Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 3

[opoponax]

Anyone out there with DC applying or reapplying for Medicine 2023, please join a friendly thread for mutual support and useful advice.

@Thethingswedoforlove she liked the fact that the Med school is in the hospital at Notts, it has a fantastic skills lab, full body dissection for years 1 and 2, and the placements were not too far away (Trent is the smallest Deanary). But also because the lovely brand new hospital opposite the campus at Liverpool was not likely to open for a while (& a year later the developer went bankrupt). Hopefully it's open now.
She loved both cities, loved how cheap they were and loved the course structures. So it was a close thing. She was a lucky girl to get to choose 😊

@mumsneedwine she is clearly incredible ! Well done her. Very helpful, thank you

Thank you @mumsneedwine for your support which you give to this thread! And what an interview your DD must have had with such temperature. Obviously, examiners did see what they were looking for and found it in her answers. @christmaspartyseason I hope your DD did better then she thought and wish her best of luck!

😊 she's quite nice. Most of the time 😂.
Think being so ill meant she was very relaxed (or slightly off her head on pills). She couldn't even remember what she'd said when she came out. But it shows how you never can tell how you've done.
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend before it gets going again next week. Stay off a daily trip TSR or you'll go mad !!

Hi sorry I have a boring question re DD's interview at ARU on monday. We are driving up the day before and staying in a hotel. Does anyone know where the best place to park is on Monday morning? Their website just says plenty of parking in chelmsford. Thanks in advance

A tip for those doing online interviews - it really is worth doing a zoom practice run so you can adjust where eye-line falls, lighting, mic etc . DS was unconvinced but I persuaded him to have a go with us talking to each other from different rooms and we noticed that when he thought he was was looking directly at me on the screen he appeared to be looking downwards not making eye contact, plus his laptop camera was pretty fuzzy so a new little camera helped, plus moving a pot plant that looked like it was growing out of his ears!

It's really really hard to tell if an interview went well or not. Ds2's 'best' interview didn't result in an offer but his 'worst' did. I honestly think that sometimes good interviews feel tougher to the applicants because some med schools will go more into depth with the stronger candidates and push them a bit further in their answers. If the candidate's first answer is weak or on the wrong lines they're less likely to probe.

Ds1 was also one who did an interview with a high temperature feeling terrible. Immediately afterwards he crashed into bed for 5 days. The only thing he told me was that it was terrible and he definitely wasn't going to get an offer - lo and behold that's where he is now studying!

Good luck everyone!

Thank you @Haffdonga , that's really useful advice

Another one with experience that you really can't tell how it went. DS1 was convinced his interviews had been dreadful and added his 5th choice, expecting to do Biomed at Sheffield. He then got 3 offers. On TSR a few years ago they plotted how candidates thought they had done v offers for Cambridge (any subject) and there was a slightly inverse relationship.

If you have a bad interview I would say that if they feel up to it, it can be helpful to reflect on what they would have since differently so they can see it as a helpful learning experience. But if reflection will just make them more stressed about the next one, that is counterproductive. Such a difficult path to tread. 😕

wow @Monkey2001 it just goes to show…. Thank you for the encouragement

Hi everyone - could anyone tell me whether the MMI practice sessions offered by the likes of Medic Portal are useful? My DD's school is offering nothing by way of practice / preparation so I'm looking at other options for me. Any advice welcome!

Just place marking so that this comes up on Threads I'm On. DD still waiting nervously for interview offers. Not too optimistic about the BMAT options but still clinging on to the hope of getting interviews despite the disappointing scores. Manchester interview is booked for January. Still waiting for her other UCAT choice as well but we are more optimistic about that one!

@Africa2go we have not used any "paid for" resources, there are a lot of great resources on YouTube, my favourite is Ollie Burton. I don't think there is anything in the paid for courses which isn't in the book.

Brilliant thank you

My son is studying at ARU. In our experience parking in Chelmsford is tricky. There is no parking around the university campus. Does the hotel you are staying at provide parking? If so I suggest leaving the car there and walking to the campus. Good luck to your DD.

@CharlieSJ thank you. we found somewhere that was all day parking for £7, only 10 mins walk to ARU. We stayed out of town (got a bit muddled booking it) so couldnt walk in. How is your son finding ARU? My daughter really liked it. No idea how she did in the interview; will have to wait until Feb to find out.

We have a Newcastle interview on Friday - but staying at my sisters on Thursday. Not an easy week as I am going to my sisters first oncology appt on Thursday, so it's fairly stressful for my DD who is close to my sister. ( and extremely stressful for me and sister as we are extremely close and I alsoI work in oncology!)
Good luck to all who have interviews this week ( and esp to @Monkey2001 son).

We means DD - I haven't got an interview!!😂

Good luck to your DD, @coffeeandbiscuittime and so sorry your sister is going through cancer treatment. All the very best to you both.

Sending many positive thoughts to all dcs with interviews. But especially to @coffeeandbiscuittime with your sister’s appointment <flowers>

@coffeeandbiscuittime sending all good wishes to the 3 of you

@coffeeandbiscuittime wishing all the very best to you all for the next few days.

@coffeeandbiscuittime thanks for the shout out. Sorry to hear about the oncology appointment, but it must help that you can be there to support your sister. If you work in oncology, you know that the outlooks are improving all the time, hope she has the sort which responds well to treatment.

UEA was good, think it helped that he was not so anxious as it is his safety net choice - he loves the course but Norwich is far from home and GF, so not an ideal location, although he can absolutely see himself there. Ideal would be UEA course in Sheffield. He also has Newcastle interview on Friday - maybe they will be in the same batch!

Great to hear that UEA went well Monkey. Wishing your DS all the best for Newcastle on Friday too.

Good luck to all the interviews this week.
@coffeeandbiscuittime Sorry to hear about your sister's situation.
For us, Leicester interview is scheduled.
Still waiting for the other 3. Has anyone got invite from UCL? Some of my DD's friends got interview next week. Not yet for for DD.