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Higher education

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

Medicine 2020

990 replies

EightToSixer · 30/09/2018 20:53

Ok, so I know it's super early, but I've been hovering at the medicine 18 and 19 threads. DD is keen to apply for medicine in 2020. Is anyone else in the same boat?
I thought it would be useful to share info and stories, it's all a very steep learning curve because despite me now having a PhD and working in a RG university I was late to learning and not a patch on my DD who is very driven and organised.
Hopefully people will find this group and we can share the rollercoaster of the next two years.

OP posts:
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Newgirls · 09/10/2019 11:20

Good thought Toby.

I imagine if people see they are in the lower half they may decide not to go ahead?

So 6k places, maybe same again for dentistry? 12k? Say 2k as practise/teachers? That’s still maybe 13k applying for 6k places.

Madness isn’t it that all those bright people won’t get in. I think my DD might be put off by those figures.

Shangrilalala · 09/10/2019 12:17

Nottingham have asked DD to upload a statement from each of her volunteering/placements/contact with medics, detailing dates and duties. Wasn’t expecting this and she’s a bit taken aback, particularly as she is busy in school and they want a 10 day turn around. Is this the usual? I suspect once it’s done that the information is good for all the other choices, should they require it. Anyone else had this from other institutions?

speedyhedgehog · 09/10/2019 13:08

I read that some unis want this on last year's thread. So far dd choices have not asked. She has had 3 acknowledgements and 1 'you have passed the first stage' email.

Her fifth choice was another course at one of the 4 medicine choices so I don't know if she will get 2 separate acknowledgements. Anyone know?

EightToSixer · 09/10/2019 13:47

I've not heard of needing proof from work experience before, what institution was it?
DD has had acknowledgements from each of her 4 med choices, she didn't make a non-med choice as she will just reapply next year if she gets no offers. Her friend has already had an offer for her non-medical choice of medical sciences at Swansea AAB.

OP posts:
Shangrilalala · 09/10/2019 13:54

It was Nottingham - DDs last choice and she was not 100% about it, so she’s collecting her evidence through gritted teeth!

Pigment84 · 09/10/2019 14:34

DD also applied to Nottingham and was a bit perturbed by the short time to collate and upload the information!

mumsneedwine · 09/10/2019 16:58

But Nottingham do make it clear at open day they will ask for this info. And if you drill down into the selection process document it's on their too. They only need a copy of the emails confirming wex or some kind of proof. I believe some people may not tell the truth ! Don't think DD was asked for it anywhere else but I might be wrong as she did take a pack of stuff to each interview.

FiveHoursSleep · 11/10/2019 12:23

UCAS form submitted. Does anyone know what the time frame for interviews is? Do they get any choice about dates or times? Do they go by themselves or take parents or friend?

SirTobyBelch · 11/10/2019 13:07

Medical schools that select for interview purely on UCAT scores will send out invitations quite soon. We receive results from UCAT at the end of this month, so don't expect anything before then. Some of those schools will have all of their interviews done by Christmas. Anywhere that has to read personal statements or other written submissions will obviously take longer: some of these will be interviewing in December but will still be sending out interview invitations in February.

Once interviews have happened, some applicants will get offers or rejections quite quickly; others will have to wait. Some places don't make any offers until all the interviews have taken place, while others will operate floating thresholds, where they can offer to high-scorers and reject low-scorers but have to wait longer to make decisions on those in the middle. In theory you should have all decisions by the end of March, but at least one medical school was still interviewing after this last year.

Quite a lot of interview candidates arrive with parents or partners, often because they're too nervous to travel by themselves, but there will be a point beyond which accompanying people aren't allowed. Sometimes candidates will go to a waiting room where they sit with the other candidates away from everyone else.

It can get really boring for accompanying parents. Your son/daughter will probably want to arrive super-early and there will then be a lot of waiting around. There might also be more than one thing they are supposed to attend (interview plus medical school tour with current students, for example, or an additional numeracy and/or literacy test). I've seen parents flat-out asleep having driven sons/daughters a couple of hundred miles and then waiting around for several hours.

If the medical school is on the actual university campus, or in a city centre, I'd recommend going somewhere for coffee/lunch rather than waiting around in the medical school.

SirTobyBelch · 11/10/2019 13:10

Sorry, forgot to answer part of your question...

Some medical schools will offer a date/time and ask the student to contact them to rearrange if they can't attend then. Some will offer a range of dates/times and ask the student to select one. Some will offer a single date/time on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

mumsneedwine · 11/10/2019 13:24

Liverpool lay on a thing at the museum fit parents with coffee and cake which is really nice. Agree some give opportunities to chose dates but need to get in earlier. Most just give you a date and time and it's not movable. We had to stay overnight 3 times with DD as had 9am starts hundreds of miles away. She drove to Soton interview which was in March due to being rearranged due to snow. Her first interview was mid November. Long long process.

speedyhedgehog · 11/10/2019 14:59

Anyone knowledgeable about admissions and fee status? Dd upset one of her choices is asking her to complete extra forms to determine her status. She is dual citizen (uk and other non European country) and will have lived her in excess of 5 years before starting her uni course.
She called for more info and they said it's just because she is a dual national? Is that a thing? Is she going to have to do this for all of them in due course?

