Medicine 2025 entry

[HGC2]

Inspired and slightly terrified reading the 2023 entry threads and how much prep has to go into a medicine application!

DC wants to do medicine, probably in Scotland as a Scottish student, doing well at school but this doesn't seem to be enough! School has little / no experience of applications for medicine as a not fantastic state school!

Can anyone advise what work experience / volunteering they will need (currently volunteering at sports club with hope of job)
what are the spreadsheets that people talk about?
How do you strategically apply?

I have one child at uni and they just applied and got a place, this seems like a whole other level!

Hi @ColouringPencils.
So, Leeds is much fresher in my mind.
DD and I really liked it. It's a 'campus in town' type set up. The campus is less than a 10 minute walk from town, but feels quite self-contained. The School of Medicine is in the middle of things in its own building and had a nice feel to it - as well as the teaching facilities (including a very swanky new clinical skills suite), it has libraries, work spaces, cafes etc. DD felt like it was a place she'd be happy to spend lots of time.
We also really liked the union building and the accommodation we looked at (though it wasn't cheap - ranged from £147p/w to £200p/w; you could see the difference in terms of the facilities). You get membership of the university gym (which looks incredible, though DD and I both love gyms and I appreciate that's a bit niche) included.
We spoke to lots of students and lecturers - all very enthusiastic. One thing we took away was the flexibility of the intercalation - you can do it after Y2, 3 or 4; lots of people do it, and you can do it at Leeds or elsewhere. Placements are all over West Yorkshire, so up to about an hour away; you go in small groups (I think this is standard everywhere?). Several students mentioned that they feel well supported and 'eased in'.
Admissions/general medicine talk: they score GCSEs and UCAT. If you've acheived/predicted AAA they're not interested in A Level results/EPQs beyond that. Don't read personal statements. Once you're shortlisted for interview they don't look at UCAT/academics etc again, it's all on interview. This was their first year of doing UCAT so there isn't any data about likely thresholds yet. Said please contact them with any admissions queries rather than going off TSR etc. They understand work exp hard to come by sometimes - important thing is you've done some stuff (outside of academia) and can reflect on it.
They said it's important to remember you'll be there for 5 years, so pick somewhere you'll like. All medical schools are good medical schools.
Overall, we really liked it. I felt the admissions stuff could have been a bit clearer (though TBF probably partly as their first year of UCAT).
Really like the city, and the area where students tend to live in 2nd/3rd year. (I grew up in Leeds, though this is the first time I've been back in over 25 years, and spend my late teens hanging around pubs in Headingley, so I used to know it well!)
Obviously, loads of this is subjective, but we were impressed with it all.

Does anywhere make judgements based on personal statements these days (or read it)?

One place DC went said putting ‘I shadowed 5 GP sessions and observed 3 orthopaedic operations’ in you personal statement would not be considered positively - you need to have reflected on your experience and state what you have learnt (and then went on to say they are not reading personal statements any more).

@Sloejelly some read it but no one selects using the PS. There used to be companies who would write them for medics so the GMC advised they were pointless. Some use their own form to highlight work experience, but it's not what you've done, it's what you've learned from it.

The other (frustrating) thing about the PS is how much emphasis schools/sixth forms seem to put on it when talking with students. It may well be of absolute importance for applications to non-medic degrees, so fair enough, but it really isn’t here. When your DC is doing their research on each individual med school, it’s worth them noting exactly what they say about the PS - most are very explicit, which helps. I think Cardiff did use it as part of their shortlisting process (which also included GCSE and UCAT) last year, with very specific things they were looking for in the PS. Not sure if it’s the same this year though.

DD and I visited Bristol last year for the open day - she didn’t apply in the end as her UCAT was much lower than needed, and she wasn’t that keen on it anyway, but we still remember the lovely med students we met there. So friendly and had great tips on UCAT too! They all seemed happy there - one was about to go to KCL to intercalate for the year. He said about two thirds did and mostly in other unis, for a change (especially London)

Maybemedmum, thanks very much for the update on Leeds. It sounds great!

Open day update: DD and I went to the Oxford open day last week. My info is second hand as the medical talks were students-only (which DD thought was good - she chatted to lots of other prospective students in my absence!). As well as the 'why medicine/why oxford' type stuff, they did a demo interview with a current student. Very science-heavy and involved using some sort of quite complicated graph. Current students were friendly and enthusiastic (as they have been everywhere) and said the course is really full-on, especially with the short terms, but they feel well supported. Several mentioned taking advantage of the very long holidays to do more work exp/shadowing/working as HCA.

DD has concluded that, if you're going to intercalate in Y3, there's not a huge amount of difference between the amount of patient contact you get at Oxford and elsewhere (she and DH were especially surprised by how limited it sounded at Manchester). I suspect there's an element of trying to convince herself of that, because she loved Oxford (esp the college set-up) overall. I think it'll definitely be on her list if she gets a good UCAT (though who knows what a good UCAT will be for the ex-BMAT places!).

