Medicine 2024 part 3

[mumsneedwine]

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

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!)

One one hand it's supply & demand: more applicants per place means higher grade requirements if that's the main criterion for selection. On the other, it's the use of additional tools in selection (aptitude test, interview, etc.) that might be given higher priority than grades. So, for example, biomedical sciences at Imperial has higher grade requirements than medicine partly because aptitude test/interview will have been used to narrow down the field for offers so places can be filled with a lower minimum grade requirement.

Hi
So when I was reading imperial univ medicine entry requirements they say a typical offer is AAA-A*AA

Do they offer AAA or just they mix their contextual offer with a standard offer . I mean as we are not contextual that means they will offer A*AA . I just got confused!

Sorry as it was AAA-AstarAA

we are not contextual so they will offer us Astar AA not AAA, Is that so?

@Ib1234567 From experience and what I read - the typical stander offer is A*AA, and contextual is department's minimum entry requirement which is AAA

@4andnotcounting - DS had Bham as one of his offers too. He missed offer holder day as they didn’t have enough spaces but loved it at interview and open day. He was so pleased to have the offer so early after his interview and I honestly thought he’d go there no question. The campus is fab. But then he got BSMS (even though he didn’t think he’d done well in the interview) and it threw everything up in the air.

we did some research on where placements are, accommodation, student satisfaction, where he’d be happy living for 5 years and that’s when the balance changed in favour of BSMS.

Def doing a spreadsheet of both unis helps plus a lot of gut instinct! Good luck!

Can anyone advise please?

my DS has decided to put UOB first and uni of leic second.
ds school has advised he put Warwick (bio med) second as UOB and leic have same entrance grades. He has no intention of going Warwick, even if he doesn’t make the grades - he intends on a gap year. The teacher knows this , but still insists. Are we missing something?

Worth putting another med offer as insurance as you just don’t know whether one might offer some flexibility in the event of a missed grade…. Don’t reject such a hard earned offer at this stage if the alternative really isn’t wanted.

This was my thinking too. Thanks

For the record that is what my dd did last year. So I have direct experience of this suggestion…

I don’t think that is good advice at all from school. Especially if your DS has been clear that he would not take up the place at Warwick.

It’s a few years back now so this may not still be the case, but my DD put Leicester as her insurance choice, as they would accept A star, A, B if I remember correctly, as an alternative to AAA so it gave some wriggle room.

I would definitely stick to your guns and put the second medicine offer as insurance.

I've been surprised by how many I've seen this year declining medicine offers to accept non-medicine insurance choices. Might be fair enough if they think they have very little chance of meeting the medicine offer conditions, but there are quite a lot of medical schools that will be fairly flexible on grades if they have accidentally under-offered (as many did last year). Some never will drop grades but many will. Some set an A*AA requirement with the intention of taking everyone who gets AAA but with the extra requirement to protect them from accidentally going over their numbers.

Of course, if the student doesn't actually want to do medicine but has been pressured into it by parents/school (which is disturbingly common), then being able to have a non-medicine insurance might be a lifeline. But if someone is firmly committed to medicine and doesn't have a well thought-out plan B, they should aim to take a gap year if they don't get in this year, either to reapply for medicine or to give themselves time to think & plan if they clearly aren't going to be able to get the grades for medicine. Making rushed choices in Clearing while you're upset about not getting into medicine isn't a good idea.

If the non-medicine insurance choice is part of a clear plan B, then there's no reason not to make it. This does seem to be rare, though.

The teacher knows this , but still insists. Are we missing something?

You're missing the school's marketing. They don't want students not going directly to university, or going to non-Order-of-the-Phoenix-Russell-Group institutions, as they think it looks bad in their prospectuses.

Apologies if I shouldn’t post this on this thread , but I’ve just seen this job online and the salary shocked me given the location and the job. (Unless. I’ve read it wrong - which is entirely possible)
why is the salary so “low”?
thoughts?
https://beta.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C9259-24-1586

See I said this to DS , it’s for their box ticking agenda - I thought so(!) I have told him to put both med as firm and insurance. Let’s hope he listens (!) thanks

@4andnotcounting put levy one offers only. Stupid advice to put an insurance he'll never take.

And that job is what the government think a consultant doctor is worth these days. Let's hope change is coming ..

Medicine offers !!

This looks like a research fellow post? I think they only work normal working hours so maybe doesn’t include London Weighting and unsocial hours but just basic pay? Consultants have just had a pay rise and are now on approx £99,000 - £131,000 basic pay.

It's a post CCT job. A consultant with 10+ years of being a doctor. Years of training and scans. Even if it's 9-5 I think they are worth more than £55,000. We really don't value our doctors.

But it’s not a consultant post, right? As it’s only a 12 month contract and a fellow opportunity. I don’t disagree that it is not a lot of money for a post CCT doctor…they should definitely be paid more than that for sure! 🙏🤞

Not sure why a post CCT would take it.

Just to update (posting incase it benefits anyone in future reading threads)

Nottingham have made an offer today .(DS was wait listed - they emailed asking if he wanted to be put on list- he said no- ( he didn’t enjoy summer school there) They replied asking was he sure - he didn’t reply. They’ve still gone on to make him an offer 🤷‍♀️. ( which is nice for him, but unexpected)

He hasn’t firmed anything yet - (I have no idea why - says he can’t make up his mind what to do)

That’s interesting. What is the date by when they need to firm?

@SuperSue77 ds says 6th June last date to firm

How is everyone? My daughter has her last two exams next week and she’s done and dusted. I swear I was dropping her off on her first day a few months ago!

DS finished a few weeks ago and is at a bit of a loose end this month. He had got into a great routine in May with revising. He's away in July and working in August but has nothing much on right now. We have started to get all the bits he'll need for uni together and have applied for finance etc.