Medicine 2024 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

New thread. Hope the offers keep flowing in

Well done @Habbibu and @newnamenellie on the offers!

HELP!!! Lost GCSE certifcates for Liverpool interview this week and they want to see them
We have statement of results letter from school and are applying for new ones. Have emailed admissions to let them know
anyone got any advice ?
parenting fail - I can find the exam certs of all my other kids but not the one who needs them … She is so upset and stressed

Hi

My daughter had this situation, she had to email her statement of results to admissions and copy in her school, the school had to respond to confirm the results matched their records.

Good luck

Dd has now had all her four interviews and the long wait starts. I am praying she will get an offer. Some of her friends already have multiple offers from med schools so it’s even more stressful!

Well done to those with offers.

DD has had one rejection (Cambridge) and waiting to hear from 3 others who all decide around mid-March. So hard to tell how they have gone. In each interview there was one station that didn’t go so well, though the others were better. Do they need to pass all the stations?

I presume if it’s MMI then one bad station might bring overall score down but at least the next station is unaware and so no bias is introduced for that and a clean slate begins.

My dd also did her last interview today @Notcontent which was Exeter. 🤞

@Barleypilaf i am hoping not as my dd’s experience was that there was usually something unexpected.

it’s so hard, isn’t it - all that hard work and now complete uncertainty.

What I find is that frequently at work etc people will ask about what my dd is applying for (as they may have children at uni or in secondary school) and I feel no one quite understands that having good grades is not enough to get in!

Yes, it’s tough when friends have multiple offers, or they say that her UCAT/predictions were great. They are, but it doesn’t count at interview. Wish she’s applied to UEA now, where at least a good UCAT is counted post-interview.

I think it varies by medical school whether they have to pass all MMI stations. Certainly last year they had to pass all stations for Sheffield but I don't know if that still stands as there seems to have been a change of format there (no advance questions now).

I had this conversation with my daughter earlier. As far as she is concerned, getting the grades is the easy part!

Here is a very controversial question: do you think there is an element of unconscious bias at SOME med schools, favouring applicants whose parents are doctors?

I hope not, but DD was explicitly asked if her parents were doctors at one medical school. We’re not - and she arranged all her work experience herself- but had the impression that the interviewer may have preferred if we were. But anyway, she’s still waiting to hear how it went so useless to speculate.

We have our one last throw of the dice left this week - an interview at Liverpool tomorrow. Dd has had 2 rejections, with one more I'd say pending as they've handed out all their interviews and have never held more later in the cycle. At least she has one - if it goes badly then it's good practice, I suppose!

Does anyone know the approximate times lines for offers after interview? Do certain schools start sending at certain times or is it x number of weeks after interview for example? The waiting is driving me batty!

Good luck @lamereduchats dd. Hope it goes well for her.

Congrats @Habbibu and @newnamenellie on the offers coming through - well done to your DC! The idea of actually being able to choose which course you want to firm and insure seems like such a luxury to a medicine applicant - they must be absolutely delighted!

Best of luck @LaMereDuChat for Liverpool tomorrow and fingers crossed that it goes well and will turn into an offer for your DD

@TurnLeftAtTheRoundabout if they haven’t said specifically on their website, your DC can contact the relevant admissions dept and ask them. My DD has found them helpful and will honestly share what they can. It can be vague though as some spread the interviews and offers out over months.

@Barleypilaf am really shocked that your DD was asked that! Was it during an interview? Not sure why it would ever be relevant, unless trying to ascertain if connections were used to source work experience/jobs maybe? But then that’s the question that should be asked, not “are your parents doctors”

@TurnLeftAtTheRoundabout the timing of the offers appears to vary so much. I think some med schools are very consistent and do it all in one go, but others do early offers and batches of offers. Just adds to the stress! Would be great if there was a system where everyone could find out at the same time.

Good luck, @LaMereDuChat!

Yeah, I don't understand why they don't have a set date to just send them out. The batches seem so weird. It's also really tough on DD's friend who's applying for dentistry - exactly the same process but dental schools seem much slower to send offers.

Fwiw we don't have medical backgrounds at all - I don't think DD was asked or even had it mentioned.

@TurnLeftAtTheRoundabout if you plough through previous years posts on the student room for each school the timestamp might give you some indication of timings. If you click on the 'a year ago' field at the top it should give the exact date. Obviously things might be different this year if they have changed their admission process. From memory dd started getting responses in mid Feb and had all back by mid March but other places were sending first batches of offers well into April.

I watched the threads there so had some idea to remind her to check her junk mail. I wouldn't recommend that an applicant watched the student room because it was quite hyped and stressful and they sometimes come out on consecutive days so maybe over a period of one or two weeks even if you are in an early batch of offers. I think that it is not quite as easy as sending to a distribution list because they also need to update ucas at the same time.

Although I am sure some people reject additional places quickly I think many will spend a little time considering options once all offers are in so if you are on waiting lists it could be a few more months.

The wait is really stressful especially when friends are putting in last minute applications for equal consideration deadlines and hear back straight away. Hopefully you will get good news soon. For now it is best to plough the effort into getting the grades if still in sixth form.

A level results day is another day to stockpile the wrinkle cream and hair dye for!

@TurnLeftAtTheRoundabout just wanted to say that depending on the choices, offers can be quite late. My DD had 3 interviews in Jan and one very early Feb, her 4 choices sent offers / rejections between 17 March and 3 April.

The reason for posting is to say that offers can come all the way up to results day - so if you don't secure an offer in the initial round of offers, its not necessarily the end for this cycle. I think the limit on places means that unis tend to under offer and then to fill up remaining places from waitlists as they have more certainty of how many students will firm that uni and then go on to meet their grades. Certainly last year for DD, and for friends' children the year before, there will still be movement after the "official" response. DD's friend was rejected (after interview) in 2022 and then contacted in June with an offer. In 2023, my DD was offered off a waitlist at the end of April and then got an offer on results day from a uni she'd been rejected from after interview.

As an interviewer and a doctor I would say absolutely not. You can sometimes guess but the best students are always the one with free flowing friendly conversation and over coaching is always evident
my daughter has got her Liverpool interview tomorrow and she has done some work experience with her dad and just been practising her to not let that slip out accidentally as if I was interviewing I would NOT be impressed 😂

Hope it has gone well and will keep all fingers crossed for you

Thanks everyone! Goodness, it's all so stressful, isnt it! I shall bulk order the hair dye and wrinkle cream for all of us!