#1

Hello!!

I am an international student who has been applying to medical schools in the UK.

My adventure started in Jan2012 when i arrived here in the UK to embark on a 5 term A level course in pursuit for my dream to become a doctor(:

Now, I am in my A2 year. I have sent in my university application. And here I've received one offer( thank god!) one rejection and 2 interviews. I've attended one earlier this week and I have one coming up next week! And next week is the release of my A level January exam results!!0.0!!

Alright so i guess it would be good to start off by talking about my decision to come to the UK to do my A levels. I come from Singapore so i guess I was given a choice to stay there or come here, but i chose to come here and here are a list of pros and cons i considered before coming here:

Pros(+):
Better support
Less stress(better focus on applying to uni, not just struggling to make the grades
Independence
A clearer idea as to whether i really want to live out of Singapore or not
Get to university one year earlier than my peers because of the time A level results are released

Cons(-):
i had to leave my friends
expensive course fess and accommodation
i may regret it

NO, after a year into my course here are some things i have to say:
1. The support given by my school was not the best but they have improved! I had to look for work experience(i will talk about this in a different post) by myself and I was only given guidance when i asked for it. I guess, i many ways i have learnt to become more independent!
2.The system here is definitely much much less stressful than what you get in Singapore, that could be good or bad. Good for obvious reasons but bad because, ultimately , you will be applying to a very stressful course, if you live through JC, you will be better prepared for it!!
3.Coming here to the UK increases your chance by quite a lot because you know what is really expected and you get pretty good guidance, for example, comparing my applications to my peers i had one friend who got rejected by all her universities within a month and a friend who got rejected by all her universities except for one. Personally i think this is so because back home, most of the people are too caught up trying to get into local universities and get by Prelims that very little focus is put into considering university choices properly and such, Here, everyone is applying to medical school, your teachers will try to help maximise your choices as much as possible,etc;

And another thing to explain is about the a level system in the UK:

Usually people go through a 6 term course so that would be September 20XX to June (20XX+2)
But for Singaporeans, because we only complete our O levels in November, we have a shorter 5 term course which would be from Jan 20XX to Jun (20XX+1)

Now, i shall explain how you get to university one year earlier:
How the Singapore system works:
20XX
O levels finish
20XX+1
O level results, enter JC
20XX+2
Apply to university with prelim results
A level exams at the end of the year
20XX+3
A level results come out in march
you go into Uni is September

How the UK system would work:
20XX
O levels end
20XX+1
o level results, start a level course
send in university applications with June exam results in October
20XX+2
 Final A level exams in June
Exam results in August
Enter uni in September


So as you can see, it is a year faster in you go to the UK and in the Singapore system you end up having an unintentional Gap year.

To me, if you really are sure that medicine is the career for you, stat early. It is a career that needs a lot of stamina so might as well start when you are young right?It is definitely not going to be an easy path so you should start early to allow for more time to comeback from set backs if you know what i mean(:

Alright, so now i should explain the exam system in the UK for A levels:

You take your exams in modules. For example, for Math, i have 6 modules to make up one full A level.
And you know how in Singapore you have H1,H2 and H3, here, it is either Half an A level or a full A level. Your first year is called your AS year and your second, A2 year.
So Half an a level means you just take your AS for that subject.

SO for medicine, the usual subjects you gotta take is 3 subjects(including chemistry ) and an AS subject.

As you may already be able to tell, it is very much more relaxed. So , usually a student would take their exams in June so you will have 2 tries at about 21 modules(3 Full A levels and 1 half A level-6(if they are sciences)X3+1X3))

If you are currently considering studying abroad for this, think over it carefully. Medicine is not an easy course and the application process is quite stressful you have to get perfect predicted grades, a good UKCAT score, a very very very good Personal statement and a good reference form your referee!

I will talk more about the different aspects of the applications process in my next post!

Feel free to email me at lovebullets1995@gmail.com if you have any questions(: