Medicine - 2024 Entry

[LaMereDuChat]

Just thought I'd start a thread for anyone else who feels like me... Dd has just announced that she'd really like to apply for medicine. It seems pretty much impossible to get into and I'm dreading the process as the odds are stacked against her - private schooled, grades a bit iffy as she's chosen a language as an A-Level and it's hard, though she loves it. Anyone want to join the pity party 😬?

My daughter has drama, chemistry and biology A levels. And only double science GCSE.

She has graduated this summer but nobody blinked an eye. I worried she might feel less scienced-up than the others but she got honours.

@stranger and another one, my eldest dd currently 4th year at edinburgh got 4 offers and did the exact same combination, biology, chemistry and english literature.

@Stranger3 at the Oxford open day that we attended, someone asked that question and they were very clear in saying that they don’t require maths and actually really welcome applicants presenting with less common subject combinations (as long as they have the other 2 as per requirements, of course). However, most Cambridge colleges definitely do prefer maths - I couldn’t find any that didn’t have it as a stated preference but maybe I gave up too quick!

Actually now that I think about it, it wasn’t so much maths that Cambridge were after, more 3 science subjects (which included maths) so I guess technically it could be bio, Chem and physics

thank you so much for all the replies re Maths. It is great to hear people with the same subject choices ended up doing so brilliantly :). @Undecidedat46 that is very helpful re Oxford and Cambridge. Yes, her school told her specifically about Cambridge that she may be disadvantaged without Maths or a third science. I hadn’t even been aware she had been considering Cambridge but she did seem a bit put out. But it’s good to be aware of this and also that even if it does rule out some/most Cambridge colleges, it is not the case for all the good courses!

Hi all, it just occurred to us that we haven’t seen all the unis we are applying to now that we know his UCAT score! So off to Birmingham in October and doing an online one at Kings in September!
this process is weird - I’m presuming everyone else hasn’t seen all the unis they are applying to either?! How can you know?!

Re Maths I really tried to convince DS not to do it - he dropped French which was his fourth Alevel and kept Maths which he is definitely finding hard - predicted A but I would definitely not recommend doing it unless you are super good at it (DS got a 9 in maths and also an 8 in Further Maths) but still finding it hard!

But it’s good to be aware of this and also that even if it does rule out some/most Cambridge colleges, it is not the case for all the good courses!

Try to avoid thinking about 'good' courses, medicine is very different to other subjects and it is really important that she thinks about her learning style and what would suit her in becoming a doctor. The syllabus is closely controlled by the BMA so they all learn the same thing. Once they finish their undergraduate degree the recruitment to the next stage is done without the recruiter knowing where they studied. I don't fully understand the ins and outs myself but they need to pick the course where they will be happiest and most likely to complete.

Although Cambridge course structure is changing for future cohorts, my dd ruled it out almost straightaway because she did not want to spend another three years just concentrating on the academic aspect of study, she learns better when she can understand why she is doing something and how to apply it. She learns well in groups and doing independent study. The location of Cambridge is also not where she wants to spend five years of her life. Her grades and ucat (she didn't do BMAT because she wasn't interested in the courses) would have got her into any uni, so she went with her preferences (type of campus, location, course structure, friendliness of students etc.) having visited quite a few. Hopefully it will mean she is happy and able to learn in a way which suits her. This means in their final assessment she will be competitive for the next stage.

What's the best medical school ? The one that takes you.

All courses are great. All Unis produce good doctors. No one cares where you go once on the wards. Ask yourself how often you've questioned a doctor on where they went to Uni. Me ? Never. I just want them to make me better.

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor you are absolutely right of course. In fact I was making the same point to her - that there isn’t (or there is no longer) really such a thing as a good or bad medicine course, although I didn’t know (and still dont) exactly how this works. I hadn’t realised that recruitment to the next stage was done without knowing where they had studied. I think she thinks of Oxbridge in medicine in the same way of Oxbridge in general and i am trying to explain it really is different. And I suppose i still dont know enough about the implications for their future careers of the uni they went to, beyond the fact that they obviously need to enjoy the course and graduate successfully etc. But i certainly see that getting an offer from a place that appeals to her and suits her learning style is best outcome here.

