Medicine 2023 Entry

[opoponax]

Hi all,

I don't think there is a Medicine 2023 Entry thread yet, so it might be an idea to get one started.

Anyone out there with DC applying or reapplying for Medicine 2023, please join a friendly thread for mutual support and useful advice from those who understand the UK Medical School application process.

@AlexaShutUp I think she needs to chill a bit ! She doesn't need to have so much. Grades come first, then an EPQ if has time and is in a medical related subject, so can be useful at interview. A few places give lower offers if get an A so worth doing if can manage. She doesn't need masses of work experience. A job, some volunteering and a little medical stuff is fine. Med schools know it's hard to get into doctors at the moment so the on line stuff is just as valid.
Please don't get sucked into paying for stuff. The only thing worth getting is Medify 4-6 weeks before UCAT. There is a whole industry for stripping prospective Medic students their money.

Volunteering can be helping littler pick, or make tea at local drop in centre or church. Could try helping at riding for the disabled, or an after school club. They just want to know you can care a bit and commit to something.

[quote mumsneedwine]@AlexaShutUp I think she needs to chill a bit ! She doesn't need to have so much. Grades come first, then an EPQ if has time and is in a medical related subject, so can be useful at interview. A few places give lower offers if get an A so worth doing if can manage. She doesn't need masses of work experience. A job, some volunteering and a little medical stuff is fine. Med schools know it's hard to get into doctors at the moment so the on line stuff is just as valid.
Please don't get sucked into paying for stuff. The only thing worth getting is Medify 4-6 weeks before UCAT. There is a whole industry for stripping prospective Medic students their money.[/quote]
Thank you @mumsneedwine. She is currently predicted A*s so grades seem to be on track. She definitely wants to do the EPQ and has some topic ideas - probably something to do with medical ethics or that kind of thing.

I think the volunteering is the next thing she needs to think about. She used to help out at Rainbows once a week before lockdown, but she quite fancies some sort of befriending scheme for older people so will look at opportunities for that. Will definitely explore whether she can find an opportunity to teach something performing arts related for disabled kids as she would absolutely love doing something like that... it's just finding the opportunities.

But yes, you're probably right...we both need to chill a bit.

I totally agree with keeping it dialled down @AlexaShutUp. It is a long haul ahead - save your energy! I definitely wouldn't be paying for any work experience. Some in my DS's school did it and there was no correlation at all with who ended up with most med school offers.

The point of work experience is to face situations which use the skills which would make you a good doctor. Reflection, reflection, reflection! If something happens where they have to use empathy, teamwork (either taking lead or supporting), communicating with all types of people, it is worth noting do they can use it if the relevant skills come up at interview. The medical school websites set out the skills they are looking for.

Most medical schools no longer score PS, some use it as a stage gate in shortlisting, lots don't even read it. It is worth knowing how they use it before sweating blood getting it right!

Re choosing medical school, DS1 wanted full body dissection and didn't want London, he also wanted to drop Biology after AS (Bio grades at his school were poor, no A*s for the last few years)

We also recommend Medify for 6 weeks and not paying for work experience. DS1 volunteered at Riding for Disabled and had a job at GP surgery in his gap year.

DD's school they haven't given any predicted grades yet. They wait until after the Y12 summer term exams before making first stab predictions and stress that it could change again by the autumn term. Could be a ploy to keep them all working hard! My DS's school did the same. We only have indicative grades at the moment.

@opoponax

DD's school they haven't given any predicted grades yet. They wait until after the Y12 summer term exams before making first stab predictions and stress that it could change again by the autumn term. Could be a ploy to keep them all working hard! My DS's school did the same. We only have indicative grades at the moment.

DD has been given "minimum expected grades" (based entirely on projections from GCSE results), current "working at" grades (based on assessments so far) and "most likely" grades (based on teacher's overall judgement).

They have been clear though that nothing is set in stone and that grades can go up or down between now and the end of year 13!!

