Medicine 2022 - Decision time!

[Monkey2001]

Support thread for aspiring medics.

We want all our DCs to succeed, whatever their school type. We share knowledge to help them to achieve their goals, celebrate success and support if things don't go well.

Lots of interviews now done, fingers crossed for lots of offers, but we know it is a tough year and that most applicants will have a bumpy ride. Best of luck everyone!

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/a4358647-Medicine-2022-entry?msgid=114590369#114590369

2023 applicant thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4459778-Medicine-2023-Entry

Great open day at Newcastle - good stash of a tote bag, a pen and a buffet lunch!

The head of admissions said that they were currently planning another tranche of offers, but wanted to have another full meeting with all providers first.

Chatting to parents, most DC there had at least 2 offers, so lots of opportunity for trickle down once they press the button.

@KingscoteStaff

Great open day at Newcastle - good stash of a tote bag, a pen and a buffet lunch!

The head of admissions said that they were currently planning another tranche of offers, but wanted to have another full meeting with all providers first.

Chatting to parents, most DC there had at least 2 offers, so lots of opportunity for trickle down once they press the button.

Thats great news. It gives hope to us sitting on the hold list.

Thank you for taking the time to let us know. I really appreciate it

Has anyones DC heard from UEA? DD says that some are saying on TSR that their TRACK (?) has updated with offers but she has heard nothing. Thank you!

@olafolaf

Has anyones DC heard from UEA? DD says that some are saying on TSR that their TRACK (?) has updated with offers but she has heard nothing. Thank you!

We are still waiting. Nothing from them so far

Congratulations @Nightowlpossibly, it is great to have options.

@KingscoteStaff thanks for the update. I still wish they would disclose interview scores to applicants on hold, and it doesn't sound like the next tranche is going to be soon, but at least it is on the horizon. Had your DD decided where she is going?

She wants to have one final think over the weekend and maybe a quick word with her teachers on Tuesday.

@KingscoteStaff we were also at the Newcastle open day yesterday. DS really liked both uni and city, and I think the changes they are making on the course to split cohorts into groups that will rotate to the further away placements together sound positive. Just waiting here to hear one way or the other from KCL and he'll be able to make a decision!

Ds was also at Newcastle yesterday (you may have spotted the older one with inappropriate piecings 😉) and really liked it. His concerns about the possible year in Carlisle were assuaged a lot by chatting to current students who also said the accommodation is free if you get Carlisle.
He is thinking of firming NC (which would presumably free up places on Sheffield and Leicester waiting lists) but he's shoping to hear from Bristol first before making a decision - so back to stalemate on the offer/ acceptance game of chicken.
He also heard heard the presentation saying that NC will be making more offers so plenty of movement yet to come.

@Haffdonga and @Solarlantern We were so impressed by the Newcastle presentation - particularly by the feeling that they are always looking for ways to tweak their curriculum to better prepare their students and improve their experience.

And we had a brilliant breakfast down at the quayside with a view of the bridges and the Baltic!

@Haffdonga

Ds was also at Newcastle yesterday (you may have spotted the older one with inappropriate piecings 😉) and really liked it. His concerns about the possible year in Carlisle were assuaged a lot by chatting to current students who also said the accommodation is free if you get Carlisle. He is thinking of firming NC (which would presumably free up places on Sheffield and Leicester waiting lists) but he's shoping to hear from Bristol first before making a decision - so back to stalemate on the offer/ acceptance game of chicken. He also heard heard the presentation saying that NC will be making more offers so plenty of movement yet to come.

Oh I so hope for a Newcastle offer for my DC

We are north of the border looking at their only offer today. Sun is shining and Edinburgh is bustling with activity

Edinburgh is a fantastic uni and city. Hope you both have a great day @Kackle

We only had a virtual offer day at Newcastle last year but even that was really impressive. For DS the reality has matched the dream so far. The Y1 course content, communication and placements have all been excellent and he has had good F2F contact. They do seem to be constantly looking for ways to tweak things to improve preparedness and the experience. The new groupings within cohorts is an example and seems to have been well-received.