SirTobyBelch · 11/10/2019 18:11

The universities (not the medical schools) have to confirm fees status or they risk losing their status as sponsors of tier-4 visas. The problem that usually arises is applicants' assuming their fees status is based on citizenship, when it's actually based on residence. If she's been ordinarily resident in the UK for the past three years (i.e. not just undertaking education here while domiciled elsewhere) it shouldn't be too awkward, but the rules are complicated: www.ukcisa.org.uk/information--Advice/fees-and-Money/England-fee-status#layer-6082

speedyhedgehog · 11/10/2019 19:51

Thanks Sir Toby, that's what I thought, re 3 years being the standard applied, but you'd think having got her GCSEs from the same school as she's now sitting her A's would show she has been resident? Also it was declared on her UCAS when she became resident. We're not going to say anything different on the next form! Anyway will be interesting to see if we end up going through the same process with the other unis and whether it'll apply to the younger children too. Maybe best to view it as yet another hoop on the road to medical school.

speedyhedgehog · 11/10/2019 19:55

And thanks for the link, I had found the 3 year rule there in black and white, which was a bit of a relief!

MedSchoolRat · 12/10/2019 11:20

UCAS tariff points league tables...

It doesn't look to me like ant of the Med Schools Dd wants to apply to have a threshold for UCAS points in order to get interrview offer. Can that be correct info? Does that sound right? This thread confuses me.

About interviews: I know the medschool I work for invites the nearest candidates first (December). So they don't have to travel far at short notice in bad weather.

DD shouts at me every time I suggest she just get her sodding Uni application submitted this weekend. I don't want her in a panic Monday & Tuesday. (sigh). She was in a flap about not getting a reference from the nursing home. I don't think it matters but she disagrees (sigh x 2).

MarchingFrogs · 12/10/2019 11:53

I would assess that medical schools are not going to express their requirements in terms of UCAS points, even if their 'host's university may for other courses? So to do Business Studies at University A, you may need a total of 120 UCAS points, including at least 2 A levels, but the rest of the points can be from a BTEC/ AS level / several Grade 8 music exams. Whereas Medicine will want AAA and will only accept A levels, at that grade or above. Or equivalent qualifications from other countries. I'm thinking of ARU as an example here.

The other thread is a 'post event's look at total points of successful applicants, I think?

Cleopatrai · 12/10/2019 12:39

QMUL is the only one I know of.

Monkey2001 · 13/10/2019 09:55

Yes, Barts (QMUL) is the only one which uses UCAS tariff. That thread is one of those instances where correlation is not causation. A lot of medics are high achievers across the board and therefore have a lot of UCAS points, but did not need them to get in to medical school.

lljkk · 13/10/2019 15:46

What tariff does QMUL require? I can't figure it out from what I see on the admissions booklet we have or their website. cheers for any help.

Monkey2001 · 13/10/2019 16:54

@lljkk have you seen this page with sample scores of successful applicants for 2019 entry? The tariff required depends on the UCAT.

www.qmul.ac.uk/smd/undergraduate/courses/admissions-statistics-for-medicine--dentistry/

lljkk · 13/10/2019 17:59

ooh, wow, so that IS challenging (if I understand, which I may not).
3 x A* UCAS points = 168.
But QMUL considers a 'low' tariff to be 168.
Is that right?
I don't understand the SJT scoring that QMUL mentions on that link. DD got band 1 for her SJT, but I don't see another score for her SJT on the score sheet. How many points would band 1 confer in the "combined interview + SJT" part of scoring at QMUL?

DD says she knew all this for QMUL, btw. It's just me catching up.

Medicine 2020
jojojowo · 15/10/2019 08:14

Hi, been lurking for a while. Just wanted to ask a question re Nottingham Work Experience. DD sent her application off a week ago and had confirmation Nottingham received it however hasn't had a request for work experience details. When did your DC receive this? And was it via email or the Nottingham portal? Thanks

Embracelife · 15/10/2019 11:37

Ucas submitted..bmat yet to be done but ican all good.
Question...do you Have to make a fifth insurance choice? Or could dd insurance strategy be taking gap year and reconsidering?

Needmoresleep · 15/10/2019 12:35

Toby, as an accompanying parent I occupied myself looking at accommodation options. In Birmingham I bumped into a dental student who told me quite a lot about options, and got to speak to helpful people in the on-site accommodation office at the nearest Hall of residence. I peered in estate agents windows and walked round student areas and looked at sports facilities.

I did similar in Bristol.

DD had not been to either open day, so it was helpful for me to have an idea of each place, in case she had a difficult decision. In the event Birmingham decided on the day not to give interviewees their promised tour of facilities which made it an easy decision for DD. (She was really impressed by Bristol on the tour.) If she had only got one offer, she would have taken it and at that point I would have been able to throw in wider impressions beyond the interview room.