On whittling down the medical school options, DS ruled out Oxbridge (wanted early clinical) and London schools (home) very early on, did his spreadsheet analysis on the rest and was drawn more to the city based UCAT-heavier schools (course structure and city over campus) but kept an open mind until UCAT was done as it all felt very hypothetical until that was in hand. His UCAT went very well and he decided that for him it wasn't worth doing BMAT as Leeds was the only BMAT one that he might apply to but there were other UCAT ones that he probably liked more. So it all kind of fell into place over the summer months. No need to worry about not having a clear idea at this stage. It does naturally evolve as the jigsaw pieces fill in.

Yes I think the grade prediction process varies quite a lot by school @AlexaShutUp. DD's BF already has all A star A Level predictions from his school. In DD's school, 90%+ in assessments across subjects only merits 'working at A' (spring term) as school takes the view that DC had not yet covered enough of the A Level syllabus yet to assess A star performance. I think they will incorporate A stars after the more intense summer term exams.

My DS s school has given them Minimum Expected Grades based on their GCSE s at the beginning of the course. Then each term they received Progress Grades (for him these were lower than minimum expected grades unfortunately). He has got A B B at the moment. They have final exams first week of May and then they will get their Predicted grades in June. I am pretty concerned at this stage since he doesn't have much time left to increase those grades 😬 and we don't have a back up plan yet.

@Cratos I think that with some DC it can take some time to make the leap from GCSE to A Level challenge so the final exams in May should carry more weighting in predicted grades than assessments earlier in the year. Also, predicted grades are supposed to be optimistically realistic so, if your DS is already working at high Bs and so very close to an A standard, that could translate into As for predicted grades. However, there does seem to be differences between how schools make their A Level predictions and some seem to be punchier than others. Could your DS maybe ask his teachers how close he is to As in his current grades to give him an idea of how far off he is to help him prepare for his May exams?

@opoponax thanks for the suggestion. I will ask him to ask that question to his teachers. The school doesn't communicate with parents much. He has got a girlfriend since last Summer and the relationship distracted him from his studies. His GCSE s were brilliant. He also experienced an injury when playing football and he will need a surgery. He has been unlucky since I don't know how we will time this surgery with everything else going on during this process. They have a lot to do.

They do have a lot to do @Cratos and being normal teenagers and having some fun is so important too. Of course, it's all about balance and they have to work that out for themselves but they haven't exactly had a normal couple of years to mature into it. If your DS really focuses on his revision now, given his GCSE performance, it sounds like he should be able to pull the As out of the bag.

The football injury is unlucky. I guess the timing of the surgery depends on how soon it needs to be done, how much say you have on timing and how painful and protracted the recovery is. If it can wait and you can choose when and the recovery is mainly physio/exercises but not too painful, towards the end of the summer term could maybe be the least disruptive as he could work on his UCAT prep while he is recovering. The alternative would be to really focus on UCAT and get an earlier test date in August and afterwards have the surgery done before he goes back to school in September. Don't jeopardise the UCAT though as it is really important to prepare properly and do his absolute best in that.

@opoponax that is so true. They would like to have fun and make new friends at this stage as well. College life and timetable are very new to them too. Plus travelling can take a lot of their time. Then there are other things they want to learn such as driving etc.
I hope that he will be able to focus and work in the next 3 weeks.
Thanks for your suggestions about the surgery. That is very helpful. He needs to use a sling for 6 weeks after the surgery. Thankfully he writes with the other hand. He can do some academic work during this time.
Thank you so much for starting this thread.

@Cratos sorry I didn't realise that one arm would be fully out of action. I think for UCAT prep and exam it would be much better for your DS to have his two hands fully functional as I remember notepads and pens in use as well as the screen and speed really is of the essence so you don't want anything slowing you down at all. It might be better to have the op in the summer term as soon as he can after exams are done and have recovery period alongside general school work before the build up to the UCAT starts.

We've been to Plymouth open day today and dd is very impressed, despite initially thinking it's too far away. Liked that it seems to be so supportive of students and strives to reduce pressure.

