Medicine 2021 - Part 3

[SATSmadness]

Hoping for interviews and offers all round, now and well into next year !

Grey, I was going to suggest doing it at school too. It seems such a harsh approach by the admissions team, unbelievable actually

@GreyBow that does seem very harsh. Was this email received before or after the schools closed? If it's from before this stricter lockdown, could they maybe have changed their position given that DC are now stuck at home with no contingency options if wi-fi connection is worrying? Might be worth calling them. Surely it can't be right that DC jump through all those hoops to get to that stage and offers go to those with the best internet connection. I feel for your DD, it's tough enough without that worry on top.

Thanks everyone. It was a very recent email from Lancaster. I imagined they are all the same so I'd be interested if other online interviews are taking a more balanced approach.

Taking it at school is not an option sadly, but I am thinking along those lines!

This is taken from the email:

If you experience issues during the MMI as a result of not being able to perform the required actions or poor connectivity we will not be able to offer more time or adjust your score, so it is important that you test that you are able to do the things that you will need to during the MMI.

@MaddieElla I am not sure who Hull want to be honest 😆 Sorry you got a rejection too.

@GreyBow would a cable from the computer to the router help at all so you’re not on wifi?

Or is it the internet in general that can be a problem where you live?

That’s quite a harsh statement isn’t it as it’s not the candidate’s fault if the connection is bad and it’s not like there are any alternative places to go at the moment.

@GreyBow that's a truly awful approach, how about some reassurance and encouragement for applicants this year?

Thank you @LaLaFlottes and @Millylovespuddles

DD is doing online lessons all this week using data from her phone to her laptop in an office we've borrowed where the signal is more stable than at home. If that stays steady, we'll do that 🤞🏻

I'd be really interested in what other unis say about this, as yes, it does seem harsh when options are so limited.

My dd has a Liverpool interview today - they sent a phone number to call if there were any tech difficulties.
Good luck to your dd!

@GreyBow that sounds like a plan! Fingers crossed.

@Millylovespuddles good luck to your DD today

Good luck!

@Millylovespuddles how did it go!??

Well, she said the the interviewers said a couple of times that they couldn't hear her very well. This rattled her a bit as she has convinced herself they don't know how she replied.
She also said they weren't very friendly - and she had read on tsr that the interviewers were 'so friendly and it was like a chat' ... not my DD's experience. Very formal and business-like, no niceties at the start or end. What's the point of not trying to make students feel at ease?
I hope your DD's interview went well.

We’ve had a rejection from Edinburgh - Dd is delighted! Aberdeen tomorrow & we’re done. Good luck everyone still waiting to hear.

Good luck @emummy DD with the Aberdeen interview and I’m glad DD is ok with the Edinburgh news

DD has Sheffield today and then she’s all done.

Sorry to hear that @Millylovespuddles. That doesn’t sound like a relaxing interview, but at least it’s done now.

Yes, another one out of the way @LaLaFlottes
Hope all goes well for your dd today, and mini emummy too!

Thanks @Millylovespuddles

After having 3 in a row, one each week in Nov/Dec, it feels a bit strange doing it again. She’s logged in now (hopefully) ready for her 9am and I’m hiding upstairs with the dog.

She has a biology mock this afternoon too - what a day!

What a day indeed @LaLaFlottes! Hope it all goes well.
Aberdeen seemed to go well this morning, she quite happy with it and was able to use a lot of what she’d prepared.

Great news @emummy glad to hear it went well

DD seems reasonably happy with Sheffield interview so now all we can do is wait - which is hard!

Good luck for interviews this week.

We're still waiting to hear from Keele - apparently they 'hope' to get through the forms by the end of Jan. DD just wants to hear now and doesn't care if it's a rejection or an interview.

She's also getting fed up with the advice from school about what to do with 'all your offers' ... only another month or so to wait for med applicants!

She's also getting fed up with the advice from school about what to do with 'all your offers'

That resonates so much here too.

It is a rather drawn out process for the medicine applicants. Early submission, then interviews if they meet various criteria dependant on Uni. Then the long long wait for any offers.........

Agreed. Seems forever since DD had her interviews. Would be so much nicer if they had a set date for decisions, even if that was a long way off you'd know not to be constantly watching your inbox.

DDs friends are all getting their offers. No interviews, lower grades. Sometimes wonder what our lot are thinking.

DDs friends are all getting their offers. No interviews, lower grades. Sometimes wonder what our lot are thinking.

Yes quite! (except DS here, but otherwise).

Apparently big batch of interview offers for Liverpool went out yesterday, but we are still waiting. He now seems to have a score at least 5 or 6 points above the lowest offered an interview.

@bimkom I just don't see how their decision making works or is fair to applicants. DD, who had had her interview, was telling me about the tsr chat and how so many, with high scores, are still waiting.

This is such a stressful time for our dc, and to have such obscure selection systems is just piling more on their overburdened shoulders.

I agree with @MaddieElla that it would be lovely to have a predetermined timeline of actions. Whilst dd got a no from Oxford, at least there was a clear and published list of important dates from acknowledgement, to shortlisting, interviews and decisions.

Another one waiting for keele and Liverpool here. Ds is laughing it all off as all his friends have received 5 offers for Bob med subjects and know they can meet their predicted grades so they're all relaxing now. School are holding off doing tests and mocks at home and want them some in school for fairness. It's so ridiculous, they might not be back at school for months and if they're not tested there'll be no data for cags.

I know doing tests at home isn't ideal, but these kids need regular testing stop data can be extracted.

Anyway, hoping to hear back from 3 unis by the end of next week. Really pleased that jan is nearly done.

It's hard for them isn't it. So many of their friends are getting offers, and being excited.

DD noticed today quite a few pre interview rejections on the UEA thread on TSR. These are applicants with UCAT scores in the 2600 region, when applicants with lower UCAT scores have already been interviewed, back in December, which seems very odd. They say they rank the applicants on UCAT to select for interview, but in previous years, they've been able to interview everyone.