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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Applying for medicine 2022 how to tactically apply

54 replies

jenthehen · 10/01/2021 19:11

My daughter is currently year 12. She’s really hoping to study medicine but she realises she’s up against tough competition. She’s bright but mainly 7’s and 8’s at GCSE rather than straight 9’s. She works so hard to get these grades and realises that straight A’s at A level are going to require intense study.
She’s realistic and knows that applying to the top medicine courses would be probably be unrealistic but she’s finding it hard to know where to apply. She’s studying Biology, Chemistry and Psychology. Can anyone offer any advice on which Unis she could apply to. She’s so far ruled out all unis requiring BMAT (she’s focusing on the UCAT), also ruled out London Unis due to living costs and also Exeter and Birmingham due to competition for places. There’s no real help available from school (state school) and we have no medics in the family. Any help and advice very welcome.

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jenthehen · 03/06/2021 07:49

Thanks @sandybayley we’ve got it marked on the calendar. As you say it’s starting to feel a bit scarily real.

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SeasonFinale · 03/06/2021 19:45

I am sure you will have already found the Medic Portal but it has comparison charts and shows what each uni looks for.

opoponax · 06/06/2021 14:01

@jenthehen just worth mentioning that a Medify subscription is definitely worthwhile for UCAT preparation. Once your DD has her UCAT out of the way, she will have a much clearer picture of her profile and then it is just a case of trawling through all the med schools online and making a spreadsheet with the weightings of their admissions criteria (they are all very different) and matching her profile up against them. She should also consider what kind of course structure she is looking for (e.g integrated/PBL). It is also worth looking at widening participation criteria for her specific school. e.g. Bristol have 40% widening participation places and there are a lot of non-selective state schools on their list. She would need a top UCAT for Bristol though. I'll PM you a potted summary of the key elements of the application she needs to consider. Happy to help you further if you want to PM me. My DS applied this year from a state selective and has four offers.

jenthehen · 06/06/2021 15:04

@opoponax congratulations to your son, 4 offers is absolutely fantastic. Thanks so much for your message, that’s really helpful. She’s signed up to Medify and will focus on the UCAT after her mocks. She’s certainly ‘on it’ in terms of working out what she needs to do, I just feel if I could help take some pressure off her in anyway it would free up more if her time for revision. Thanks so much for the offer of help and the best of luck to your DS with his grades.

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opoponax · 06/06/2021 16:39

Thank you @jenthehen. At the moment August feels quite a long time to wait for the A Level results. Wishing your DD all the best with her mocks.

Flyonawalk · 09/06/2021 18:37

Delurking to say that I wish all your talented DC the very best. Medicine applications certainly involve an extra layer of focus and dedication.

My question is, do you think A levels will go ahead in 2022? I have a year 12 DC and I have heard mixed opinions. Could we have yet another year of cancelled A levels do you think?

bimkom · 09/06/2021 19:48

@jenthehen - my DS did up a spreadsheet of all 31 (or whatever) medical schools and colour coded them UCAT and BMAT, and then put in all sorts of data. He felt Scotland was too far, and he didn't want London (because we live there), and he also decided he didn't want to do the BMAT. We then had various columns looking exactly at the strategic question, as well as other things that DS felt might be important to whittle the numbers down to four. He had slightly better GCSEs than your daughter, although he was helped by the fact that 8s and 9s were treated the same last year (somebody said a number of medical schools are changing that for next year, but I haven't seen that inside as we haven't needed to research again). He ended up applying to Nottingham, Sheffield, Bristol and Liverpool. Bristol he knew was a bit aspirational, as even though his UCAT would have made it in previous years, it was close to the cut off. And the UCAT for Bristol shot up this year, so not a hope of an interview. But he got interviews at Nottingham, Sheffield and Liverpool, (although Sheffield was a close thing, given the way the UCAT shot up), and offers from Nottingham and Sheffield, and he has just firmed Nottingham.

