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

Anybody else out there without offers thinking about how to maximise the chances of getting something in clearing or planning gap year application?

DS has registered for August BMAT even though he is not confident that he got the grades he would need for Cambridge because the registration deadline is before results day. He is not up for revising for it unless he has the grades though, he finds it difficult to be positive about plans with so much uncertainty around.

6 weeks and 1 day to go. Sigh. Good luck to IB people for Friday!

Thanks for the good wishes, @Monkey2001. DD has been v v tense this week...
Must be so hard for your DS to commit to BMAT prep during the wait for results, but maybe a last minute intense prep just before the exam will work? We seem to rely completely on last minute panic for motivation in our house! Sorry, no wise words for clearing. But DD's back up plan for bad-grade-induced gap year is studying for retakes in Nov while working in care home, au pairing in Alps for ski season for a nice employer that's happy for her to fly back for interviews. And travel somewhere long haul to volunteer and explore once she's flooded with unconditional offers from lovely unis! Eternally the optimist...

Hi hoodiemum what retakes are in November? Is it the IB? Sadly all the new linear A-levels make them resit the whole two years in the June now.. so hard . Been through it this year! Can’t resit any of the modules anymore, so hard for them. But DD wanted and was advised to do that by the medical schools themselves rather than doing another course and then the graduate route. Though it’s been very hard, no regrets here. I’m so proud of her . She’s worked part time and saved so much money now for university whilst studying and now feels more ready to hopefully start her medicine course. If anyone is disappointed or misses out on the grades. Don’t just go away , take the year out and reapply.. it really is worth it . Good luck.

@Welshmum2000. Yes, IB retakes in Nov. It's tougher for the A level guys having to wait a full year, but sounds as though your DD is a role model of perseverance. Fingers crossed it's all gone to plan for her this time around.

Thank you that’s very kind. All the best to your DD too .

@hoodiemum is everything OK there? xx

Just got the call ... All fine! Got the grades for Sheffield. 2nd choice, but she's perfectly happy with it. She'll call St Andrews on Monday to see if there's any hope after a remark, etc., but best guess she'll be starting at Sheffield in 2020 after a fun-packed year off. WHAT a relief!
And a huge thank you to everyone who gave me the ammo a few months ago to persuade her to go the the Offer Holder Day at Sheffield. Without that, we'd be in limbo now. Hooray for Mumsnet!
Hope everyone else can put the waiting to the back of their minds for a while and enjoy the summer. xxx

That’s fantastic news - congratulations to her!

@hoodiemum how did your DD find out? She called the university? My DS does IB too but Track is not updated yet and no email from any of the universities yet ( stress!) Students can only log into the IB website to find out 6th July 12 GMT.... I am just wondering what’s the best way to find out ....

hoodiemum - woohoo, great news. Maybe DS will see her there as Sheffield will be one of his top 2 when he re-applies next year.

Mochi3 - there was some stuff on the IB thread on TSR about UCAS only getting the results if the school has authorised it, so if your DS has got the grades required, it may well be an admin issue. If he has the grades to meet the offer, he will have the place. You can ask somebody called "PQ" on TSR who seems to work for UCAS if you are anxious.

Brilliant news hoodiemum . Huge congratulations to your daughter and to you. Hope you now relax and have a fantastic summer

Fantastic news @hoodiemum - ......and relax xx

Hi @Mochi3.
Hope you've now had news, and it was the news you were hoping for?
DD's college releases results ahead of the IB website if they go in to collect them in person. Really nice that way, with some lovely teachers on hand to talk her round from 'I failed to get into St A's' to 'I got into a great med school'.
No news that I know of on Track, but as she's met the Sheffield offer we assume it's all fine with them.
She's got a meeting on Monday with a couple of teachers to prepare her arguments for a phone call to St Andrews. She dropped one SL grade (maths - not particularly unexpected) and only got 1 point for core (which she's really cross about after all that effort on EE!). But she got the grades they wanted for her HLs quite comfortably, and was only 1% off a 2 for core and is getting a remark, so we'll see what they say. I'm pretty ambivalent - plenty of reasons for going for Sheffield over St A's and vice versa, so I'm sure she'll be happy either way.

And thanks for the good wishes, everyone. Your kids' turn soon, I hope!

Thanks@hoodiemum and @Monkey2001, no news on Track but logged into IB website right on the dot 12 GMT on the 6th and like your DD, DS missed his firm by one point (but in Chemistry HL :( ) but got into his insurance which he is perfectly happy with as well. So will give a call Monday to see what we can do... not too sure if it will be positive as it is a Chem missed grade ...but all is good, we are ecstatic that DS made it..he felt he did badly in a few papers eg bio, chem and maths..all the important ones so we have been stressed in the last few weeks leading up to the results thus the extreme anxiety on Friday the 5th! We are Canadian and not too familiar with the UK process therefore this forum and TSR have been a huge source of info and strength.. good luck to all for the next batch of results and those hoping to get something in clearing !

@Mochi3 Congratulations to your DS. What a relief after all the worrying! Good luck with the phone call tomorrow.

Hurray @Mochi3, hope you are all celebrating!

hoodiemum - great news.
My DS has fingers crossed for 3A's on 15 Aug, then he is off to Sheffield too. We are really happy with his choice, seemed like a really supportive department and the city is a just the right size for him.
Nail biting stuff waiting to hear, DS is making the most of the "ignorance is bliss" phase - seem to have a crowd of 18 year olds in my house day and night!

Congratulations hoodiemum and moshi.. not been following this thread closely but am delighted to hear that your children have made it.,, what a relief !

Confirmation yesterday that DD's decision from St Andrews will come after A level results day. She now seems quite chilled out about waiting. Only tricky thing is applying for year off jobs that require CRB and brief training period, then a week or two in maybe having to say, 'Oh whoops, don't want a job any more, I'm off to uni.' But if she doesn't apply until after she knows what she's doing, it could be a long delay before finding anything. I guess you've got a similar issue, Monkey?

Different for us hoodiemum as he will spend first 6 weeks focusing on BMAT, UCAT and PS plus deciding which ones to apply to (sigh!) unless he is lucky enough to get something in clearing, so a job will take a back seat until that is out of the way. Fortunately I have a GP friend who always needs temps in the office entering test results etc which is vaguely relevant, flexible and they will be supportive as one of her partners had a son who went to same school a few years ago and also did not get any offers first time round.

St Andrew's is looking like a definite possible here, might have to pick your brains at some point.

We've all got arms and legs and eyes and everything else crossed for a place for him in clearing, Monkey. But if not, that GP temp job sounds like a good back up. Poised to share what -little- I know about St Andrews!

I was on the equivalent thread two years ago and remember the emotions so clearly. Good luck to everyone! We had so many ups and downs during the application process and I remember it well. Make sure you have wine and chocolate in for results night.

for anyone with a gap year potentially coming up - consider applying for a bank nursing assistant job www.jobs.nhs.uk/ if there are any in your area. The application process takes a long time, the jobs show commitment and knowledge if reapplying and the flexibility is useful for job interviews. Since the application process is long they can always cancel the application if they get a place in clearing without much letting an employer down.

Hi I’m on the 2020 thread but DD is sitting her UCAT tomorrow and stressing about the abstract reasoning section. She’s struggling to get her marks up and I can’t her help her, the questions are crazy hard

Any advice/reassurance from those who’ve been through it!?