My son pretty much decided where he wanted to go based on course (wanted integrated teaching style/ plus dissection/ early patient contact/ not moving completely away for placement years), then city (wanted city with lots going on but not London). However, even though his Ucat was good, it still ruled out his initial favourite options so the pool of options got smaller. So my tip would be to get a big list together and not get too attached to any options until Ucat results are out. Didn't consider Bmat at all as didn't want to apply blind, also not interested in Oxbridge.

Also, look at criteria for widening particpation, this can vary greatly between unis, eg. Birmingham this year (22 entry) had a v long list of state schools that would have lower requirements for interview offer, while some unis give lower than standard offers due to postcode for example.

It's all very complicated and even with top gcses and all a * predications and relatively high ucat you can be caught out, eg Edinburgh wanted crazily high Ucat, Notts valued SJT band 1 over higher ucats with SJT Band 2s (22 entry). Others want an extra form completed outlining roles and responsibilities (as if completing the personal statement wasn't enough!!,)

Also, potentially everything can change year to year so make sure you are working with the most up to date info.

Also, must add advice
on here has been invaluable, especially as the advice from ds' school was a bit hit and miss.

Placemarking and nervously joining!

My DS is a 2023 applicant, is fortunate to have a future medics programme at his college. However he is so laid back...! He's taking biology chemistry maths and further maths.

He only spends half his time with me and his father is uninterested.

He only has very few med schools on his list with a few back up options for non-medical unis for chemistry options.

Pluses are- he's been working in a cafe/food place for 18 months already plus supermarket over Christmas - absolute workaholic! He's very bright - but I've explained all med students will be.

Negatives - dyslexic and tells me that as he was assessed in year 6 this has no bearing - I have a 100 page report from the Dyslexia Association that says otherwise surely?! Very fussy about extra experience he will take on! Work experience at our local hospital is due to take place over summer and he is going to a short residential summer school at HYMS simply as it's our closest despite not being an option for him.

We've missed some open days due to his laid back attitude, prior commitments and partly our geographical location but I've pushed for us to go to others shortly.

Grateful for any advice

I'm going to pore over this thread!

Hello @Neu .

Dyslexia is absolutely a "thing" for Biology A level - the mark schemes are narrow and you have to use exactly the right words, so dyslexic people I know have underperformed significantly in Biology. Most people would advise him to give up FM as medical schools are not interested in it and it may distract him from getting A/A* in the other subjects. Sounds like he might do really well in UCAT though, has he booked it yet?

@Monkey2001 I've text him to ask earlier on as he's at his dads. He hates being asked about it, very secretive!

He adores maths and refuses to give it up. He's always been streets ahead and was helping out in Year 6 classes when he was in year 3. He started further maths at GCSE and declares it's just like one A level to him.

He's on target at predicted A* and got all 8/9 at GCSE so as long as he remains motivated I am hopeful he will be ok.

I think I'll drop his college an email re dyslexia as I'm wondering if they're even aware! Very interesting re biology as well, I'll pass all this on in a drip feeding manner to him so thank you!

Hi All,

My DS 's end of year exam results were out today. He studied well during the last 2 months and he did get A* for Chemistry and A for Biology & Maths.

However his Progress review looks like below
Autumn (AB / AB / B)
Spring (ABB)
Summer (AAB)

He is doing a language A level that is finishing this year as well. This result will come on the 18th of August. Hopefully this will be an A.

We will not know his predicted results till July now. Everything is uncertain.
Progress review marks, exam results and predicted grades ....we are trying to make sense of them.

Due to a couple of personal reasons things didn't go well for him at the beginning of the year unfortunately. I am not sure if he will have the grades to apply to medicine. Only his Maths teacher wanted to have a parents evening with us. We think that we need to speak/write to his tutor perhaps to get a feel about what they think.

If you have any advice I would be grateful. Take care,

@Cratos - Not all medical schools look at predicted A-Level grades. If he's confident of getting the grades required at the end of year 13 there will be places he can apply with AAB or ABB predictions. He does have to look carefully, though, and make sure he understands how the medical schools he can apply to use GCSE grades, UCAT scores, etc.
In my experience, very few schools/colleges give good advice on medicine/dentistry/veterinary applications, even ones that are very good on Oxbridge applications, so he should do his own research.