Medicine 2024 part 3

[mumsneedwine]

Saw we needed a new thread. Hope revision going well.

If things go to plan my daughter will be a massive schlep away. Flight and 3 hour train journey (we are Spain based). No weekends home for her!

So last offer holder day was yesterday and DD firmed it when we came back yesterday evening. She absolutely loved it - she talked to loads of current med students and got a really good feel for the place. I could see how excited she was when doing her accommodation application that it was definitely where her heart and head are. It’s AstarAA (with Astar in Bio or Chem) so a tough ask, but the visit was well-timed to help with motivation. And if the Astar doesn’t happen, her insurance is AAA and she genuinely would be happy there too, so all good 😊. It seems to have really helped her get to this point - it’s all about those grades now and that’s her focus. She also didn’t want to delay any further as she knew that by declining her other offers, hopefully they will turn into offers off a waitlist for someone else. Hope everyone else is getting on well with deciding next steps

That’s great news @Sybill 👏
I’m really pleased that your dd was excited about firming after the offer holders day! My dd has one more med school to go to this week and then hopefully will also be able to choose and free up some offers for others still waiting too. 🤞
Not long to go before exams begin… hope everyone’s dc are doing ok. With the last, and most important, hurdle to go I wish them all the best of luck 😊 🍀

Which uni did your dd firm @Sybill ?

My dd ended up firming without attending an offer holder day as didn’t get an invitation to one and just gave up waiting! It’s UCL and they seem to be a bit disorganised this year - apparently some people are still waiting to hear back.

Thanks @Groundhogday2021 , and good luck to your DD too and hope she finds her last visit helpful in deciding. And also good luck to all with exams coming up - it’s the most important part of the process so hopefully goes smoothly for everyone 🤞

@Notcontent it was Leicester. I have a friend whose DD is 3rd or 4th year medic
in UCL and has been very happy there.

Thank you @Sybill - that’s good to know.

Hello everyone! Sorry for the radio silence! Just bought a little mini for DS to practice in as he’s only just got round to driving lessons so slightly distracted by that!

Trying not to think too much about DS leaving home. I’ve always wanted my boys to do their own thing as my mother was always very cloying and didn’t want me to be far away. I found it suffocating.

@mumsneedwine thanks for the loan advice - will get on to that this weekend!

@Notcontent - yes I have heard from DS’ cohort how slow UCL have been. I hard KCL were also rubbish last year…part of the reason we didn’t apply also because we are London-based and we were keen for DS not to be in London.

Re BSMS - DS has this as one of his offers too. Sussex uni is based at Falmer and Brighton Uni a bit further up.

Royal Sussex is having a massive reeamp finally to bring it into the 21st C and a cancer hospital being built. Im not a medic but know the local area and a former student there (a long time ago!)

we still haven’t made a decision either! Bham (much more urban but an amazing campus) or BSMS (Sea/familiar location and closer to home). We need to make a spreadsheet for sure!

@Waferbiscuit - sorry can’t edit my above post! Brighton is a fab place to be a student - we loved BSMS and DS really impressed by their high student satisfaction ratings!

Can anyone here help with the student finance form. I’m just filling out my bit of it - re income and I am not sure if a grant - late 80s/early90s counts as finance?!

@Mumofboys2006 no, it doesn't. Only counts if it's a repayable loan.

Hi all, how is everyone?

DS’ exams start on the 4th so we have a way to go yet.

He finally firmed, choosing BSMS over Bham- told him to go with what feels right. It means we don’t really have an insurance as Bham had a higher requirement as well!

It has been very quiet on the thread but I suspect all the dc have had their heads down revising… Dd has her first exam this Friday! 😬

Does that mean he hasn’t put an insurance down @Mumofboys2006 ? Or did he still put B’ham as insurance?

DD decided on Bristol in the end and has made her accomodation choices so now fully focussing on the final hurdle! Cant believe the exams will be over within 6 weeks and then the lovely Summer of fun before nerves of results day settles in!

