Medicine 2020

[EightToSixer]

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.

No she applied to Bristol, Oxford, UCL and Manchester. She doesn’t want to attend Manchester so now she has two offers she will likely not attend the interview.

May I make a request on behalf of medical schools?

If your sons/daughters decide not to attend interviews because they already have offers from their preferred choices, please could they inform the medical school(s) that they are not attending? This allows the interview slots to be allocated to other applicants who do want them.

By late January/early February we often find that up to half of the candidates we've invited for interview don't turn up. This is frustrating for interviewers who have given up their time to interview. It's also a bit unfair on the applicants who didn't quite make the threshold for interview, who could have had these interview slots if we knew other candidates weren't going to turn up.

Thank you.

So much exciting news of offers - well done.
Last interview today for DS at Manchester (phew). He got rejected post-interview last year, but feels he performed better this year (fingers crossed).
He was saying what a fantastic help the ISC Medical, MMI book had been. So thanks for the recommendation. May pass it on to the college's careers dept when we finished with it.

Sounds promising ladsmum!

Manchester has already decided who gets interviews as they given them out in one whole batch but I definitely agree that it would be good to inform universities if you no longer wish to attend interview e.g. by withdrawing.

I will let DD know so that if any of her friends are also fortunate to have 2 offers or even just one to withdraw.

DD has had a Bristol offer today which feels fabulous. She was hoping to be put on the holding list but has luckily gone straight to offer. So nice to have some positive feedback. Good luck to all!

Woo hoo! Celebrations chez Shangrilalala.....

Well done Shang!

Congratulations to those with offers. It's great to hear them start to come through. DD found out tonight she has an offer for Plymouth so is very happy. We also wrote to Southampton about the unclear offer not offer email so are awaiting a response. Final interview is next week at Exeter. I think DD will be more confident going into that interview with an offer under her belt from another institution.

Congratulations to your DD Eight. I actually didn’t know Plymouth had a medical school.

Well done to your DD Eight. I echo the pressure being a little easier with an offer under the belt. Fingers crossed for a good outcome. Exeter’s lovely and I would really have liked DD to apply as it seems the perfect distance to us here. We have the great trek up to Newcastle in a few weeks and I’m dreading that that’s when snow is forecast for the North East!

Well done Eight, I have a GP friend who teaches on the Plymouth course and it seems to be a rising star as a medical school, quite a few locals involved in HE medicine in Devon and Cornwall think it can offer a better experience than Exeter because they have Derriford Hospital which has a broader provision than either Exeter or Truro.

Congratulations, eight and shang! Must be such a relief to hear early. We're still waiting and waiting ... tenterhooks.

Well done to those with offers - all quiet here so far but we expected a bit of a wait

DD just home from interview at Imperial. Felt/Sounds like it was easier than interview at Kings was ... She even got the train back I advanced booked.

3 down, one to go. She also had mock exam in A-level FM this week, said it was the hardest exam she ever took. Party to look forward to this weekend she hasn't asked me for transport YET

@MedSchoolRat most med schools won't count both maths and FM. Has she already done Maths or is she doing 4 this summer? I think you said she has an offer - is FM one of the ones she needs?

DD2 and I have just returned from her KCL interview. She seems to have enjoyed it, for the most part.

DD is doing 4 this summer. Not long now, to final exams, is it?

DD had mocks this week so we (I) must brace for any anxiety that they kick up.

Most the Medschools I rang (yes really, I rang) were ok to accept one A-level at end of yr12 & 2 A-levels at end of yr13 as her application group of best results, but not UCL. UCL said application A-levels had to all be sat in the same 2 month period, so DD decided to do all 4 A-levels at end of yr13. I suspect she'll bottle out on one of them, tbh, but in theory the strategy is that 4 at end of yr13 means extra chance to make sure she achieves the offer.

A separate argument I had with DD's school was whether MedSchools accept FM at all. I had to forward about 6 emails from admissions tutors to convince them that FM+2 sciences would be accepted in the application just about everywhere.

DD reckons someone had recent (2018?) offer of A-level results = BAA to study medicine, because an interview went brilliantly. DD is wondering if A*AA is what all medical schools offer, or if she might get lower. Any comments or experience?

AAB was what Newcastle was offering last year to the people who performed exceptionally well at interview (but seemed to be about half the offers). They started by saying AAB was conditional on making Newcastle the firm choice, but backed down and allowed people to keep those terms for insurance. There are some (Sheffield, maybe ARU) who have a standard offer AAB + A in EPQ. Birmingham is AAB for pretty much any non-selective state school. Bristol is ABB/AAC for around half the UK state non-selectives.

I would advise your DD to either drop FM or put it on an back-burner unless she is very confident about the other grades. I know a girl who did 4 A levels and firmed Oxford, insured Imperial. She missed the grades (maybe got AABB) and ended up doing Biomed. It is difficult to get A in FM and will not contribute to the scoring if she is counting the Maths as well, so she would only be doing it for personal satisfaction.

.... and most med schools are AAA for standard offer. The higher ones are Cambridge (2xA,A) and Oxford, UCL, Imperial, Keele (A,AA).

I think the new one, KMMS, was planning a standard offer of AAB.

Still lurking and still 🤞🤞🤞 for everyone but especially those on last years thread. DD got 4 offers last year. The highest was Birmingham A* AA, Sheffield, Norwich and Notts all AAA. She felt they were stretch enough. At Sheffield a good proportion of students are bio Chem or bio med graduate entry and are more ‘geared up’ so to speak. She’s enjoying the course and feels equipped but certainly not overly so. She got 2 A stars and 1 A, so above the offer. She’s had to take her A level books and go over some A level material on biology. Hope this helps. The maths element so far has been very stats based.

@Tinkobell great to hear from you. Thanks for your kind wishes.

Hello Tinkobell, lovely to hear from you. Glad your DD is thriving at Sheffield. Interesting to know that there are lots of grads there. DS was not very positive about his interviews, so this year he will go for 5th option if he does not get an offer and try again as a grad.

In case you were wondering about my post, Birmingham have now reduced their standard offer to AAA (AAB contextual).

2018/9 thread mum here - Barts (qmul) is also A* AA not sure if they lower it for anyone. There are also lots of grads at Barts on the undergrad. course which is very intense but exceptionally good training.

Is Barts very PBL?