Four choices, unfortunately for all of us UK applicants, is all we get in terms of applying for Medicine, if we're applying through UCAS. In my opinion it makes the process that bit more challenging, but I can understand why it's in place, as the sheer amount of medical applicants in the UK is overwhelming. However, it means that we need to choose very wisely when picking universities.
I think the first thing to consider is whether you are going to use your fifth choice. In past years, medical applicants would put down a related subject such as biomedical science as a fifth choice, that gave them the option to transfer course to medicine after a year at the university, in case they didn't get into their medicine choices. However this is something most unis are very sceptical of now, so in the course description of related courses like biomedical science it may say that the uni will automatically reject a medicine-oriented personal statement. I'm not sure how many unis this applies to, so do your research if you do want to go down this route. Another option for the fifth choice is to use it for another subject entirely, that you would like to go into as a full degree if you don't get into medicine, for example biology or chemistry. The thing with this option is the conflict with the personal statement. To have a chance of getting into medicine you must have a very focused statement that shows you are committed to the course, but with a statement so focused on medicine you are unlikely to get into a course like biology unless it is undersubscribed. Of course, I can't comment on individual unis and have not done this myself, so do your research and perhaps speak to people you know or online that have done this. If you're really set on going down this route then you need to explore both subjects subtly in your personal statement, however it's not something I would suggest - if you're thinking of taking another subject if you don't get into medicine, perhaps have a rethink about if medicine's really for you - the job involves a lot of setbacks and hard work that you really need to be committed to deal with, and the job's not something you can abandon at the first hurdle, which is why most applicants to medicine apply again the next year if they don't get in first time rather than abandoning the idea entirely. On the other hand, you might decide you want to do medicine but don't want to do a gap year and reapply again, and in that case using the fifth choice for something like genetics is advisable if you are going to commit to studying the subject throughout the next three years and THEN apply for post-graduate medicine. This option scares me a bit though - postgraduate medicine is more difficult to get into than regular medicine as there are far far fewer places, and you also have to bear in mind that the government won't fund most postgrad medicine courses.
The other fifth choice option is the one I chose, which is to not use the fifth choice at all. The OCD among us, like my mum, will have trouble adapting to this idea (trust me) as they think that you're wasting a choice, but you're really not, as if medicine is truly what you want to do, why would you want to put down another course that you're not going to take on? However this does mean that if you don't get into medicine and are committed to the idea, you have no choice but to take a gap year and apply again the next year. The idea can be quite a daunting one, but considering that only around 37% (I think that's the statistic) of applicants get in first time, it's an option that SO many people take. I know three people that have had to take a gap year, and every single one of them say that it was the best thing that could have happened. One went to work in a boarding school for a year, the other bartended in London and modelled for Hollister, and the other spent a year training as a lifeguard and first aider with the Spanish Red Cross - and every single one of them came back with a positive experience, ready to reapply. A gap year can be such a positive thing, that quite a lot of people take out of choice, so don't be disappointed if you don't get in and all of your friends are going to uni, because your gap year is what YOU make it.
Anyway - over this past week I've discovered that I am absolutely rubbish at article-writing, I go off on a tangent and ramble for too long, so the subjects I said I'd talk about are likely to be broken down into smaller parts depending on the detail I go into, sorry! This is quite a cathartic experience to be honest, it's nice to purge all of the emotions you've accumulated from the experience as a whole, and put them into giving whoever reads this the information I wish I'd have been given - you just wait until I get onto my Oxford interview, that's going to be an interesting one haha!
Bye for now!
Sunday, 19 May 2013
The UKCAT - what to expect and general tips and tricks.
The UKCAT is a medical admissions test compulsory for application to most UK medical schools as a means to differentiate between applicants.
Overall, the UKCAT was one of the most positive aspects of my application experience, so I guess it's a little ironic that the uni I eventually got an offer from, Bristol, doesn't consider it! For me the test was the first introduction I got into the world of medical admissions, and I'm so glad it was the first thing I did.
Registration usually begins at the beginning of May, and if I were you I'd book it and sit it quickly. I was advised to sit it in one of the first sessions at the beginning of July by a friend who'd applied the year before, and I am SO glad that I did. This is because towards the end of summer you'll have so many other things to worry about, like the personal statement and the BMAT (if you're doing it) and interview prep in general, that it's best to get it over and done with and out of the way. Also, you get your score STRAIGHT away after you've finished the test, so it means that if you do it early in summer, you have more time to consider which unis you're going to apply to strategically based on your score. Some unis have high UKCAT cutoffs for interview, and some don't really use the UKCAT until later stages in the process, or at all, so your UKCAT score can be a huge factor in deciding on those crucial four choices.