That’s soon @Groundhogday2021 , hope she’s feeling ok about it? DD doesn’t start until June too @Mumofboys2006 although I can’t help feel like she’d prefer to get them over and done with now!! Her brother is already done with 4 of his GCSEs, so I think she’s weirdly keen to get going.
She’s firmed Leicester and booked accommodation too, which I’m quietly excited about. We’ve booked a big family holiday from end July to just before results day, to help with the nerves (probably more mine than hers, to be fair!)
Just hoping exams go ok for her now, after all the hard work to get this far. And the same for all your DC too 🤞

Dd is doing her exams now - she does IB which I genuinely think is so hard because she has to learn 7 subjects.

Unfortunately she has frozen on a few exams and feels she is unlikely to get the grades needed. (36 points, 6 for bio and 6 for chem). She's gutted. BSMS is her top choice and she also got a call of an offer from Lancaster (she was on the reserve list) but she doubts her grades will be high enough for both. Only option will be a resit with no guarantee of improvement.

She feels like her dreams are going down in kamikaze-like flames.

Anyone else's DCs in this situation either this year or next.

Meant to write 'anyone else's DCs in this situation this year or last'?

@Sybill She is feeling ok and will be glad to get a couple of exams out of the way before half term at least!

@Waferbiscuit Haven't got a clue about IB but just wanted to wish your dd all the best and hope that the exams haven’t gone as badly as she thinks 🤞

Oh bless her @Waferbiscuit , I hope she’s just second guessing herself and actually not done as badly as she thinks. Does she usually do that? One of mine has form for that - always has failed until the inevitable stellar result comes in. I know nothing about IB except that it does sound very demanding. Fingers crossed for her - she will find out results much earlier too, no?

Awww thanks @Groundhogday2021 and @Sybill. Fairly sure when DD says she didn't do well that's the case - in fact she can often over-inflate how well she's done.

But some people don't make it past the final hurdle and don't get the grades needed to meet the offer. So I'm hoping she can see that there are other options for her and she may land in the place she was meant to all along.

That’s very true! They are all in the same boat until results day and it’s very wise to discuss alternative options before they arise. I still wish your dd lots of luck going forward 🍀

It’s a stressful time. I think because there were so many hurdles to get through before, the A level exams themselves were overshadowed, but now reality has hit. I am trying not to worry.

@Waferbiscuit Hugs to your DD, and hopefully it all works out. I can sympathise as it was so stressful preparing for all the tests, then waiting to hear about interviews, then prepping for the interviews and then waiting for offers/rejections that A Levels felt overshadowed. They have so much more to do than most sixth-formers.

sorry If this is a stupid question, but if medicine is “so hard” to get in to, why are the entry requirements for economics higher? (I’m sure there is a really obvious answer to this - but I really don’t know!)

also, my DS has today received an offer from Leicester, after having been wait listed.
Warwick bio med - offer
nottingham wait listed but my DS withdrew as he didn’t like it during summer school
aru wait listed then rejected
bham offer
leic offer today!

bham and leic were the offers he really wanted! Went to bham offer holder day and it really put me off him doing medicine. It seems so much hard work for not much pay (But it’s his choice i guess)

he says he doesn’t know what to put as first choice as he had thought he wasn’t going to get an offer. He’s really happy and I’m happy for him.

@4andnotcounting congratulation for the offers.

medicine is longer to get in as the process took more than two years ( work experience,volunteering , then UCAT in the summer , then preparation to interview )

most other courses don't do interviews and they rely on the exam results only , only oxford and Cambridge do.

@4andnotcounting I don't think the grades are higher for Economics across the board - but they are at some institutions. I think Economics is possibly as competitive (if not more) than medicine at the moment at a select number of unis - so for those, they can choose to only accept applications from the very highest achievers.

Medicine is not just about grades. You need so many more skills than just academic. Extra hurdles to jump (UCAT, interviews).

Economics needs grades and a nice PS.