Medicine 2023 Entry - Part 4

[opoponax]

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

@Pip4764 good luck to your DD tomorrow as well.

Good luck to all those waiting on Highers. I am mostly managing to avoid thinking about A level results for DD but I imagine the day before -that is going to be very hard to maintain. We are having half conversations about things like what to take to uni and then stopping as can’t know for certain that it’s happening. I keep quietly buying things like extra duvet covers and laundry bags but not telling her!

Finally had a plan B conversation with her this week, I had been avoiding it as I didn’t know how to bring it up without making her worry that I think she will need one. At the same time I am very much a having a plan B person. Anyway a friend of hers who is taking a year out has been trying to persuade her to defer, do a boating course and get deckhand jobs together. This helpfully lead to a chat about options if she doesn’t get the grades- both her offers are the same so no fall back there.

DD has said if she gets the grades she will go this year and not defer , if not she will take the year out, do something fun and regroup. I think the options then will be think about the graduate entry route or allied health or just a science degree. I think the year out option takes the pressure off clearing etc and gives her time to think properly- at the moment medicine is all she wants but obviously there are lots of other options out there for a fulfilled life.

Fingers crossed all goes well. But. Loads of places accept retakes, and they only need to retake the one they miss that grade. Year out can be a good thing. Maturity, money and lots of fun.
If they want to do medicine this is the best route. An extra year now is easier to get into, cheaper and ultimately not a bad thing. Aiming for another degree as a knee jerk reaction is not good - they will be studying that for 3 years so need to WANT to do it. And graduate medicine is even tougher to get into.
Deep breathes, make sure there is wine in for tonight, and take time before making any decisions (can still apply for clearing, as no obligation to go).

Thank you for such sound good advice….deep breath and wine it is 😀.

Good luck to all the Scottish candidates for tomorrow. Slightly nervous household here.

@BungledBundle and you, hope all goes to plan.

Just delighted to say my DD a confirmed place to study medicine at Glasgow!

Thank you all so much for your help and advice over the last year. We had no idea how tough and brutal this process would be. The information and support here has been invaluable. It certainly was a sharp learning curve. Good luck to all your kids next week.

Congratulations to your dd @summersession. That's fabulous news!

@summersession huge congratulations 🥂.

Brilliant @summersession and breathe...

Brilliant news.

go celebrate !

DD is getting nervous about next week now. I am quietly confident that she will get what she needs - she worked hard, her predicted grades were high and she is certainly capable. However, you can never be sure, and a couple of her exams didn't go great on the day. DD is having nightmares about not getting what she needs...

Can anyone advise what to do in the event that the kids don't get the grades that they need, either for a first choice or for an insurance option? I'm just thinking that it would be good to have a plan of action in place in advance so that we're not scrambling around on the day trying to figure out what to do. Any guidance would be welcomed!

For reference, dd's first choice needs A*AA and the insurance needs AAA.

If she gets a B in something, and As or A*s in the others, would that pretty much rule out any clearing options or might there still be potential to explore this route? (Her UCAT score was high if that makes any difference - 97th centile.)

If clearing would be worth exploring, am I right in thinking that speed is of the essence? So we should check UCAS first thing and prioritise making any calls?

If clearing is likely to be a non-starter with anything less than 3 As, then what's the best Plan B?

Can they re-take A-levels (or potentially just one A-level?) and apply again during a gap year, or are retakers likely to be frowned upon in the admissions process? DD isn't really interested in non-medicine degrees, so she wouldn't want to go through clearing for e.g. biomedical sciences etc. Or would it be better to go down that route and then try for graduate entry (which I know is notoriously difficult!)

Hoping that we won't need to bother with any of these options but just trying to get clarity in my own head about the avenues that we might need to consider if things don't go to plan. Thanks in advance for any tips...hopefully they might help others in similar situations as well!

Congratulations to your DD @summersession . Great news.

Sorry, formatting went wrong in my post. DD's first choice requires A* AA and insurance needs AAA.

My question is about what we should do if one of those grades slips to a B.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves first thing to do is find out how close a missed grade is. If only a few points then contact Uni immediately and say you are going for an express admin check (no remarks anymore). Always worth a try as some Unis will hold open the place (takes about a week normally).
Secondly, if medicine places pop up (unlikely to appear on clearing - stalk TSR as that seems to happen first) give them a call. With that UCAT they might still offer an interview.
Lastly, yes you can just retake the missed grade subject and reapply. Some places will want an A star but most not.
Hope that answers a few worries. Hopefully you'll never need any of it 😊

Thank you @mumsneedwine, that's really helpful. Could I ask how we would find out how close the missed grade was? And how we would request the express admin check? Would this all be via the school or would we need to contact the exam board directly?

@summersession well done both of you! We got a confirmed offer from Edinburgh, so beyond happy. Good luck to everyone next week, my nerves are now shot, stay strong.

Congratulations to your dc @Pip4764!

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves via school. Go in and speak to teachers as they can tell you not only how close to a grade boundary but also which papers are worth looking at. In some cases (not all) we can actually see the marked paper these days. Also means DD can say which papers she thought went well/badly and see if marks tally with this.

There will be a short form to fill in to request the relook (DD will need to sign it) and a fee. You get this back if grade changes.

@Pip4764 🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂

Congratulations @Pip4764. Brilliant news.

Thank you @mumsneedwine, so helpful.

Hopefully we won't need any of this info, but best to have a plan just in case!

Great news @Pip4764 🍸🍸