Happy to try to answer questions about it if anyone's interested and didn't go to the open day. That's us done for the summer now - possibly one or two more visits in September, armed with the UCAT results.

Another big plus of Oxford is the fact that placements are local, or relatively local. The medical students' base is still Oxford. Worst case they spend three nights in hospital accommodation during the placement then get back to Oxford for a long weekend. But their life is less interrupted than it is elsewhere and their university and social life carries on, almost as before. Perhaps not important to everyone but very important to some.

All you need to know from someone who got 4/4 offers and is currently a 4th year medical student at Imperial College:

Well done that medical student. But I hope they have since learnt that you cannot generalise a single case study.

Been quiet on here, everyone’s head down now, working towards UCAT.
just a quick question, is it reasonable to practice questions now eg on Medify and then do full mock papers from about 2 weeks before the exam?
or would you say, do the odd mock papers maybe once or twice a week, alongside practicing questions?

it is better to do mocks once or twice a week helps with stamina then reflect and do questions next day. @Justlikingit

I agree the odd mock paper, but it also partly depends how long until the UCAT. I think it is useful to do one or two mock papers at the beginning of the process to have a good idea about what is involved. Then concentrate more on developing techniques for the weaker areas then going back to more intensive mocks nearer the test date. Take the day before the test off from studying. Keep a record of the scores, maybe even plot on a graph, generally you will see a steep improvement then they begin to plateau, although even so there will be variations and dd got one of her highest scores on the actual UCAT.

Thank you both.

3 weeks until DD's UCAT. She intends on doing 3 hours a day of revision weekdays, then for the 2 weeks before her test sit a mock each day.

What does everyone think of her plan?

A full mock everyday might be hard to sustain for two weeks and it depends on how variable her marks are. It is worth planning to invest more time on the weaker topics and she might plateau out on the stronger areas. Make sure she has some rest time too.

Yes - a full mock a day will be too much. I would go for every other day and spend the day in between going through the answers and practicing the weaker areas.
There is definitely a point with the UCAT where you start to overthink and go backwards a bit so important to not peak too early.

thanks @Scoobyblue and @Unexpecteddrivinginstructor
What are the best techniques to employ to answer the questions that have a long passage but you're expected to answer in 30 seconds?

Looking for any tips so I can sound slightly educated on the topic when speaking to DD.

@Needmoresleep do you have any tips as i think from memory your DD is dyslexic too? Though of course not all dyslexics have the same weaknesses you may have some tips that help me.

As the baby in the year she is viewing this UCAT as 'it is ok if I don't get the mark I want' as I can do it next year but equally, she'll be disappointed if she doesn't achieve a good figure. She has clear GAP year plans, which I am supportive of.

@mumsneedwine What do you think is the lowest UCAT you can achieve with 3 A's predicted and still get interviews?
She'll also have an A (hopefully) in both AS maths and her EPQ. For the EPQ school have marked it as an A but she is waiting on official band grades to be certain, she was 1 mark off an A* on previous band grades. Her EPQ is focused on obstetrics which is what she wants to do - does that help? I don't think so but anyway it is something

@SoTiredNeedHoliday it's hard to say without all the stats. For UCAT only Unis you're looking at about 2,600 as a minimum, as this should get you interviews at Liverpool and Plymouth. However for those that use a variety of selection tools I'd need full stats - GCSE, SJT.

For longer passages read the question first then skim read the text. There are several questions on same passage so do each time. For the maths, practice mental maths beforehand as does speed you up.

@SoTiredNeedHoliday EPQ will lower offer but won't help get an interview.

Do they provide a physical whiteboard or do you need to use the online calculator only?

@SoTiredNeedHoliday physical whiteboard and pen

That’s interesting you thought that - we did too last year! My daughter got offers from both and chose Sheffield as her firm as she loved the work / life balance they encourage - just need to wait for the A level results now 🤞🏻

Hi all,
Hope the UCAT prep is going well, especially for those doing it relatively early!
Anyone got any tips I can offer DD for the SJT? Seems to be the section she's finding hardest at the moment.

@maybemedmum patient safety comes first. Go with the answers that follow the 4 pillars

www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/medical-school-interview/medical-ethics/

My daughter wants to apply to med school for 2025. I'm jumping on this thread to soak up some of the wisdom around where to apply and what they're looking for.

She took her UCAT on Saturday- was a bit of a gamble as she really didn't want to have the anxiety of it hanging over her summer. Thankfully she aced it, so assuming average scores aren't wildly different from last year she'll be able to apply where she likes.

We haven't managed to visit many, so will be reading opinions with interest.