On the social side, Newcastle is a great city - fun, friendly and compact with excellent transport links. The Georgian architecture is beautiful and the quayside area and the Baltic are fab. The coast is only short hop away too.

However, all that said, I think the truth is that the DC make their choice, if they are lucky enough to have one, embrace it and most will go on with that positivity to love wherever they end up.

@Kackle Edinburgh a brilliant option too. I know it extremely well. If your DC ends up there, they are sure to love it.

Newcastle has a very atypical admissions procedure and one for those who are very confident of high UCAT scores.

The scores do seem to vary quite a bit depending on whether you qualify for a contextual offer or not.

These are from its website for the past four years.

UCAT threshold: based on 4 domains
UCAT threshold: based on 4 domains
UCAT threshold: based on 4 domains
UCAT threshold: based on 4 domains
Admission entry year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Average national score
1893
2540
2485
2483
2485
A100 interview threshold
2000
2580
2720
2730
2820
A100 WP/PARTNERS interview threshold
1950
2530
2550
2620
2720
A100 Sutton Trust interview threshold
2540
A101 interview threshold
2040
2940
2920
2910
3030

Newcastle has extremely high UCAT cut-offs for interviews as can be seen. So not for the faint hearted.

The Sutton Trust have only been able to supply a cut-off for 2021. Can anyone shed any light on why Sutton's cut off is below the cut-off for Newcastle's own WP scheme? Just curious.

Newcastle's Partners scheme is one of the broadest WP schemes around, eg Asian applicants from grammar schools are eligible just because of race. My son would have been eligible as 25% Asian and at state school, but he thought it was ridiculous as he had suffered no disadvantage from it, so would not ask school to sign the form confirming.

To get onto a Sutton Trust programme you usually need to tick some of the other boxes as well as state school, so is more targeted on people who are likely to have actually been disadvantaged. I think Sutton Trust may also be locally focused, so all good reasons to be gentle with Sutton Trust applicants.

Button pressed! Newcastle firm, Bristol insurance. Phew…

Yay @KingscoteStaff.

Obviously wish it had been the other way round (😉), but congratulations!! Hope DS might get to meet her there.....

@Monkey2001 how confident are you of getting a waitlist place for Newcastle before 19/5

We really liked Edinburgh but hoping to wait till v last min to confirm incase Newcastle offers.

I wish they would tell us where we are on the list. The email we got from them said we just fell short of score for initial offer and thus being held.

I suppose there must be hope following other posts upthread that another tranche of offers is due. I guess though we don't know know if another 10 or 100 offers are to be made.

TSR posters who went to the offer holders day are saying multiple people with 3 or 4 offers - am praying for some sort of movement

Two of the universities medical admissions people I spoke to a few weeks ago said that they preferentially gave offers to those on their waitlist who had no offers from other universities so that the maximum number of students got at least one offer to study medicine nationally.

@notmedicmum - do universities know if a student has offers elsewhere? I don't think they did.

They do after May 19th. But not sure what they are going to do if students are on 2 or more waiting lists, so no offer. This will just show as rejection.

I thought they could not see what offers you had until you firmed. I don't think it would be reasonable for medical schools to choose the people without other offers. Ultimately all the places will be filled and people should be offered the ones for which they were good enough in the admissions process so they can make choices, not have the decision made for them

@kackle we are not at all confident, but also wish Newcastle would be more transparent about where you are on the list. I think we could be waiting until results day before DS knows whether he is taking a gap year.

@Monkey2001 it may be June 9th the Unis can see who has firmed or insured - it's been a while since I've looked at dates as normally not really an issue 🥺.
Anyone on a wait list will show as a rejection so a student could therefore end up with 4 wait list offers if Unis give to students with no offers on UCAS.
I have no idea what the next few weeks will bring, except a lot of frustration and more waiting.

Son has firmed Sheffield and put Liverpool as insurance. All the best to everyone still waiting and congrats to those with offers. What a strange and stressful process this is.