In terms of test preparation, I was talking to a girl in the year below me applying for medicine, and she was considering paying out to take the Kaplan UKCAT course, which costs around 265 pounds. Now, I'm not disputing that people have taken these auxiliary help courses and done really well. But just as many people, if not more, have NOT taken these help courses, and done JUST as well, if not better. Please, please, please don't feel as if you are missing out by not taking one of these UKCAT help courses. I did not take one, and none of my friends who also applied for medicine took one, yet I received a very high mark which got me past Newcastle University's notoriously high UKCAT threshold for interview. However, if you have the money and feel like you need extra help, the Kaplan courses are something used by many prospective students every year to try and boost their eventual score. HOWEVER, although I personally don't think the Kaplan tests are worth it, that is not to say that you shouldn't prepare at all. There is a FANTASTIC book of something like 500 UKCAT questions on Amazon that I bought after a recommendation from my friend who had applied previously, and it is a book that the majority of UKCAT candidates own to practice from. Honestly, I think that this book is all the practice you will need, I went over almost every exercise in the book and was really well-prepared for the test. It lets you practice to a really high standard, especially in the quantitative unit, which I found the hardest! I'll try and stick in a link somewhere later.
I guess the important thing to try and remember is that universities made these tests to be passable on their own, and as they are very similar to the CAT tests you take when you are younger, it's based on cognitive ability so there is very little you can actually do in terms of studying, apart from practicing the questions. When I tell people that they should sit the test nice and early they're always a bit hesitant, saying that they'd rather have the extra time for studying, but honestly I don't think it's necessary, as if you've done a couple of months of studying with the book/the Kaplan course, there's not much more you can do!
The test itself can be quite a daunting prospect if you don't know what to expect, so here's a vague idea of what happens (obviously this might vary in different test centres). Firstly, make sure you've visited the building the day before or something to familiarise yourself with your surroundings, as going into a foreign building on the day of the test can add to your nerves. On the day of the test you need to bring ID, and they'll make you put all your belongings in a locker (at my test centre, the keys had spoons on them, I'm guessing to stop people nicking them...weird). They'll then make you sign something and wait for a minute depending on how many test booths are free, and then you'll go in to sit the test. The test is sat in a room with about 15 other people, in booths on the walls, with wood partitions between each booth. The room is watched by someone on CCTV as a kind of invigilator, so you do feel like you're in an exam setting. For the actual exam, you get big headphones to cancel the noise of other people taking the test, you must use the onscreen calculator, and you'll receive a laminated grid and a marker pen to use for planning answers to the questions, which I wasn't expecting! The test seems over before it begins, and when I sat my test they were trialling the new situational judgement test, so I had to take a trial of that which had no impact on my score, but as I didn't know this was happening beforehand it was a bit of a shock as I thought it was part of the test I hadn't prepared for, haha! Obviously this section of the test is now a legitimate, tested section of the exam. After the test you'll leave the room and they'll print out your results for you, and hopefully they'll be a high score!
Anyway, I think that's enough for now, if you have any other questions about the UKCAT feel free to comment and I'll respond, or maybe I'll edit this post at a later date.
Bye for now, and good luck!
Overall, the UKCAT was one of the most positive aspects of my application experience, so I guess it's a little ironic that the uni I eventually got an offer from, Bristol, doesn't consider it! For me the test was the first introduction I got into the world of medical admissions, and I'm so glad it was the first thing I did.
Registration usually begins at the beginning of May, and if I were you I'd book it and sit it quickly. I was advised to sit it in one of the first sessions at the beginning of July by a friend who'd applied the year before, and I am SO glad that I did. This is because towards the end of summer you'll have so many other things to worry about, like the personal statement and the BMAT (if you're doing it) and interview prep in general, that it's best to get it over and done with and out of the way. Also, you get your score STRAIGHT away after you've finished the test, so it means that if you do it early in summer, you have more time to consider which unis you're going to apply to strategically based on your score. Some unis have high UKCAT cutoffs for interview, and some don't really use the UKCAT until later stages in the process, or at all, so your UKCAT score can be a huge factor in deciding on those crucial four choices.
In terms of test preparation, I was talking to a girl in the year below me applying for medicine, and she was considering paying out to take the Kaplan UKCAT course, which costs around 265 pounds. Now, I'm not disputing that people have taken these auxiliary help courses and done really well. But just as many people, if not more, have NOT taken these help courses, and done JUST as well, if not better. Please, please, please don't feel as if you are missing out by not taking one of these UKCAT help courses. I did not take one, and none of my friends who also applied for medicine took one, yet I received a very high mark which got me past Newcastle University's notoriously high UKCAT threshold for interview. However, if you have the money and feel like you need extra help, the Kaplan courses are something used by many prospective students every year to try and boost their eventual score. HOWEVER, although I personally don't think the Kaplan tests are worth it, that is not to say that you shouldn't prepare at all. There is a FANTASTIC book of something like 500 UKCAT questions on Amazon that I bought after a recommendation from my friend who had applied previously, and it is a book that the majority of UKCAT candidates own to practice from. Honestly, I think that this book is all the practice you will need, I went over almost every exercise in the book and was really well-prepared for the test. It lets you practice to a really high standard, especially in the quantitative unit, which I found the hardest! I'll try and stick in a link somewhere later.
