Medicine 2022 entry - How difficult is it really? *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[notmedicmum]

I couldn't find a thread for 2022 entrants to medicine - maybe I didn't look hard enough! DD is in Year 12 and has wanted to do medicine since Year 10. It's only this year that we realise the enormity of actually getting a place. Not only do you have to have brilliant grades, you must also have done work experience, volunteered (both difficult in the current situation), got excellent BMAT/UCAT scores. Oh, and you also must have cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for charity or climbed Kilimanjaro or won the Nobel Peace prize or found a cure for cancer (joking about the last two). How competitive is it REALLY? I'm not sure about the value of the last apart from being used as a selection tool as the unis get so many qualified applicants - and showing enterprise and drive. Apparently this sort of thing is even more important this year as getting work experience is very hard this year. How does climbing a mountain make you a better doctor anyway? And what can normal students do to improve their chances of success??

DD's last day of work experience today. She's been incredibly lucky as the NHS Trust she's at isn't allowing WE next week because of rising infection rates.

That 3,500 UCAT score sounds seriously impressive. I did read that the highest recorded score is 3,540

I had 3,000 in my head as the aspirational score as well. I'm getting a bit twitchy now with 2 weeks to go. I'm keen for her to take it and have something under her belt but if it goes less well than she hopes she will be despondent. How did your DD do last time @MidLifeCrisis007 if you don't mind me asking?

DD hasn't done the UCAT before @SandyBayley. She's just finished year 12.

3500 is "insane" as my DC would say. Last year 3160 was the lowest score that got you into the 99th percentile. So about 341 candidates last year for more than 3160. 3000 was in the 96th percentile, so about 1,000 candidates nationally got over 3,000. Would be very happy here with anything over 2,900, and worried if not over 2850.

www.ucat.ac.uk/results/

....... But that is because he can only apply to Newcastle and Manchester with a foundation year because of his A levels. For most candidates, the higher the better, but 2600 gives you plenty of options, and lower you just have to be strategic.

Student in question is insanely clever. And is hopefully off to Oxford. He 'really enjoyed' the UCAT 😳. Bit of an outlier !!!
My DD got 2710 and was thrilled with that 😊

Ah sorry @MidLifeCrisis007 I thought you had a re-applicant.

We're off to the Open Day at Birmingham tomorrow. Anyone else going? It's nit high up the list but DD is insanely excited to go to an actual RL open day. And also that she gets to wear scrubs at her WE today. Awaiting the selfie..,

If Exeter’s UCAT requirement was above 3000 for predicted grade applicants this past year, you wonder where it could end up next cycle if deferrals are significant.

Somebody posted Exeter's new Admissions Policy on TSR. There is no advantage to achieved grades this year compared to predicted, which makes sense as a significant proportion of the A*s awarded in 2020 and 2021 would have been As if exams had been taken. But Exeter are giving an even bigger boost to contextual applicants than Birmingham. I think it will be risky to apply as a non contextual applicant in 2022 unless you score over 90. At least this is quite transparent and the people with inflated CAGs/TAGs and contextual won't get quite all the interviews!
www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/recruitmentsites/docs/BMBS_detailed_admissions_process_2022_entry_V2.pdf

We toured Birmingham today. DD really didn't take to it.

The tour guides told her they didn't have to work very hard and that on placements they just sign in at the start of the day and could leave whenever they fancied. I'm sure neither is true but it put her right off. Shame as it's a nice campus and has a great range of hospitals in close proximity.

[quote Monkey2001]Somebody posted Exeter's new Admissions Policy on TSR. There is no advantage to achieved grades this year compared to predicted, which makes sense as a significant proportion of the A*s awarded in 2020 and 2021 would have been As if exams had been taken. But Exeter are giving an even bigger boost to contextual applicants than Birmingham. I think it will be risky to apply as a non contextual applicant in 2022 unless you score over 90. At least this is quite transparent and the people with inflated CAGs/TAGs and contextual won't get quite all the interviews!
www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/recruitmentsites/docs/BMBS_detailed_admissions_process_2022_entry_V2.pdf[/quote]
And so the unsuccessful 2021 applicants planning on re-applying are disadvantaged in yet another way !

I could weep for dd (again !) as no doubt other med schools will follow suit.

Now their grades in hand won't be advantageous in the way that those of the unsuccessful 2020 applicants, re-applying with CAGs/TAGs grades in hand, were this year.

Is there any other possible way her cohort of medicine 2021applicants could be shafted !

@SATSmadness Exeter contextual offers are made to quite a small section of students so most offers will be non contextual, state or private. If predicted 3 A stars and get a UCAT above 7th percentile I'd suggest it's worth having a go. You can never guarantee an interview and knowing where your stats fit best is half that battle. Get an amazing UCAT and Bristol is always now worth a go. Get a slightly less good one and Plymouth is worth a look.
Whoever they go they'll have fun. And become a doctor. I'm always suggest one of the newer Unis to students without stellar UCATs. Has worked so far !