@Mumofboys2006 we haven't been to all the Uni’s either………my daughter still isn’t 100% sure which ones she’s applying to until the interim deciles are out tomorrow - it’s such a stressful process 😣

@Stranger3 Oxbridge courses give no early patient contact, which puts a lot of students off. Cambridge are talking about changing this as they realise that learning to communicate early is important.
There is no benefit to any Uni when applying for jobs. This year they get a random number and this determines how likely they are to get their choice of Deanery or jobs. New process that is not very popular with students so might change again by the time yours graduate.
It all comes down to UCAT in the end. You can want to go to Bristol all you like, but UCAT under 2900 and you're not going. (I really hope it comes down this year !).
Look at each Uni, location and type, look at course details (where are the placements, do they provide accommodation if they are a long way from base, dissection vs prosecution, etc).

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor I agree 100% with every word 😊

Have learnt from the best 🤣.

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor 😂🤣

I am now learning from the best too :). Thank you!

Just checking - in case dd can't pull up her predicted grade for her language, is it just Liverpool, KMMS and St Georges that don't loook at predicted grades (and Notts, but that's above her UCAT grade anyway)? Obviously she'll need an A at the end, but although dd has presented a plan with trips abroad etc for self improvement, the school are unlikely to budge from a B in time for next month's deadline, I fear...

@LaMereDuChat check these Aston, Lincoln , Nottingham, Liverpool, keel, queen Belfast , Sunderland , Brighton , Kent and Medway . these are from my research but I advise to look at all univs and see what they say about predicted grades .

also did you look at any contextual as every univ have different criteria .

Thanks @Ib1234567 - didn't have Sunderland down. Unfortunately there's very little chance of us getting any contextual markers (Polar 5 address, independent school and DH and I went to university). She'll just have to work harder!

@LaMereDuChat what do these
polar numbers mean? I googled our postcode and it came out as Polar4 Quintile 5 - how does that compare to others? I’m assuming it means a lot of pupils go on to higher education.
Also, how are schools assessed? My daughters school is a state school but I believe it has high proportions of GCSE and A-level passes, is there a way of finding out how it is perceived by universities? Thanks 😊

Hi @SuperSue77 - if you Google Birmingham medicine calculator then all you need is within it (list of contextual schools, Polar4 calculator). Unfortunately your address is the same as mine - Polar level 5 is as far from any contextual points as you can get!

@LaMereDuChat thanks for the explanation - when it said polar4 I thought we were in the 4th block, so didn’t understand the 5th quintile - I see it is a Polar4 calculator and we are in the 5th quintile. Thanks for mentioning the Birmingham medical calculator, I’ll take a look. I don’t think my daughter’s state school will help her in terms of contextual either given the results they achieve.

We have been discussing DD’s 4 choices for unis. Up to now DD wasn’t keen on London universities but she is now considering St George’s. She is also mentioning Lincoln. Anyone got any experience of these unis as we don’t know anyone who has been to either.

So as the college deadline is fast approaching for the UCAS form this week, DS is starting to be a bit unsure of what to pick.

So far he has Medicine at Liverpool and Edge Hill. We know there may be better choices but for now he wants to stay close to home and this is it. He's starting to have doubts about medicine and being near to home is currently slightly more of a priority so may pick three other options at the same two unis but non medicine.

College need his medicine choices this week. Can he leave the other 3 choices blank and go back and input at a later date?

We may do another open day to go back and ask about not medicine courses.

Also how will this impact his personal statement? Should he be tailoring for medicine/or non medicine or are they all generic - hobbies, work experience, job etc etc. I'm assuming all the stuff on here about teamwork, leadership, communication etc will be valuable whatever subject he picks?

Just wrestling with checking DD's long list to short list process and I don't think we are quite following the Edinburgh process. Am I right in thinking that that it scores achieved GCSEs and predicted A levels (it doesn't seem to say "predicted" but surely can't only want achieved grades?). And it seems to say that one has to have Astar in chem. Does that sound right?