Medicine 2021 - Part 3

[SATSmadness]

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

Opopanox thank you. I do worry as it feels she is already at a disadvantage as not privately educated and we couldn’t afford to buy new clothes just for interview

Fwiw, I feel remote interviews is a great leveller. Outfits will be far less noticeable, and a nice top/jumper shouldn't be too hard for our dc. My dd is thinking she might even wear her school uniform to avoid having to choose something - probably more justifiable if doing the interviews at school (which she isn't).
For us it will save a fortune in flights and hotels and time off work and school. So, whilst I have reservations about how to build a rapport with interviewers online, I feel it will be ok overall.
Fingers crossed for a good week ahead for those with interviews.

Well Dd went with her plain black top, she looked smart enough and ,more importantly perhaps, she felt comfortable. I think that's ok.
Good luck to all with interviews and those still waiting - that was us last year so I know how hard it is.

Being comfortable is the main thing and feeling confident
I agree with @Millylovespuddles about how much we have saved with interviews being on line. Travel, accommodation and time off work would have been quite significant. Instead I’ve just travelled upstairs with the dog to leave DD in peace

Unless they wear something completely inappropriate like a slogan tee shirt, I think what they wear will make no difference at all. I have had no conversations withDD about what to wear, beyond what I think one interview email said plain rather than patterned.

Good luck to all with interviews this week. I'm not around when ds has his, which is good because I'd be so tempted to sit outside the room and listen in.

DD has a 3rd Medicine interview this week.

It seemed great getting that many interviews but she got distinctly bad/disinterested vibes from one of the first 2 so is hoping the 3rd goes better.

At the end of the day if they want to study medicine they only need 1 offer to come out of the 4 choices, oh, and then to make the grades of course.

Good luck to any DDs/DSs interviewing this week.

Yes good luck everyone for this week with interviews and interview invites

DD has had three interviews so far and her 4th is booked for mid January so we have a bit of a breather now - from interviews anyway, she’s full steam ahead with mock revision!

Well, as expected a rejection from Bristol. They have now rejected everybody with a UCAT of 2810 and below, and offered interviews to those with 2860 and above (at least for home students), and the rest are still in limbo. But being in the first category, it is a no for us. He would have got an interview every other year that they have used UCAT as their determinator, but as we know, scores have gone sky high this year.
Oh well, as people say, one only needs one offer, and he has two interviews and hopefully will receive a third. He did rather fancy Bristol, but not to be (unless he gets no offers, in which case we will be doing this again next year).

That's a shame binkom. It's such a scarily fierce year for Medicine applications.

It is frustrating with applicants not being 100% in the picture about this year's statistics before the deadline of 15th October as I've seen many sources of info stating that applying strategically is particularly important to maximise the chances of securing an offer for medicine.

I'm so sorry @bimkom. But you're right, focus on those other interviews now.

DD has two tomorrow. One in the morning and one late afternoon. I'll be taking the dog for a run and trying to stay out of the way.

Can't believe it all comes down to this. 😫

@bimkom I’m so sorry to hear that - again, such a high cut off this year compared to previous.

Two interviews in the bag though and another one to hopefully come so there’s still absolutely every reason to think positive.

@MaddieElla oh my goodness - massive amounts of positive vides and good luck to DD. DD has asked me to stay at home while she does hers, as technical support (not sure why as all I can do in instances of technical issues is stare at the screen saying ummmmm and hoping it fixes itself) but I do remember walking the legs off the dog while she sat her UCAT!

Dd had her first Oxford interview today. She felt it went 'ok', but how do you ever know?
She was happy to go back to school and has hockey afterwards, so that'll help.

She had a last-minute panic when she couldn't access her Gmail account (not knowing it was a world-wide issue) so it was a pretty tense start. I think she calmed down quicker than me, but tomorrow we'll have every alternative option and phone number at the ready. And I said I wasn't drinking tonight, but after that, I think I'm allowed! 🍷

Bimkom, sorry to hear your news, but let's hope you get good news for the last one.

Glad it went okay @Millylovespuddles what a nightmare with the Gmail though!

@bimkom I am really sorry to hear about Bristol. Certainly quite a UCAT hike this year and galling when your DS would have been okay in other years. Assuming 2810 ends up being cut off, this represents an increase of 120 over last year's cut off of 2690. So significantly worse than Sheffield's increase of 80. At least he has two good options in the bag and hoping his third comes through soon.

My DS had first interview today and he said he was happy with how it went. That's it for him until January now.

Good luck to all with new invites and interviews this week.

Sorry about Bristol @bimkom, fingers crossed for the others.
Glad the interviews went ok @Millylovespuddles and @opoponax.
Still nothing from Edinburgh, Dd is not bothered as it's bottom of her list. Her next interviews are in January so she's feeling quite relaxed just now.
Still hoping for good news for everyone.

@emummy

I think no news from Edinburgh is good news judging by the the rejection received by an applicant at DD's school. Someone that the school considered to have a very strong application too although we are in what's known as "the rest of the UK" as far as Scottish Unis are concerned and fewer places are therefore available.

Stories like that are quite scary @SATSmadness! Someone on student room got rejected with UCAT of 2890; Dd got 2750 but she has the advantage of achieved grades I guess. Not hopeful! She’s not keen on Edinburgh anyway - maybe because I went there

Hello everyone, just catching up on all the threads. Well done to all those who have had interviews. My DD had her first today. Thankfully it isn't her favourite option as apparently the interview was really weird and nothing like she had prepared for! Let's hope the next one is more like what she is expecting!! She now has friends who have interviews at the same Uni asking her what the questions were! Wish they wouldn't do that as puts her in such a difficult position!

DD also had hers today.

First one was in 2 parts so she had one and then joined another an hour later. The first of them went okay. Could have been better, could have been worse. The second of them went brilliantly.

The last one. Well. She's gone off to work in a coma like state. Nothing like she was expecting but from what she's told me I think she mostly said the right things. But they really put her through the ringer.

I need a vat of gin but I am so proud of her for getting this far, whatever happens now.

@redtulip12 I have a feeling they had the same Uni today...

@MaddieElla I think you are probably right!
Glad your DD found the first one ok. We don't have another until January so DD will focus on mocks and put today's interview to the back of her mind!

Ds had an interview this week too, he thinks it was ok. Not great but ok, 2 stations where he was massively probed and they ended up completely off topic! He's glad it's done but has no idea if he did well or not.

Still waiting to great from 3 unis here. Hope those who are waiting, and those who are not, manage to have a lovely Xmas break ready to hit all the challenges 2021 brings.