKCAT until start of summer hols. Then did about 10 days of intensive practise with Medify, just thinking of it as an extra part of term, and took the test in early Aug. That approach worked very well for her.
Where we live, hospital work experience needs to be applied for in a window of about a week RIGHT NOW. Once they've decided who they'll take, they then allocate weeks to different students throughout the year. My DD found the rest of the work experience she did (GP, local care home) extremely difficult to set up, because people are busy and don't reply and she took that to mean they didn't want her. Encouraging polite persistence was the biggest role I played in the process, I think. They're so programmed by the school system not to hassle adults so it was quite challenging!
My DD was lucky that her college provided a medicine interview training day. She says it wouldn't be worth paying the £200 that it would cost to go to if it hadn't come to the school, but then she's generally quite confident about that sort of thing, and has been doing things quite similar to MMI stations with St John cadets for years. If she'd been more shy and scared of the process, I think I would have shelled out on a course. A girl we know who I think would make an excellent doctor failed to get any offers last year because she just clammed up in interviews.

Can I tap on your expertise please? Did any of your DC take the early BMAT (September) in London? Where is the test centre and what time did the test start? DS applying this year for entry in 2020 and London is our closest test venue - will involve train travel so trying to get my head round logistics. Would be grateful for any advice.

There were a number of test centres in London. Best to search the official site so you can choose the best one for you.

Thanks Abetes, their website hasn't been updated yet - still 2018 dates and venue stated as 'central London' with no specific location. I must be jumping the gun - but I like to be prepared!

Unless it’s changed you can’t do early entry for BMAT if you are applying to Oxbridge. My DS found medify really useful for UKCAT- he said the tests were harder than the actual thing so he thought they were good practice

Thanks Movingmountains I think it's Oxford that doesn't accept results from the early sitting. DS1's aspirational is Cambridge but would like to know if he stands a chance of interview before he puts it down on his UCAS form - hence the early sitting! But will check all unis for new selection criteria as DS's year is the first with all numerical grades.

Great to hear the offers trickling in...regarding prep for application..we looked at as many Medical Schools as we could as we have no medical background so felt that gave us a good foundation,found that they all had slightly different procedures and focus in terms of scoring for interviews. Dd has been doing a voluntary role at a hospice for over a year, managed to get a week at local nhs trust in different departments and 3 days on a ward ,also did work experience with a charity that works with vulnerable people. She decided not to do BMAT as family friends Dd last year was so shattered/exhausted from the whole application process she felt it wouldnt be worth it ,so she avoided visiting any Bmat focused Med schools in case she loved them.Realise this narrowed her options but that was the only way she felt would worked for her ..obviously decided against OXBRIDGE also. Her prep for UKCAT was Medify and UKCAT ninja and ..she did a Medify couse half way through her prep and if anything wished she d done something like that earlier as it really helped her with timings and what was being asked..so if she changed anything that would be it!Her UKCAT score wasnt the highest but she looked again at requirements of places she wanted to apply to and based on last years trends ruled out 1 or 2 that looked way beyond her profile .has amazing gcses which helped...then it was a spreadsheet of places that she had a potentially higher chance of getting an interview 2 of which she really liked ...and got 3 out of 4 interviews,2 yet to be done. School really dont seem to have any insight about Med School Application, so students and parents on their own. Her interview prep is something I wish we had more help with ..its just us and reading and talking thru some interview stuff from ISC book and advise from medic portal,tsr .On other issues my Dd loves to have a lie in especially on a sunday as she works on a Saturday...I sometimes dont know how she keeps going at times , glad to see she can squeeze in some regular excercise and seeing her friends. I occasionally feel "normal "teenage behaviour is quite reassuring. lots of viral illness flying around here so all exhausted so hoping no one else experiencing any of that. Also appreciative of having this thread,picking up some tips and hearing how everone else is doing,especially as sometimes it feels like such a slog!😊

Cambridge took on the September BMAT from the start.
In 2017 'central London' changed from Tottenham Court Road to the Holborn Viaduct at quite short notice, probably due to larger numbers than originally thought. So even with a specified venue, that may change. 2017 was badly organised and started late even though people were there hours before. Perhaps 2018 sitters can say if they had a better experience. As far as I know there is only one UK med school that is too up its own posterior pompous to accept the September BMAT.

Last minute decisions apart, why would anyone choose to go blind when they can have a quite important part of the process not just known, but also done and dusted early? Which was probably why even in 2017 when everyone was aiming for November, so many switched to September.

Maryso - I guess if you love the idea of Oxford enough then it's worth the punt. And Oxford has enough applicants with the current system that changing it would just mean an even crazier number of applicants to deal with, so not worth it for them.

Happy days here. Offer from Manchester! Interview was just before Christmas, and she felt it went well, but it's so hard to tell. Such a relief! They're asking for high grades as expected for IB (they're the only uni that I know of that equates AAA to 766 not 666) but it's starting to feel like this crazy medicine dream she's had for so many years might possibly happen.

So glad she didn't listen to my advice not to apply for deferred entry. I'd read that it reduced your chances a lot, but that really doesn't seem to be the case as long as you pick a uni that allows it - and 3 of her 4 favourites do.

hoodie - first and foremost, well done to mini-hoodie for Manchester!

I have many, yes many, friends and family at Oxford, including right now, so I have nothing against it, and popping into London is definitely easier from O than C, although that's improved from my time. However its med school has no USP and its position on the September BMAT is less than endearing to its friends and supporters.

I think Oxford was wise to allow only 1 sitting for the BMAT as the results were very different across the 2 sittings - September results were significantly higher than October and I don't believe it could have been due to a fall in the standard of applicants, so it makes for a fairer comparison. In defence of Oxford, 31st October was the date for all the other Oxbridge entrance exams.

I heard that last year the September results were lower than October results. I think it is significantly better to take the September one if applying to Cambridge as the different colleges have different approaches to how important the BMAT is and DS would not have applied to Downing if he had known his BMAT score.

Double centred distribution of scores from 2 sessions for Section 2 in image.

I'd assumed that any med school could cope with exams being sat on different days - UCAT being much worse with months of possible dates.
Methinks you're being generous with the indefensible. They can choose, that's all.

Great News Hoodie Mum🎉

Yes, forgot to say well done to Little Hoodie! That is the first offer I have heard of from Manchester. I am losing track of all this success!

Hoodiemum- .many congratulations to your DD on her Manchester offer.!

Manchester offer here too, received on friday.

Hoodie mum and nightowlpossibly- congratulations to Dd's.

Hoodiemum and Nightowlpossibly that's terrific news. Many congratulations!

Thanks, everyone. And big congrats to mini Nightowl too.
How likely is your DC to end up there? For us, I think it might be second favourite. But because Manchester gives a higher offer than everywhere else she's applied for, it wouldn't be much good as an insurance choice if she was lucky enough to get an offer from her favourite.

Thank you.

Hoodiemum- My DD wasn't keen on Manchester so will be rejecting their offer, AAA which I thought was the standard, are there medical schools
With lower offers? Hope one of your DDs favourites come through for her. Which one is her favourite?

Bristol is favourite, unless she changes her mind at interview this week. IB offer from Manchester is 766 for higher level subjects (equiv of A star, A, A) whereas Bristol, Sheffield and St Andrews are all 666. You also have to get a minimum total number of points, inc standard level subjects, extended essay etc, which is lower at Bristol (contextual offer) than elsewhere.

Hoodie- ok now I understand. I didn't know much about IB and how it equates to A level grades for medical school offers.

My DD has kings offer which is A* AA so higher than manchester. But she really likes kings.

Wishing you DD luck with Bristol.