I guess the important thing to try and remember is that universities made these tests to be passable on their own, and as they are very similar to the CAT tests you take when you are younger, it's based on cognitive ability so there is very little you can actually do in terms of studying, apart from practicing the questions. When I tell people that they should sit the test nice and early they're always a bit hesitant, saying that they'd rather have the extra time for studying, but honestly I don't think it's necessary, as if you've done a couple of months of studying with the book/the Kaplan course, there's not much more you can do!
The test itself can be quite a daunting prospect if you don't know what to expect, so here's a vague idea of what happens (obviously this might vary in different test centres). Firstly, make sure you've visited the building the day before or something to familiarise yourself with your surroundings, as going into a foreign building on the day of the test can add to your nerves. On the day of the test you need to bring ID, and they'll make you put all your belongings in a locker (at my test centre, the keys had spoons on them, I'm guessing to stop people nicking them...weird). They'll then make you sign something and wait for a minute depending on how many test booths are free, and then you'll go in to sit the test. The test is sat in a room with about 15 other people, in booths on the walls, with wood partitions between each booth. The room is watched by someone on CCTV as a kind of invigilator, so you do feel like you're in an exam setting. For the actual exam, you get big headphones to cancel the noise of other people taking the test, you must use the onscreen calculator, and you'll receive a laminated grid and a marker pen to use for planning answers to the questions, which I wasn't expecting! The test seems over before it begins, and when I sat my test they were trialling the new situational judgement test, so I had to take a trial of that which had no impact on my score, but as I didn't know this was happening beforehand it was a bit of a shock as I thought it was part of the test I hadn't prepared for, haha! Obviously this section of the test is now a legitimate, tested section of the exam. After the test you'll leave the room and they'll print out your results for you, and hopefully they'll be a high score!
Anyway, I think that's enough for now, if you have any other questions about the UKCAT feel free to comment and I'll respond, or maybe I'll edit this post at a later date.
Bye for now, and good luck!
Friday, 17 May 2013
Blogging is hard.
Wow, well I'm obviously really good at this blogging thing haha, it's almost a year since I last posted! To be honest though, it just shows you how ridiculously rigorous the process is for getting into Medicine at UK universities - my application process is over now, and I wrote my last post when it was beginning! I like to write as more of a delayed cathartic process; I can't write when I'm in the middle of things or stressed out, I only write when it's all/partially over, and I can relax a little!
However, jeeeeez is there a lot to write about now! I remember getting a little frustrated when I started this blog because I couldn't often think of things to write about apart from preparing for the various admissions tests I was going to undertake, and to be honest on that score there was nothing to write apart from about how daunting it all was, haha.
So I guess what I'll do is I'll split up all the different portions of my admissions process so far (everything pre-offer) and stick them in bite-size articles, maybe that way they'll be a bit more interesting and useful to people maybe going through the same thing!
So here's what you've got to look forward to, if it floats your boat:
However, jeeeeez is there a lot to write about now! I remember getting a little frustrated when I started this blog because I couldn't often think of things to write about apart from preparing for the various admissions tests I was going to undertake, and to be honest on that score there was nothing to write apart from about how daunting it all was, haha.
So I guess what I'll do is I'll split up all the different portions of my admissions process so far (everything pre-offer) and stick them in bite-size articles, maybe that way they'll be a bit more interesting and useful to people maybe going through the same thing!
So here's what you've got to look forward to, if it floats your boat:
- UKCAT - what to expect and general tips and tricks
- BMAT - what to expect and my opinion on the test as a whole
- UCAS application and personal statement - help and my own experience
- Which universities to choose - this is more important than anything, wish someone would have told me what I know now
- Pre-interview feeling/rejection before interview - my experience
- Oxford medicine interviews - my experience
- General medicine interviews - my experience
- General medicine interviews - tips and tricks
- Rejections after interview - my experience and helpful tips
- OFFER - what happens next
- Is medicine for you - consideration of my application as a whole
At the minute, that's my past year in a nutshell, so I'll be writing these over the next few weeks as productive procrastination as I finish my A2 exams, with a couple of angsty exam articles put in for good measure ;)
As I'm sure you can gauge from the list, I suffered quite a few setbacks throughout my application, but I'm delighted to be able to say that I did receive a conditional offer to study medicine at the University of Bristol, which I'll be starting in September, grades allowing!
Until next time!
As I'm sure you can gauge from the list, I suffered quite a few setbacks throughout my application, but I'm delighted to be able to say that I did receive a conditional offer to study medicine at the University of Bristol, which I'll be starting in September, grades allowing!
Until next time!
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