Medicine 2021

[Millylovespuddles]

Hi all
It looks like there’s no medicine 2021 entry thread yet, so it might be an idea to get the ball rolling.
My DD is getting stuck into her A level course, doing well so far, but I’m guessing we parents could do with some mutual support and advice from parents who’ve been here before.

@GANFYD and @LaLaFlottes - I think you should be careful how you interpret QMUL's (Barts) selection criteria. When they say UCAS tariff points, I strongly suspect they mean the tariff point total of predicted grades from the best three A-levels meeting subject requirements, not other tariff-bearing qualifications. It would be worth asking them.

@SirTobyBelch pretty sure it is anything that achieves tariff points, as some of their successful scores listed would not be achievable with 3 A levels!
The website states:

UCAS tariff
Your UCAS tariff is made up of academic and non-academic qualifications, including some that don’t count towards our minimum academic requirements, like A-level General Studies.
Make sure that all your qualifications are listed on your UCAS application so that we can take them into consideration.
As well as AS- and A-levels, tariffable qualifications include:
BTEC level 3
Cambridge Pre-U
Extended Project Qualification
International Baccalaureate
Irish Leaving Certificate
Music examinations
Dance examinations.

@LaLaFlottes - Thanks. Just found that, and saw the reference in their admissions policy to "all tariffable qualifications". Doesn't make sense to me, but it's useful to know when advising prospective applicants.

@SirTobyBelch you may disagree, but so much of medicine admissions does not seem to make a whole lot of sense....!

Hello. Can I join you?

DD hoping to join the Newcastle open day today. I was a bit shocked from Facebook posts that quite a few parents are also doing virtual open days with their children. It hadn't occurred to me 🙈

She is also looking at Birmingham (did virtual open day yesterday), Oxford, Newcastle, Manchester. Maybe Leeds as she is doing BMAT anyway? I'd also like her to consider St Andrews.

She is thinking biology at Durham for her fifth choice.

Why are you shocked that parents (or friends / siblings / grandparents/ teachers?) should want to have a look as well? Most potential applicants have someone with them when they attend the real thing.

@MarchingFrogs It just hadn't occurred to me. I didn't go to the few she went to in person in the Autumn either admittedly though as I was abroad for work.

However, I enjoyed Newcastle this morning as it's not a University I knew anything about, and if I can do another one remotely without having to leave the sofa, I will do ;-)

It's her choice though; not parents, siblings or teachers.

@ElephantAndButterfly hello! I looked at Sheffield with DD this morning and Keele earlier in the week. We did make it to an actual Birmingham open day a while back but we did also go on the virtual open day and I’m glad we did as their criteria had changed!

It would be nice to be able to go in person but in some ways the virtual options mean we can get to see more!

It's her choice though; not parents, siblings or teachers.

Absolutely.

I must admit to having signed up as a potential student myself for a couple (same subject preference as DS2- History of Art- as I reckoned it's exactly the kind of thing someone in their (by then) early 60s might fancy. DS1, though having a place for a (completely different) MSc, hasn't actually visited Bristol*, so if the link still works as it's meant to, we might have a little family gathering around the laptop later.

*not something I or he would normally advocate, but I was there or one other place for this particular course, I think. And the other online application form had even more quirks and foibles, so Bristol it is.

Did everyone get the UCAT booked today?
Not many slots at our local test centres!

Barts used to look at 4 Alevels. When DD went to their open, admittedly a while back, they boasted that they were more academic than Oxbridge.

I assume UCAS points are a way to capture those student who have busy lives and are able to juggle a lot.

At the Barts open day she was about the only one on her own. For many, university and subject choice are a family decision.

LaLaFlottes - yes, we just booked UCAT and we're surprised by the availability. There were no dates in August at all, booked for early September

She got her preferred date at the end of August but only time was 8am
Ucat site didn't open until a few minutes after 9 - constantly refreshing from then so I was in early

Yup, UCAT booked for the 1 September.

