The possible alternative routes into medicine

If you have GCSEs or A Levels(the achieved ones) that can't fulfil what most Medical schools need it would be quite silly to take a gap year, however, if you have not gotten an offer because of a lack of experience, poor interview skills or a weak personal statement, take a year out, work on strengthening your application and then reapply!

For those who think that their GCSEs/achieved A levels results aren't good enough(by this i mean, getting less than 5As at GCSEs and less than AAA at A levels) here are some route you may want to consider:
1.Apply to another course that allows for you to transfer to their medicine course after your first year(provided you have really awesome grades) Form what I know, an example of a university like this would be Newcastle where you are allowed to transfer to medicine from Biomedical Sciences. Here is a link on TSR that may help:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Access_to_Medicine
Please always call up the admissions team of respective universities to find out about the course you are applying for so you know what you are in for.
2.Graduate Medicine
Do bear in mind that this route is definitely the harder route ! It takes a whole lot of determination and focus and its definitely more competitive!
3. Do an undergraduate course and then apply for undergraduate medicine
I had a friend who did this and she has gotten quite a few offers. the offer would be given based on your degree so your GCSEs/A Level may be able to be made up for by that. This route would take a much longer time and it needs a lot of determination and perseverance to be able to do an undergraduate degree only to do another undergraduate degree! So think carefully!
4. Consider a private medical school
If your family is able to afford it then go ahead! RCSI and University of Malta are some examples. I have not really read much about them but from what i know RCSI even offers ABB for A Levels!

An alternative would be to apply for medical schools that look ONLY at your strong points, for example, if you have a fantastic UKCAT score(>700) you may want to consider universities that only look at your UKCAT score.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_GCSE_Requirements
This link tells you the minimum requirements of the medical schools. I don't want to be a wet blanket but I must remind you that most applicants would usually have GCSEs that are more than the minimum requirement.

All the best for your applications!

Things to start doing RIGHT NOW!

I would think that students who are intending to apply to Medical schools for 2014 entry would be starting to prepare for the submission of their applications this October.

Here are some things you may want to consider doing to be well prepared for the stressful application when it comes:
1. Study for the UKCAT
Like,start right now!
Get your books, sign up for online UKCAT Practises, start using the sample tests on the UKCAT website!
Yes! You can study.. well, actually, practise.. you can practise for the UKCAT! Trust me! There are a lot of resources out there and the more you do the more used to you'll get to the questions and also you will have exposure to a good range of resources so you'll be very prepared for any type of question that comes out in your actual test!
Refer to my previous post for resources and advice on it : http://ajourneytofufilmydreams.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/ukcat.html

2. Arrange for work experience
Start early! Some hospitals in the UK have waiting lists of 2 YEARS! Be it volunteering at a charity shop or at a elderly home, start early! The longer your commitment, the better your experience would be a reflection of your commitment and determination.

3.Your Personal Statement
Draft it, ask people around you for opinions,ask the PS helpers on TSR to look at it and give you advice, START EARLY. It really sucks if you start panicking a week before you submit your personal statement and have to keep rushing to complete it only to feel unsatisfied with it after you've sent it off! Look at my previous posts on my advice for doing your personal statement here : http://ajourneytofufilmydreams.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Personal%20Statement

4. Study for your June exams
These exams are your last chance to prove yourself to your teachers, your last chance to show that you are worth being predicted the required AAA. Not forgetting, you also have to declare all your results in your UCAS form, it won't look nice if you have a D or an E, so hit the books and start studying!
Here are some good sites for Chemistry and Biology(AQA):
http://sciencemathsmaster.weebly.com/biology.html
http://vbio.weebly.com/a2-level.html
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1288539 (AWESOME AWESOME NOTES!)
https://www.heckgrammar.co.uk/index.php?p=10312
http://a-levelchemistry.co.uk/( OCR and AQA)

5.Check out some universities
Go for open days this Easter/Summer, go to as many as possible and talk to medical students. Look at the schools' campus, ask what universities look at strongly on your application. If you can't order prospectuses from the universities and look through them. It's always good to have a goal in your mind!

That really is about it. focus all your energy on doing all these and then start thinking about other stuff when you've sent your application off!

Best of luck!

Feel free to email me @ lovebullets1995@gmail.com if you have any questions!

