Medicine 2026 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

Thought I'd start another one.

I was there as a PhD student so perhaps had a different but still very positive student experience. We were in Crookes! And yes it’s changed so much. When I went for open day with DS, didn’t recognise the city centre at all!

Hi,
that’s an amazing score! His GCSEs ?

To be fair, if Sheffield is serving as a back up to Oxbridge, that means it must be pretty popular - given there are plenty of other schools to choose from!!
I had an offer from Sheffield back in the day - when we visited recently, it seemed much more vibrant and buzzing than I remembered. A classic student city.

There is no back up for Oxbridge. Or there only is in some minds. They are not the 'top' courses for medicine and are in fact v old fashioned (my opinion). Nowhere is best.

@bluefineliner its feb 11th. Lancaster is his favourite so 🤞

Amazing UCAT score! Can I ask your son’s GCSEs, A level prediction?

Lovely to read lots of positive news on this thread today, bar those below the Sheffield cutoff. DD and I are in Leicester tonight ready for her interview tomorrow. Enjoyed a nice curry :D. She hasn't had a formal Sheffield rejection yet but glad she knows already that she is out of the running. I was worried she would get a rejection tomorrow morning and it would knock her confidence. Please send positive vibes for tomorrow.

Good luck to your daughter! Hope she smashes it.

wooly1962 great news! Us too. Really nice to have that going into the Christmas holidays. Definitely helped YP's self esteem.

@monkeytennismum thank you and glad you got one as well. It's taken some pressure off and he has mocks in January so good timing.

@monkeytennismum congrats on Lancaster!

@rockstuckhardplace good luck to your DD today 🍀.

He's oreducted two A stars and an A..Not all 9s ar GCSE though but it didn't seem to matter as he got an Imperial interview. That's where he wants to go but i am worried about thr cost,

I think the snobbery thing can be hard for students. If one knows about studying medicine, one knows that an application roster of,, say, Lancaster, Brighton, Plymouth and Liverpool makes lots of sense, but people who know nothing about medicine don’t understand this. Many academic schools send pupils to a quite narrow range of “usual suspects”, so pupils and parents just see candidates who are for instance, expecting AstarAstarA and have for years been recognised as high achieving, not applying to the same types of university as the students sitting either side of them on the laboratory bench. If these students had chosen instead to study biochemistry, or whatever, they would indeed be applying to a different set of universities. The dissonance gives rise to unhelpful comments which can be a bit depressing for medic candidates if they are feeling a bit low during the process.

Quite why some parents feel the need to comment on their children’s friends’ choices is a another matter!

indeed. bumped into an acquaintance recently whose child had previously applied to Dent. Child is now in final year, flourishing doing a stem related subject at an RG uni. But the 'hate' I felt from the adult about our journey applying for med has been quite incredible. Adult kept saying it's their best decision ever to choose to do what they are doing now (of course, why wouldn't you say that?)... but don't hate on my child's decision, a decision they are taking at least 4 years after your child's decision.

oh and I just saw on reddit that BSMS has offered!! 2 days post interview.

good luck to everyone today, and TGIF!

You are exactly where we were yesterday @rockstuckhardplace 😊 & I remember you saying the other day your YP had applied to Sheffield & Liverpool too so we are in the same boat. It is difficult applying strategically to the ‘no bio alevel’ unis. Sheffield, well, I kind of expected the rejection following Manchester but trying to keep positive.
DS & I enjoyed our little road trip to Leicester & I was impressed. They also said in the parent talk that if you firm Leicester and don’t achieve A* AA then would consider AAA if it’s your firm.
It was lovely seeing all the YP suited & booted, change up from hoodies and casual gear.

@bluefineliner even my DH doesn’t get it, despite DS and I trying to explain being strategic and how competitive medicine is. It has become frustrating justifying why here and why not there. I think it is strange when we’re all used to teachers fawning over how academic and great at my subject our DC are, to then be applying to Unis they may not have considered were they doing a degree in biochem or maths for example.

Imperial weights heavy on UCAT. Hope he gets in.

Depending on your family income, I believe Imperial has an unusually generous bursary offering

Open to students with household income under £70k

Spot on! Have just told my YP to ignore (I try to but it does make my blood boil a bit) - none of the people who comment are usually going for medicine so have no clue! Hope all the pre-Christmas interviews went/will go wonderfully

Hi everyone, Sheffield folk - how long do you think the MMI will be? Or people who’ve done MMIs, do you know how long it’ll take?

I’m trying to book train tickets and have earmarked our departure time from here but don’t know what time to book the return. DS has chosen 9.30 in the morning… so I’m thinking definitely by 11 he should be done? Even 12? So if I book a 2/2.30 train it should be ok?

My DD had hers in January 2024 (now a 2nd yr at Sheffield) and she says it was less than 2 hours - hope that helps

Fantastic! So I’m guessing the 2pm onwards will be perfectly fine to buffer for lunch or other random stops!! Thank you!

@MyGreyBiscuit the email says the interview is approximately "1 hour and 15 minutes", but they need to be there 30 mins before the start time.

Has anyone's DD received an invitation to take part in research about MMI prep, for Sheffield? DD got an email about joining a research study which is organized by multiple unis (Sheffield, ARU, Soton, NCL, etc.)

PS. We've booked a 4pm train back home, to wander around Sheffield. I'm enjoying these trips with DD a bit too much 😏

We have Cardiff this week, quite looking forward to the Christmas buzz! Might fit in a bit of shopping ☺️