Advice re medicine (Yr 11 DC)

[Africa2go]

I'm hoping for some MN wisdom.

DC has been talking about medicine on and off for years, but has gradually come to the decision that its definitely what she wants to aim for. We don't have any doctors in the family, no connections, and she'll be the first of our DC to apply for uni.

Currently end of Yr 11 - she's likely to get mostly 9s in GCSEs and is planning on Biology, Chemistry, Geography at A Level (with Core Maths). She's lined up some work experience / volunteering over the summer (physio company, local initiative for young people to comment on health care) and she's waiting for an interview for long term volunteering at a local hospital trust.

Is there anything else she needs to be doing now which will help her when she comes to apply? I've seen mention of the studentroom on some threads so she's looking at that and just reading around whats involved etc.

Many thanks in advance.

Mother of a 2nd year medic here. Sounds as though she's doing all the right things already. Try to find out what time of year your local health authority takes applications for hospital medical work experience next summer. In our area, it's January, and if you don't apply within a week or so, you'll miss the chance. School should tell her, but depends if the school has its act together. Useful to have interpersonal experiences with wide variety of people to be able to talk about in interviews - and sounds as though she'll have that covered. The next couple of years will be hard work for her - lots of hoops to jump through - but I bet she'll do great. Best of luck to her!

The tricky thing we found was that you can't really choose the unis you want to apply to until you've done UKCAT test in the summer of year 12, and then have to get your application in by October, so it's all quite a rush. We were glad we'd seen some places throughout year 12, so we knew the KIND of unis that she wanted (e.g. city centre or campus, PBL or not).
You have to look very carefully at selection criteria for different unis (not just the minimum requirements they publish, but how they rank applicants, as they'll reject loads that meet the minimum) and pick the ones that suit your application. Studentroom will give the lowdown on all that. But some give more weight to predicted A level grades, other to UKCAT results, others to GCSE results. Some are better options if you're weak at interviews, because they accept a higher proportion of interviewees, etc. It's a bit of a minefield, but applying strategically is key - and you won't really know your profile until summer of year 12. People who were close to getting into Oxbridge can end up without an offer if they don't take a strategic approach.

You may find this thread useful:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4102976-Medicine-2022-entry-How-difficult-is-it-really-title-edited-by-MNHQ-at-OPs-request?pg=13

Thank you, all really good advice. I've been through the threads, lots of great advice. Sounds stressful for everyone involved, just hoping that trying (!) to get some plans together now whilst she has some free time over summer will ease the pressure slightly.

Research and apply stratgeically:

www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/choosing-a-medical-school/comparisontool/