What subjects should I take at A Levels?

For medicine , usually Chemistry or Biology would be compulsory so I would really suggest that you take both of them to A2 just to be safe and so that your options to almost all medical schools are open!

Personally, I think Math is a really good subject which you can easily score an A in so I would highly recommend taking it ! However , please do note that most universities may consider further maths and maths as one subject !

As for the fourth subject which you may or may not carry on to your A2 year I strongly suggest that you take a subject that you are truly interested in. Some people say that by taking a Humanities subject(like art, geography or history ) it shows that you are an 'all-rounder' . Well, to some extent it is true but personally I think that as long as you are able to justify why you study each subject and how it may contribute/prepare you to be a better medical student/doctor ,it is alright.

Personally , I chose to do physics. To be honest , I only chose it because I felt that it was the easiest to score in. But I felt that it was really tedious because I just had no passion for it so I eventually decided to drop it even though I definitely had the capacity to take it on to A2. So my advice would definitely be to pick a fourth subject you will really enjoy!!

Just some motivation

Hey there!

It's been a few days since my previous post...

Today, i got my second medical school offer! I am really thrilled to have gotten a second offer especially since it has been said that 60% of medical school applicants do not get a single offer!

I think TSR really has helped me a lot in my entire application to medicine.. from deciding what subjects to take to what i should write in my personal statement!

Now, all i am left with is just meeting my offers. Since i am only taking 3 A2 subjects, my school hours are really short as well!

All I just want to say to all AS students out there who are intending to apply for 2014 medical school entry , just hang in there! It's not gonna be easy but it's gonna be worth it when you get your offers.. and then when you get into medical school you'll have a 'great' time with piles of assignments and work(:

Results Day!

Hello!

I hope everyone has gotten their desired results! I've gotten mine and I'm really happy with them! It seems like meeting my offers are going to be possible with just a bit more work!(:

I'm sure many people have lost sleep over today's results so take a break and congratulate yourself for your good work!~

Results

Tomorrow will be the release of A Level results!

With that in mind, I would like this post to about A Levels.

Your grades(achieved and predicted) are probably the most important part of your applications! No matter how good your work experience,volunteering experience or extra curricular activities record, you will not get any interviews/offers without a good set of grades!

Here are some tips for the subjects I did for my A Level course

Maths:
Practise!
Here are some links that will help you:
http://www.examsolutions.net/
http://www.youtube.com/user/maths247
http://www.mathspapers.co.uk/

Biology
This is applicable to all 'memorising' subjects
Read your textbook to get the key ideas of what you need to know(refer to the specification)
Make notes/flashcards or even posters of your notes to paste on your wall!!You'll always be staring at them so they would get into your head somehow!
Go on TSR and discuss/trade questions and answers with other people!
You may want to consider doing 'legacy' papers(really old papers!)
Here are some links I found helpful
http://www.biology-innovation.co.uk/
http://sciencemathsmaster.weebly.com/biology.html
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1340698 ( this thread has many useful resosurces!)

Chemistry
Make flashcards/notes!
Practise! Do all the past papers and even papers from other boards! the concept is still the same just that different boards have different styles of asking questions! By exposing yourself to the different questions,you are doing yourself a favour!
http://a-levelchemistry.co.uk/ ( AQA and OCR) this is a really really awesome awesome awesome website!

Physics
Just keep doing papers, you will find that the questions are all about the same
Invest in a good revision booklet if you need to

Here are some links for old exam papers:
 http://papers.xtremepapers.com/
http://www.freeexampapers.com/
http://www.thepaperbank.co.uk/

I wasn't paid by any website to advertise any of these!!

Good luck to everyone getting their results tomorrow!

The waiting game-How to stay sane

Most people would submit their UCAS applications in September/October and not receive any news (or even a confirmation email!!) from their universities until March!(shocking! i know!) There are some lucky ones that get interviews by November/December and get offers by January but there are also those unfortunate enough to not hear anything(but rejections><) until March.

SIX months, half a year. It's enough to drive anyone mad.

Personally, i found myself lucky enough to have received an invitation to an interview in December and an offer in January and still have interviews in February and March. However, I understand the misery many people would be in, frantically checking/refreshing their inbox every minute of the day.