@SATSMadness my DS is at Exeter and loves it. If you get an interview it is very good odds of getting an offer. With a high UCAT and 3 A*S I would recommend applying.

@SandyBayley

We toured Birmingham today. DD really didn't take to it.

The tour guides told her they didn't have to work very hard and that on placements they just sign in at the start of the day and could leave whenever they fancied. I'm sure neither is true but it put her right off. Shame as it's a nice campus and has a great range of hospitals in close proximity.

DD loved Birmingham. Thought the campus was great and will definitely be applying there.

It's funny how they can take a like or dislike to universities @MidLifeCrisis007 . I think Birmingham yesterday was strangely soulless and the comments of the tour guides didn't help. I have to give credit to Birmingham for putting on an open day in the circumstances but it was a strange affair compared to the 2019 ones I went to with DS1.

On the other hand DD took a day trip to Bristol last week on a sunny day and came back buzzing.

I'm sure the decision making is not in any way rational and it's probably just as well all our DC have different preferences so the applications are spread out a bit.

First day of UCAT today. Any early takers?

@satsmadness there is no ideal response to the unfairness of grades across years and systems at the moment. On the bright side, grades were not the issue for your DD, she excelled at all the academics but, like my DS1, but in an even tighter year, did not manage to impress sufficiently at interview. If she is still concerned about interviews, a few good pointers are:

• look at the offer to interview ratios again. Edinburgh is particularly high if you have the perfect stats required for interview.

• look at places which use academics post interview, Aberdeen give 5 extra points for achieved A levels and use shortlisting score as 50% of post interview score (unless they have changed this year). Several use SJT, so a band 1 may affect strategic approach.

• DS would have applied to Republic of Ireland if he had a language GCSE. They don't interview, selection is purely academic but you have to have a language GCSE - it is a lot cheaper, assuming UK students are still eligible for Home terms.

A lot of the people with As last year would not have achieved them in exams, it is a numbers thing, there were more than 50% more As than would have been permitted in normal moderation, so it does not really make sense to say they are so much better than predictions, although the variety of school approaches to CAGs, TAGs and predictions makes a mockery of the whole process which might make you laugh if it did not have such a significant impact on the lives affected. 2022 even more unfairness as it is IMPOSSIBLE to develop a fair outcome in the face of the educational disruption this cohort have suffered and we won't have teachers intervening to give grades which reflect expectations within a particular educational experience.

...... and I would not despair of the Sheffield reserve list. If they have been cautious, there could be a fair bit of movement there on results day.

Just a quick note to add to @Monkey2001 great advice for anyone reading and deciding where to apply to, especially if you have concerns about interview performance:

Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia also look at UCAT post interview. If I remember correctly applicants are ranked post interview based on UCAT and interview score, but SJT is included in the interview score, so the performance at interview is just a part of the decision to offer a place.

Just wanted to pop that info here in case it helps.

One of DD's friends is doing UCAT this afternoon!

You must let us know if you hear anything back @KingscoteStaff

DD seems to be doing OK on her mocks. I'm hoping that bodes well for the real thing. 12 days to go...

Have any friends of people on this thread done UCAT yet? I have been following TSR and people seem to be saying that VR passages are a bit shorter than Medify, AR easier and DM harder. There is a randomness in that they all get different questions from the bank, which is probably very unfair, but it would be difficult to see how else it could be done, unless they could be allowed to take it more than once in a season. There is a general consensus that of the official mocks on the UCAT website, C and D are the closest to the real thing.

DD did hers this morning @Monkey2001 and she echoes everything you've read on TSR. The VR passages were shorter, but more difficult to pinpoint details in and the DM was way harder than Medify. As those are the first 2 sections you do, it can derail students' confidence a bit.

Does anyone know where there is a link to upcoming Med School open days?

@MidLifeCrisis007 hope DD feels ok about how UCAT went. Now she can start to plan her strategy of where to apply.
Hope this is helpful. Not medicine only but most Unis have open days for all courses at same time.

www.opendays.com/

Good luck to everyone.

DD has hers next Saturday but has a friend doing it today and is waiting for a debrief. It's going to be quite a week with her UCAT and then DS1's GCSE results.

Hope it went well for your DD @MidLifeCrisis007 . At least now she can have a break and start narrowing down her choices.

@MidLifeCrisis007 great that it is out of the way, hope she was satisfied with the overall mark. It is a good point that it helps to be mentally prepared for the first 2 sections being worse than you expected if you prepared with Medify.

Not asking you to reveal her score unless you want to, but was it similar to her Medify scores overall?