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.

Is it just me or is this all starting to feel a little bit like the sorting hat in Harry Potter! 😂

Congratulations to everyone with offers. We are still waiting here and son just got an email from Cardiff saying they will be letting everyone know at the end of the month. I think Liverpool might be the end of the month too! My son is fine waiting it’s driving me crazy though!

We are on the waiting list for Sheffield, well done for getting an offer….think my DD is happy to go anywhere….but suspect Edinburgh or St Andrews would be her golden ticket. Saying that she was over the moon to get an offer from Aberdeen and such an obvious relief just to get an offer.

@Pip4764
That all sounds good for your DD- she must be so pleased. I don’t really understand the next step. For those like her who end up with more than one offer - if their top choices both ask for the same grades what is the rationale behind keeping one in reserve? I’ve always vaguely remembered from (not medicine ) years ago that you put your first choice down and then a second with lower grades as insurance. Most medical offers seem to be similar so what is the point of having a second?

Not heard from Edi here either, RUK. At least I presume not... not gonna ask her 🤣

@Cathpot Some people will have a slightly reduced grade offer from one due to contextualisation or EPQ but maybe not all places. Others might I guess be more flexible and take someone who narrowly misses a grade, for example one uni might accept someone with say a B in German but A stars in Biology and Chemistry, whereas another might reject them and want three As. Other unis have different offers, I think Keele was wanting at least one A star. The unis probably do know though that generally if they are placed as the reserve that they are unlikely to be coming there because most universities have the same offers.

I agree with what @Unexpecteddrivinginstructor said. Apart from the potential for contextual offers, there are some med schools which require 1 or 2 A stars (some of the London ones and Oxbridge). Liverpool and Leicester say A*AB = AAA, so are good insurance options.

Thanks. I had presumed there was no wiggle room if you didn’t meet exactly the offer. All the ones DD has applied to -their usual offer is AAA and I couldn’t really see the point of having 2 the same - although that is getting ahead of myself as she might not be in that position anyway.

I had presumed there was no wiggle room if you didn’t meet exactly the offer. All the ones DD has applied to -their usual offer is AAA and I couldn’t really see the point of having 2 the same

It's very difficult (well, impossible) to make a number of offers that will result in exactly hitting the target number of entrants. As we suffer severe financial penalties if we go over the target at all, most medical schools will aim to be slightly under and either take some near-missers or else fill places from a reserve list (the latter is more common now). Different medical schools do this differently and there's no way of knowing for sure what position you'll be in for your particular firm and insurance choices. However, they are more likely to take a near-misser who made them their firm choice than one who made them insurance.

Best bet is to make the one you most want to go to your firm choice. If you make your less-preferred university your firm just because it has higher offer conditions, bear in mind that if you meet these conditions you have to go there. You don't get to choose between your firm and insurance at that point. If you decline a firm choice that has already accepted you, you automatically also decline your insurance. That's how UCAS works. If your insurance has places available they might agree to make you a new offer so you can go there, but they might not, and in any case this depends on being able to get through to the right people on the phone during the Clearing period, which isn't easy.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne
Thank you very much for taking the time to explain that- very clear and helpful

Edinburgh offer here! RUK. AAB

So chuffed! Will have to decide which to firm - offer holder days booked at both already.

Congratulations to your DD @UnclearNuclear 🎉🎉🎉Is that Edinburgh RUK standard offer?

😊😊😊😊😊😊 well done. Keep them coming !

Congrats!

@opoponax AAA appears more typical. We may get postcode and/or military contextual. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dd just burst into the house crying. I thought she had crashed the car but she had got an offer from Edinburgh- her top top choice- so that was a roller coaster 5 seconds of parenting. She has now stopped crying. She has asked me to ask if she can firm that offer now and wait until she hears back from the other 2 for the insurance or does it all have to be done in one go? Do we look at accommodation now? Sorry too many questions- I do realise I could google this stuff

@Cathpot 😂 breathe !!!! No, she can't firm now and wait. You have to firm, insure and reject the rest on the same day. Check Edinburgh accommodation as it may be first come basis (used to be). In which case, if it's her favourite and she has an insurance she likes she could firm, insure and withdraw from the others. BUT don't do anything tonight ! Wait until not so emotional. Now go celebrate 🎉

@mumsneedwine
Thank you very much - sensible advice, she has an INSET day tomorrow and my day off so we can be calm and sorted then. Thank you for all advice and good wishes on this thread , it has been a real help and I hope there are more happy tears for everyone very soon.

I haven’t seen anything about medicine offer holders day at Edinburgh…will go and check it out. Well done!

Congratulations to the new offer holders, they are coming fast and furious now. Hang in there if you are still waiting for the first offer, most have not made many offers yet, there could still be an interminable wait.

Congratulations to your DD @Cathpot . Great news!

Congratulations to your DCs @Cathpot and @UnclearNuclear.

We are still waiting to hear from Bristol, Leicester and Liverpool. My DS is talking about taking a Gap year even if he manages to get a place this year. We need to understand what the process is once we have a response from all Unis. I guess we should talk to the admission teams before making any changes via UCAS (if the request needs to be done via UCAS of course). Perhaps some unis will not like this.

@Cratos once you get an offer, and are v v sure about deferring, contact the admissions team and ask. They can only say no. They won't worry about it and it will just come down to their bums on seats planning. If they say no you have to decide to either go in Sept, or do the whole process all over again 🥴.

We'll done @Cathpot's daughter! My oldest started at Edi in 2020, they don't let you book accommodation until your offer is confirmed, ie after A level results. So nothing to do yet. My daughter has already booked an offer holder day there because her 5th choice offer was from Edi too (med Chem) and is in the school hols (and they pay for an open return train ticket) so she will see what emerges medicine wise.