Having experienced all these firsthand, I understand the anxiety one would feel for this life changing application!

Here is what I did/would like to suggest for others to cope :
1.Study for my January A Level exams(but since the January exams have been abolished, I would think you will now have to focus on June exams!)
This is actually quite important but quite difficult to do!But you will have to keep telling yourself that later if/when you received interview invites, you will be too busy stressing over/preparing for your interviews so you should study ahead of time so you won't have too much trouble catching up later!Additionally, you must tell yourself that even if you get an offer,if you don't meet the grades, all your efforts will go down the drain!
2.Stalk TSR pages(yes! it helped me feel better when I discussed my feeling with other applicants on TSR. you will find other applicants that are equally(or even more!) anxious than you and it may make you feel better that you aren't the only one freaking out and constantly pressing the refresh button for your email!
3.Start preparing for your interview:
-Shop for your interview clothes
As i have said in an earlier post, this will reduce your 'freak out' level when you get an interview invite and also give you plenty of time to make the necessary alterations!( I suggest shopping online because it takes more time shopping for a suitable outfit and it takes your mind off things!)
-Get your interview preparation books/browse for interview questions/advice online
I always believe that Chance favours only the prepared mind(Louis Pasteur) so it won't hurt to be prepared before your interview!
-Do some extra reading
Read around the subject/about the career! You may also consider reading blogs that medical student! Here are some:
http://crazylifemedstudent.blogspot.co.uk/
http://lifeofadundeemedstudent.wordpress.com/
http://tofumilk.blogspot.co.uk/
http://complicated-it-is.blogspot.co.uk/
http://ilovehotchoc.blogspot.co.uk/
These blogs are all really fun to read and it really gives you an insight as to what you are really stepping into!
4.Do some Voluntary work outside of your studying
This may take your mind off things and also if you are volunteering in a caring environment,it may even help you during your interview!
5.Pick up something new
For me, I wanted to pick up driving but i could not due to certain limitations, but if you have the chance you could maybe try something new!

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements play a huge role in helping you decide which medical school to apply to. Here are the main aspects of it:
1.GCSE(O Levels)
2.Predicted/Achieved Grades @ A level/IB/Scottish Highers/Etc;
3.UKCAT
4.BMAT
5.UCAS Tariff(http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/ please refer to this website for the exact information, from what i know, Queen Mary is an example of a medical school that uses this)

Different medical schools place different emphasis on different parts of your academics.
GCSEs:
Some schools require a minimum number of As/A*s(Eg: Cardiff, Birminghan,Belfast) while some use it as part of their 'scoring system' (Eg; Leicester) While some consider it only when there is a tie breaker (Eg; Dundee)
These school may change their admissions policy from year to year so please make sure you check on their websites!(http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_GCSE_Requirements gives an extremely clear guide as to what is needed for each medical school)

Predicted/Achieved grades:
Since I only did A Levels, I can only speak for those taking their A levels.
Generally , your predicted grades should be at least AAA and a predicted A* would not usually matter unless you have already achieved your A*(My friend applied to Bristol and got an interview which he believes he got mainly because of his achieved A*)
If you are a gap year student, AAA would be the minimum grade that you need!

UKCAT
Just as how the GCSEs are used differently by different medical schools, the UKCAT is used in varying ways. Some use it as part of their 'scoring' method(eg:Leicester), some use it to decide who get an interview by ranking their UKCAT scores(Newcastle/Durham), some use it as a cut off, in the sense where if you have an average score about the threshold they set, your UKCAT would no longer matter(Eg; for 2013 Entry, the cut off for Sheffield was 600)
Please note that all these are based on the 2013 application cycle and may vary from year to year.

BMAT
There are only a handful of medical schools in the UK that require you to take the BMAT, unfortunately I am not really clear on it as I chose not to take it and apply to the schools that require it. I would hate to be misleading so I would suggest you read up about it on TSR to get a clear idea on how it is used and what it is about

This is about all that I  have to say about this really ! Please note(again), that all these are based on what I have heard/learnt about the medical schools from this year's application cycle and may vary from year to year! So please do your own research and ensure you are clear of your chances of getting an interview before applying!

Best of luck to you! Feel free to contact me at lovebullets1995@gmail.com !

#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(: