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Original poster

Medicine 2021 - Part 3

999 replies

SATSmadness · 27/11/2020 12:35

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

OP posts:
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6
Katesometimeslate · 20/12/2020 14:53

How are all your dc preparing for interviews? Dd seems to be taking it very easy just keeping up with the news regarding covid. Hopefully she’s secretly talking to herself in the mirror but am not so sure Confused

MaddieElla · 20/12/2020 15:49

Hi @Katesometimeslate DD kept up to date with current health goings on, including Covid but in general too.

Ethical questions and scenarios are likely to come up, so knowledge of the ethical pillars and integrating that knowledge into answers is essential I'd say. DD read parts of the medical school interviews book and she spent a lot of time on the Medic Portal. Also made sure she knew the course and campuses inside out with pros (and cons) of each one.

I worried she hadn't done enough prep, but she definitely knew more than I gave her credit for so in the end I stepped back and stopped grilling her. She didn't memorise her answers or follow a script and she tried to get her personality across, which can be difficult on a Teams call! I'm sure your DD will be well prepared by the time her interview comes round. Good luck! Smile

LaLaFlottes · 20/12/2020 16:23

My DD sounds similar to @MaddieElla DD.

She definitely reached the point when she felt she’d done enough prep and it was more practice that she needed, I.e me asking her questions when she doesn’t know what’s coming and then thinking on her feet.

I think once the understand the ethical side of things they know how to answer these questions as the same kind of logic is applied regardless of the scenario in some ways.

DD used the book mostly to start with and then learnt about the course and the Uni itself.

Hope this helps - DD was definitely more prepared than I initially gave her credit for - I’m just not sure if her answers would have been in depth enough etc but we will see.

MaddieElla · 31/12/2020 20:45

Happy New Year everyone. Here's hoping for a 2021 full of offers for everyone. Wine

emummy · 01/01/2021 00:02

Happy new year everyone!

LaLaFlottes · 01/01/2021 00:35

Happy New Year! Let’s hope for a good year for all Star

Millylovespuddles · 01/01/2021 10:51

Happy NY and here's to good news in the coming months.....

Card1gan · 01/01/2021 14:18

Fingers crossed that 2021 is a good year for us all - med school applications and life!

opoponax · 01/01/2021 20:55

Happy New Year to all. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2021Star

redtulip12 · 01/01/2021 22:55

Happy New Year to you all. Hoping it's a successful one for all our hardworking kids!

Powergower · 02/01/2021 08:30

Happy New year to all! My dc have done very little work and seem even less motivated to start now that schools are not opening. Hoping things get back to normal for all our dc this year, I'm really worried about what is to happen with exams. Fingers crossed we make it to the end and can keep supporting each other on this thread. We are still waiting to hear from 3 unis so hoping we hear something next week.

Whereisthewine · 02/01/2021 20:28

What a great thread glad I’ve found it! DD has her first (Edinburgh) of two interviews in a few weeks. She’s panicking incase they ask a lot of personal questions, does anyone know if they just stick to the personal statement when it comes to the ‘tell me about yourself’ station?? It all just seems so unknown too in terms of the stations themselves and how they’ll manage a group station online should be interesting 😬

bimkom · 03/01/2021 21:12

Happy new year. Mocks have now been moved back a week (were supposed to start this week). Probably good, although DS doesn't know if the remote learning this week will be revision, or they will try and go on. It does mean that this first set of mocks are getting closer and closer to the second in February! And we have the Nottingham interview wedged in the middle at the end of January. Living in interesting times, as the Chinese curse is supposed to go.

LaLaFlottes · 04/01/2021 21:38

Feeling a bit strange after the announcement this evening. Clear as mud about exams. I do hope Universities don’t panic and assume everyone will be awarded their predicted grades and therefore make less offers Confused

Powergower · 04/01/2021 21:42

Good grief, anyone else shocked by the announcement tonight that exams might be cancelled? My dc in year 11 and 13 were off most of last term due to contracting covid and school isolations. Mocks next week are cancelled. Would be absolutely horrified if ds gets a med offer but then gets predicted grades lower than he needs for the course. He has predicted of A*AA for ucas but school did say these were not definitive if it came to cags this year as they simply don't have enough data. I'm also worried that cancelling exams will disengage them both from learning.

I just don't understand why the government can't vaccinate teachers as a priority, give them adequate ppe, keep all years remote learning except years 11 and 13. Everything is so last minute!

MaddieElla · 04/01/2021 21:45

I've had my first cry since March. It's the uncertainty more than anything.

Plus I didn't think about the fact that the Unis might make fewer offers. I feel sick.

opoponax · 04/01/2021 21:49

@LaLaFlottes that's exactly the conversation DH and I just had out of earshot of DS. Not sure what the implications are, particularly for offer numbers. Confused

Powergower · 04/01/2021 21:53

Feeling very overwhelmed here too, work is manic and then another school closure announcement. I think uni offers are going to be drastically reduced this year with terrible implications for so many applicants. I know Sunderland had mentioned in a recent live they make double the offers to places as so many students excel at interview but most of them don't make the grades. They'll be rethinking their offer rates. Sending hugs to anyone feeling crap tonight.

LaLaFlottes · 04/01/2021 22:05

I think fewer offers is a possibility but it depends on what is announced as the process for awarding grades. If the universities can have some reassurance that it will be done fairly and perhaps some sort of scaled back assessment will still take place then it might not be too bad?

Or maybe offers will be made but rather than being AAA they could be higher so requiring one or two A stars?

I think many places also over offer as they don’t expect to be everyone’s first choice or they know they are often an insurance choice?

LaLaFlottes · 04/01/2021 22:11

Also maybe some offers could be for 2022 perhaps?

Powergower · 04/01/2021 22:35

Some really good points there Lala! Fingers crossed for all applicants.

LaLaFlottes · 04/01/2021 22:53

Yes fingers crossed @Powergower Smile

One other thought I had was that there might be less offers made to begin with but more applicants placed “on hold” while Unis see how many applicants choose them as firm and insurance choices, with more offers than normal filtering out late in the process.

I may be clutching at straws, but I think one thing’s for sure, we can try and second guess this but this year, who knows!! I bet the universities are having to do some number crunching and I don't envy them either.

At the end of the day - someone still has to get the places, and if it’s not our DC then they will at least have all this experience of the process and interviews to take with them if they need to try again.

Chin up everyone - let’s see what the coming week brings and best of luck to everyone with forthcoming interviews and waiting to hear about interview dates.

Just would like to say how much I appreciate this thread and also welcome to @Whereisthewine - I’m glad you found us Smile

LaLaFlottes · 04/01/2021 22:57

@MaddieElla hope you are ok - I’ve also felt quite tearful at times today - it’s all very overwhelming at the moment and quite shocking how quickly things have descended back into lockdown.
I feel for our DC - but it’s not easy for us parents either. Sending hugs and of course Gin

NadiSel · 05/01/2021 00:23

I'm in a bit of a pickle and after some advice. Dd was hoping to resit Maths and Chem A levels to improve on the 2 Bs she got in CAGs last year to get into Med school in 2021. She got a place at a local school to redo her Maths and thats been great as she now has teacher evidence now that A levels have been cancelled. The problem is she could not get to redo Chemistry at school as there was not enough room in the class so she has been studying at home and was intending to resit the A level this summer. Now that the A level exams have been cancelled what can she do. She has no teacher based evidence so won't be able to get a CAG? And she has now been denied the chance to do an exam in it.

LaLaFlottes · 05/01/2021 11:22

@NadiSel I'm sorry your DD is in this position. It must be a horrible blow, especially after what I can imagine was a very stressful year last year.
Could she speak to the school to see if there is anything they can do for her re Chemistry? Although there isn't space for her in class, could they set work for her so that they can mark it and have something to base a grade on?

If that's not possible, are there any external exam centres that could help? I've seen these mentioned on other forums and I think they were able to provide CAGS last year.

Also, we still don't know what the alternative to A levels will be. There may still be externally set, externally marked assessments of some sort - I think this is what Wales are doing, so there may still be a way for your DD to sit these and get her grade.

Has DD applied this year or does she hold a place from last year? It could be worth contacting the Unis and asking them what their take on it would be. Assuming she can get her grade up to an A in Maths, and has an A in one other subject, she will have AAB, without sitting Chemistry, which could be acceptable if she has an EPQ or if the Unis are being flexible to the situation.

I did see someone reference a facebook group called Tutors and Exams and I just had a look. It seems to be a private candidate exam centre. You might find some good, helpful info there from people in a similar situation.

Good luck - I hope things become clearer soon.