I haven't checked what the universities are in fact doing for next year's entry, but my guess is that they will put less weight on GCSEs than in previous years, given that a fair number of those applying will be giving CAGS. A number of universities this year put a greater emphasis on GCSEs because the current Year 13 actually sat them, and there was concern that (as it turned out), they would not sit proper A levels. The change might end up benefiting your daughter. Each of the universities does very carefully explain the way they decide who gets an interview (except for a couple that went back on what they said they would do, or are very opaque - we didn't get caught up in this, but some other people did - I think it was Plymouth for the first and Cardiff for the second this year). So the first step is getting an interview. But your DD also needs to bear in mind that this is just a first step, so many candidates on TSR with amazing UCAT scores got a slew of interviews but no offers, so interview is also pretty critical. But that is for the future.

bimkom · 09/06/2021 19:53

We eliminated Exeter first off because they prioritised people with achieved grades, and Cardiff because they wanted perfect GCSEs and Birmingham because DS wasn't contextual under their rules, and they gave a very heavy weight to contextual candidates this year. All or some of this might have changed for the coming year though, so you need to check the websites of each of these universities.

bimkom · 09/06/2021 20:05

I have just checked Nottingham's website (given that is where DS has firmed), and sure enough, they are giving far less weight (although still some weight) to GCSEs compared with last year. This year UCAT counts for up to 120 points and GCSEs for 32, with the Situational Judgement aspect carrying a whopping 60 points on its own. That is very different to last year. So for example while your DD might have struggled to get an interview at Nottingham last year, looks like she will have a much better chance this year if she aces the UCAT, and particularly the situational judgment.

bimkom · 09/06/2021 20:12

Liverpool I see on the website says that their criteria is still under review for next year. Last year they were determining it during lockdown, with it not even being clear if UCAT could go ahead, and if so, whether it would be done remotely (as in fact DS did it), so they switched to prioritising GCSEs, but I suspect the switch will be the other way this year.

jenthehen · 09/06/2021 22:09

Thanks for all of that info@bimkom. I’ll share it with her when she’s finished her mocks.

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sandybayley · 09/06/2021 22:18

DD has exams this week. Once they're over she has an extended essay to do and is then going to have a bit of a break before starting on UCAT prep - with a view to getting a slot in early August.

She says that she wants to wait and see how she does at UCAT before devoting much time to coming up with a shortlist.

bimkom · 09/06/2021 22:38

@sandybayley I can understand that, it is sensible. UCAT booking opened a bit later last year, and as mentioned it was always a bit questionable whether it was going to run properly at all. And DS didn't finally decide he was not doing the BMAT until after he had done his spreadsheet and seen what he was eliminating and how many realistic options he had left depending on the range of UCAT scores. I think doing the spreadsheet was for DS a bit of a motivator to keep plugging away at the UCAT. Unfortunately DS didn't do as well in the real thing as he was doing on Medify, and in retrospect he would not have done the test from home, as the calculator worked slightly differently and slowed him down somewhat. He still did well, but not superlatively, which is what was needed for an interview Bristol.

LaLaFlottes · 10/06/2021 12:46

@sandybayley that makes sense. As @bimkom says, last year UCAT was quite late so DD had done some research, but I think it was partly to put her mind at rest that she had options, based on her GCSEs, if UCAT went badly!

Once UCAT had gone really well, she decided not to do BMAT and really focused on drilling down into the courses - but also looking at previous interview to offer ratios so she could take them into account.

Once she got into it, she quickly ruled out some, didn’t want London, wanted to apply to St Andrews so then ruled out other Scottish options, ruled out Exeter due to their policies on achieved grades. She quite fancied full body dissection although not a deal breaker….. so it soon whittled down the list!! It was the first part that felt “fun” once she had her stats and could make it feel more real!

Re UCAT - DD had a Medify subscription and then also a bit later on we added a shorter subscription to Medentry too, just for some variation Smile

sandybayley · 10/06/2021 12:54

Thanks @LaLaFlottes - it's like bits of a jigsaw coming together isn't it? DD is fortunate in that she has very good GCSEs and, fingers crossed, will get very good predictions for IB. She's hoping 42 at least with 776 in Higher Levels. But until she has UCAT she can't focus on 'where'.