DD managed to get the second to last slot left on that day as she was in lessons until now plus we have a serious go-slow internet at the moment ☹️

Glad you’re all getting UCAT sorted! DD booked for the 5th Aug at 1pm - this was the only time left at our local centre and we logged on as soon as it would let us which was around 9.05 this morning!

Apparently some people are having issues booking now, I wonder if the website became overloaded.

It felt quite stressful this morning!

Well we took a quick look at where the centres were, figured they would involve several tube journeys (at best), and have booked on line. Tonnes of availability there - any time he wanted, for just about any day he wanted.
He decided he didn't want to be in the first week of online testing, on the grounds that if things were going to fall over, it was more likely in the first week, so we have taken 13th August, which we then realised was A level results day. Not that it really should make a difference - he has a few friends waiting for results, but he says he just won't look until after the UCAT is over.
I hope doing it online is not a mistake, but going on the tube in this current climate is very stressful, and we figured he didn't need that on top of the UCAT itself.
I am going to have to be in the room initially, and show my passport or other ID document as well as him, say I consent to him taking it and then have to leave, and he is going to have to seriously clear the desk beforehand, as it is a mess, and he is not allowed anything within arms reach. The room he has been taking online school in is the spare room, and there is a lot of my husband's "I am going to fix these one day" junk on the spare bed, and bookcases are full of overflow books. These are not in arm's reach when he is sitting at the desk, so hopefully that will be OK, because it would be a major job to clear if all the bookcases and the junk on the bed need clearing.

And I suppose at the back of my mind was the - "what if we are an area put into lockdown just then"? Leicester isn't going to be the last place. At least he can still take the UCAT from home (unless he is actually got the virus).

I’m sure sitting it at home will be absolutely fine. That did cross our mind about test centres closing due to a local lockdown but DD decided to take the chance and she’ll rebook a test at home if she needs to.

We are just a short drive from the closest test centre - but I totally understand about not fancying the tube any time soon! You want them to be as relaxed as possible!

We are a half hour max drive from our local test centre, and as our Wi-fi was just SO crap today especially just before booking it, thought a test centre would be best.

DD is thinking about doing her driving theory test beforehand if she can get a slot so that she's used to the test centre 😏

@ElephantAndButterfly we tried that with DD’s driving theory test but nothing available until late August!

I’m sure sitting it at home will be absolutely fine.

You have to meet minimum technical requirements to run the test at home: home.pearsonvue.com/ucat/onvue

If you don't have a working microphone and webcam and decent internet speed you won't be able to do it. My computer just failed the system test because my internet speed had dropped temporarily.

There is a possibility that the remote proctoring system might be blocked by some internet service providers' firewalls. It's very important to check you'll be able to run the test at home before deciding not to book a test centre slot. If you can run the system test you should be able to run the actual UCAT test.

@LaLaFlottes struck lucky today (in amongst our Wi-fi woes) and DD has her theory test booked for 10 ish days before the UCAT.

She's probably fail the theory test now 😆🙈

We did the initial system test (they asked us to do it before we booked) and it seemed OK (the microphone was surprisingly quiet, but it was hearable, and DS will only need to speak to the proctor on it, no otherwise hear things).

We haven't tried the full test though, although it is a requirement to do this before DS actually takes the test. We want DH (an IT professional) to be involved with that. DH's response is that if our system fails this, then he would be surprised if anyone passed. I am not so sure (it is a bit like shoemakers wives go barefoot, and doctor's wives die young - IT professional's wives' computers keep crashing, because the said IT professional is always trying to push the system to do something more complex). We do have a wired connection though (DH wired it himself when we were refurbishing the house), which should be a big help, not dependent upon wi-fi. But we might have computer walls of some sort that cause problems. And DH, who has been working two days a week from home for the last few years, and fully from several weeks before lockdown, is on notice that he has to be out in the garden or maybe the park (even though he reckons the system ought to be able to cope).

We now have three on line regularly - as well as DH conducting most of his work by Zoom these days as well as logging into what I think is a citrix remote system to work on (I'm not the teckie one), DS has had lessons on Teams, and DD (once they finally got up and running) is on Google Classrooms. And the system does seem to cope with that.

@ElephantAndButterfly well done! Great news