Medicine 2019 - Part 2

[Monkey2001]

Oops, looks like none of noticed the old thread was full!

@HostessTrolley @Hoodiemum @4catsham @mamamedic @medicmom @mimiasovitch @Nightowlpossibly @ProfessorLayton1 @Tinkobell @Weaverspin @Itsthekissing @Sluj @Mumneedswine @Movingmountains

Apologies to any regulars I have missed

My d has a couple of friends who are on hold for imperial. They have been told that they will hear at the end of March what the outcome is - it depends mainly on the scores from the later interviews but also if some of the earlier offer holders decide to not proceed.

Good luck - and it is so stressful when they have mocks and A level prep with applications still up in the air x

Still no news here..trying to stay positive and not check tsr obsessively!Today ..i am having an impatient day..maybe because I ve been up since 5 a.m.🤯!!
Biology continues to be a headache, but somehow we ve had some luck getting a tutor who seems to be pretty amazing. Will be tightening our financial belt to enable this to happen si matbe that all important A*/A can still be possible,whatever else is happening.

Well done to all offer recipients i ve missed congratulating!

Hope you are all doing ok out there!

4cats DS gave up Biology after AS as he finds it the hardest one to get reliably high marks on as you have to be so careful interpreting the question. He had a tutor for the AS who worked mainly on exam technique with him which enabled him to get the A he wanted. At A level, no boys have managed to get an A* in Biology A level at his school for the last couple of years. He finds his marks in the others (Physics, Chemistry, Maths) much more reliable. Hope the tutor does the trick.

what do you do if your child refuses to open their email from edinburgh?!!

Give them a gin and tonic?

@cbs65.....c'mon spill! You can't leave the suspense just hanging like that! 😁🤞 recovering here from a lady-op on Monday but had a very jolly, smiley anaesthetist knock me out....it was very nice to chat to a very happy NHS person, lots of physics involved in that job he said.

Picking up the pieces here after a Bristol rejection. It was the favourite. A few hours of very mournful mourning, but hopefully starting to realise it's far from the end of the world.
One takeaway: the same person who got early offers from some places is on the scrap heap at another. So those who have had rejections and are still waiting for offers should definitely not lose heart - other unis might think you're great.
DD has college assessments today and on Monday which count towards final grades, so it's onwards and upwards. No time for navel gazing.
St Andrew's has now become the favourite, and luckily they want her. But they don't allow deferred entry and she's very keen to have a year off. Was it anyone in this group that posted about writing to a non-deferred-entry uni post-offer and negotiating a deferred start? Would love to get advice on how to time and word that letter. Would it be better to say you definitely want to firm with uni X, and if at any point they see a way to allowing deferred entry, that would be great? Or do you say X is your favourite uni, but as you think a gap year would be useful for xxx reasons, you''re thinking of going to another uni where you also have an offer, unless uni X will let you defer? Do you write asap, before they finish sending out all their offers and rejections (last interviews mid March), or wait until they get a sense of how many are firming with them? DD is worried that writing them any letter might piss them off so much that she's blacklisted from reapplying, there or elsewhere, if for whatever reason she has to. Any thoughts?

Blimey - sorry, that was a bit of an essay!

Sorry to hear that Bristol did not make an offer, but she has done so well overall.

I don't have any relevant experience, but once they have made you an offer, they can't withdraw it for 2019 based on any communications she has. If DD has gap year plans which would make her a stronger starter on the course, it seems to make sense to write to them as soon as possible with the case for deferring.

Have you been through TSR looking for people in same situation in previous years?

If St Andrews did not allow her to defer, would she want to go through the process again or accept one of her other offers for deferred entry? It would muck up her gap year re-applying, apart from the stress of not being certain she would get offers again. If she would accept one of the others if St Andrews will not let her defer, the risk of blacklisting does not apply.

Good luck!

I think I was the one who recommended requesting deferral as soon as possible after receiving an offer. However, I didn't have St Andrews in mind: they will have to have detailed plans in place three years ahead for progression of students to the clinical medicine degree course at Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester or Bart's (since you can't actually get a medical degree from St Andrews, except as a graduate on the Dundee/St Andrews ScotGEM programme), so deferring a place there to be replaced by someone with a different preferred pathway could get complicated. If they explicitly state they won't accept applications to defer I don't think there's any point asking unless there are significant extenuating circumstances that would prevent her from starting this year. They might not consider a request even with extenuating circumstances.

There isn't a blacklist for awkward applicants: if admissions tutors were found to be colluding to exclude individual students on anything other than strict criminal or other fitness-to-practise grounds (and then only through a highly formal, national, rigidly governed process) their universities would be in big, big trouble. I couldn't comment on how St Andrews might react if she withdrew this year because of not being allowed to defer and then reapplied next year. I'm not sure it would be worth the risk. I would find it very difficult to advise someone to give up an offer this year to take a gap year and reapply next year: there is too big a risk of not getting any offers next time around because the competition is different, not because admissions tutors will have been told to look out for her. As Monkey2001 said, having to reapply during a gap year severely limits options for travel, as well as imposing a lot of anxiety.

If she has another offer that she would be able to defer she'll have to make the decision whether to take her second choice with a gap year or her first choice without one. If she hasn't asked other choices yet about deferring, I think it would be best for her to phone and ask how they would deal with a request to defer before putting anything in writing. Make sure she phones the medical school, not the university's central admissions office.

Thanks SO much for the advice, Monkey and Harry. I'll pass it on to her. She has a deferred offer from Manchester, so she'll have to decide between deferring and going there, or not deferring and going to St A's. Of course, it'll all become irrelevant if the right grades don't materialise! That's the main task now ...

Depending on how she's planning to spend her gap year, Manchester might seem a lot more appealing when she comes back.