She has definitely ruled out London though, too close to home!

LaLaFlottes · 10/06/2021 13:13

@sandybayley exactly like a jigsaw! You need the full picture before making decisions!
Exciting though Smile

Needmoresleep · 19/06/2021 13:01

Spreadsheet is the way to go.

Having said that, you don't need four offers so if there is slack it is worth sticking in one or two aspirational options. It is a long course and so better to be somewhere that sounds appealing, perhaps far enough but not to far from home, and so on.

DD had a poor UCAT and was too ill to take BMAT, but luckily had strong grades. She decided from the outset that it would probably take two years and that first time round she would focus on places she wanted to go to, albeit ones that were likely to interview her, and then hope that achieved grades, more experience, and better aptitude test results the following year would mean she had a stronger chance. In the end she got two offers, one from her top choice, but had made so many plans for her gap year that she took one anyway.

One factor that was important to her was the ability to intercalate externally. I know others will argue that since intercalations no longer carry F1/F2 points they are not worth doing, but DD, who has just finished hers, is very pleased she had the opportunity to study something that interested her in a world leading research department. Not only does she now have scope, once she finishes her medical degree, to continue onto an academic PhD, but the additional science she has picked up should help when she starts applying for jobs within a traditionally competitive specialisation. Most importantly the science was apparently "really cool".

MidLifeCrisis007 · 28/06/2021 11:44

DD has booked her UCAT..... the only slot she could get was 8.00am on a Saturday morning. She might need a Red Bull to rev her up beforehand!

She's hoping to apply to UCAT unis only, so fingers crossed it goes well.

SandyBayley · 28/06/2021 12:09

@MidLifeCrisis007 - DD has a Saturday UCAT slot (7 August) at 8.30am. She's quite pleased with it as it is the week before our (possible) beach holiday.

MidLifeCrisis007 · 28/06/2021 12:17

We are the week before....at the same centre she did her Driving Theory at. With bugger all parking... GRRR.

MidLifeCrisis007 · 03/07/2021 11:20

Is it normal for people to completely panic when they see some of the UCAT questions for the first time? The abstract reasoning ones seem so difficult... or do you get better with practise?

DH and I were trying to help her last night but it soon became apparent that we have no clinical aptitude whatsoever.

mumsneedwine · 03/07/2021 11:47

@MidLifeCrisis007 yes ! First time DD looked at UCAT she was totally bemused by the whole thing. Never thought she could do it. It was never easy but practice and the UCAT 10,000 questions book helped (has lots of info on what types of patterns there are). Good luck. Whoever devised the UCAT is a sadist 🤓

MidLifeCrisis007 · 03/07/2021 12:06

[quote mumsneedwine]@MidLifeCrisis007 yes ! First time DD looked at UCAT she was totally bemused by the whole thing. Never thought she could do it. It was never easy but practice and the UCAT 10,000 questions book helped (has lots of info on what types of patterns there are). Good luck. Whoever devised the UCAT is a sadist 🤓[/quote]
Phew!

This mum certainly needs wine! Wine @mumsneedwine

Obviously I won't bother my little brain with it - don't think you can teach an old dog new tricks. But hopefully she'll be able to crack some of the UCAT codes/patterns/shadings/symmetries etc by the time of her test in 3 weeks' time.

I had no idea the test would be THAT hard.

But then again I just struggled with DS2's (14) end of year maths exam. Confused .......................And I'm a chartered accountant!

mumsneedwine · 03/07/2021 12:19

@MidLifeCrisis007 medify and UCAT free practice papers. And practice practice practice ! DD says the same pattern types come up a lot and you learn to spot them. Verbal and maths is just timing - not much time to think about answers so guess, flag and move on. Reasoning she found ok and she loved the SJT 😊

KingscoteStaff · 03/07/2021 13:18

Well I’m stressed already by having to follow two Med’22 threads in fear of missing a single pearl of wisdom!

We are picking DS up from uni this weekend - have left DD with Granny, Medify and a Chemistry essay for company.