I know many students are put off city-centre universities by the prospect of living somewhere a long way from where their classes are, but this is honestly much less of an issue than many people predict: there is generally a campus feel to the accommodation "villages", and once you get used to using buses/trams/metro most big cities are fairly easy to get around.

There is no getting away from the fact that the medical school at Manchester is very big, and most staff & other students won't know who she is until/unless she ends up in a smaller cohort in Preston in year 3. This would be very different at St Andrews, where everyone will know everyone else (although of course she'll end up in a bigger cohort somewhere else for years 4, 5 & 6). She would have to decide whether this is worth giving up her gap year for.

she did eventually open her Edinburgh email today - good news which is great - and deferred entry which she asked for - but I think she is struggling to get too excited by her offers as she is really demoralised by chemistry and fears she wont get the A she needs - mocks this week apparently terrible! She wishes she got the reduced Newcastle offer!

Sorry to hear about Bristol hoodiemum this is such an emotional time,lots of ups and downs I really dont know if I would have coped with it if it was me applying .Hope your daughter is seeing some light through the disappointment. Great she is talking it through with you ..and hope you get some answers regarding St .Andrews deferred V Manchester soon.

I am optimistic about the Biology tutor Monkey,thinking she will be very helpful from session the other night. My DD ended up giving up Spanish in year 12,found 4 A levels way too much ...and let's face it it applying for Med School with aptitude tests etc etc is like studying for another A level.

Am impressed with Dd tonight ,we have come to Newcastle on the train ,ready for applicant day for Bio Med tom. She has been studying for the 3 hour journey with a pit stop for dinner and now back at it!

I am in my pjs ..feet up relaxing, feeling the benefits of having some space and time too tired for a trip to the bar and a g&t🙄🤣!!

Congrats to your daughter cbs 65

Yes, cbs, the challenge of getting those grades is starting to feel a bit too real, isn't it? But wonderful news about the Edinburgh offer. They just need to find that last bit of determination to work through to the end and finish the job.
Wow, 4Cats, you've got an impressively hard-working DD there. Hope you enjoy your visit.
Wise words, Harry. She started this whole process really wanting a big city experience, but we just need to wave a magic wand and move the St Andrew's beach to Manchester.

Hoodie- Sorry to hear about Bristol. But great your DD has other options. Hopefully she will be able to sort out the deferred entry if she decides she still wants it.

CBS - congrats on the Edinburgh offer! well done to your DD

My DD feels the same as yours regarding the chemistry! It is the subject where she is most concerned about getting the A. She is definitely feeling the pressure.

Wishing continuing good luck for everyone waiting, or still interviewing.

Hoodie, my daughter managed to defer despite the med school stating clearly on their website that they did not allow deferrals.

Because her offer was late her email arrived at the start of April at the point when they would have known how many acceptances they had. My guess was that it was binary. Too few and they would have refused, too many and they would welcome someone wanting to delay taking up their place. So not really about her.

Her email was short. She acknowledged they did not allow deferrals, but gave her reasons for wanting one, and asked if they could consider making an exception. She go an email agreeing to this by return.

There really is no harm in asking. They can’t take away her place. And who knows, a bit of additional flexibility on numbers might suit them.

Hi all. Hope all doing ok. For anyone without any offers I have just seen that Medicine is in UCAS Extra this year, at several places. As of this morning I saw Anglia Ruskin, Lincoln and Newcastle but might be more. It's a 2nd chance to apply if no offers at all. Good luck

Hi all, and thanks for the new thread. Sorry for those still with no offers. It's so tough, these kids who've probably all been considered high fliers in their schools, facing the reality of life outside being really quite hard. We've been quite realistic all the way through, ready to support dd if no offers materialised, but all my family were a bit 'she'll be fine, who could meet her and not want her'. I know that's what family is meant to do, but I don't think it always helps if the worst happens.

Anyway, still no news from Bristol, but I'm quite happy with Cardiff. Not because it's only 40 minutes from home. Oh no. I'm completely ready for her to leave home

Good tip about UCAS extra... don't forget that things could change even after results day!
My friend's Dd is waiting to hear from two universities having been rejected by the other two and another friend's Dd has had 4 rejections - so tough on the kids, they both are able children. I have passed the information about UCAS extra to them as well..

Thanks, Needsmoresleep. She's drafting an email...

Rejection from Leeds, so time to take stock and re-group. Poor DS could not sleep last night, and is currently reluctant to take a year out. Will have to look at all feedback and decide what to do, but he really does not want a gap year. We are aware of the clearing opportunities, but as he did not continue with Biology to A level, his options are a bit limited. Obviously needs to move on and focus on A levels (and violin and singing exams in less than 4 weeks) as there is nothing he can do about medicine for now. The ones in Extra are no go good for him as he has already been rejected by Newcastle and the others are access or GEM.

So sorry to hear your news Monkey - I have been following the thread and had my fingers crossed for you. I know Buckingham - new medical school don't take entries until Jan 20 but not sure whether applications are within the normal UCAS system (so needed to be 1 of the 5 already applied for).

I am somewhat thankful that DD changed her mind about medicine and has decided to go down the Biochemistry route next year.

O no Monkey ..have been keeping everything crossed here too, its so hard after all the effort and hard work your DS has put in this year. I suppose the impending A levels ,Violin and singing exams he will at least have some distraction . If he did decide to reapply he will be an expert on the process with the benefit of A levels done I suppose. It will all work out in the end but I know thats not much help right now. Sending you and your Ds lots of positive thoughts while the dust settles on today and the news from Leeds and best of luck making decisions on the next step.☘

This is an old article but still largely relevant I think
www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8695030/Why-rejection-from-university-was-the-best-medicine.html