Admissions process

[garlicbreadman]

Does Abderdeen use a points system?



What and how many points are allocated, for what, etc?

How big are non-academic ahievements , as for Ed, you get max of 6 out of a TOTAL score of 37 for non-academic achievements

the only Scottish uni that doesn't use points in Scotland is Glasgow as far as I am aware


I know most or all universities give out more offers than they have places, does anyone know how many people Aberdeen interview and how many offers they give out?

[Kensei]

Nervermind...

[Kensei]

Hey garlicbreadman

Aberdeen uses some kind of point system, but I can't recall its details just now. I'm pretty sure that UKCAT was worth 4% of points and the interview was 50% (or more) - leaving 46 % at the most for the UCAS application. I'm not able to say exactly how many points are assigned to each part of that application, but it's pretty clear that PS is the crucial bit. Presumably, the academical achievements are not terribly important (once you meet the academic requirements, there's very limited wiggle-space for those wanting to be 'better' than everyone else).. Based on this, I can speculate that PS > non-academic achievements > academic achievements > UKCAT... however, I could be wrong ;-P Also, I'm not sure whether the reference letter is marked in any way.

Here's a page which should answer your question re: offers and places on the course:

Aberdeen med school overview - school leavers

AFAIK, there are more than 500 interviews... (I don't know whether this is accurate/up-to-date). This would mean that vast majority of those who are interviewed get an offer.

Hope this helps

[Masuda]

Does Abderdeen use a points system?



What and how many points are allocated, for what, etc?

How big are non-academic ahievements , as for Ed, you get max of 6 out of a TOTAL score of 37 for non-academic achievements

the only Scottish uni that doesn't use points in Scotland is Glasgow as far as I am aware


I know most or all universities give out more offers than they have places, does anyone know how many people Aberdeen interview and how many offers they give out?

Aberdeen do use a points system - all the universities will use one - it is standard practice in admissions as well as in recruitment - to try and apply criteria as fairly as possible - so that application number 1 can objectively be compared to application number 3000 when you have looked at so many applications that they are all blurring into one.

Also standard practice is for the actual scoring system to be highly confidential - it is unlikely to be released outside the admissions commitee.

This is what Aberdeen's admissions policy states - this can be downloaded from the website in pdf form or if you ask for a copy you will probably be given it - it is public document.

"Candidates' UKCAT scores are considered in our selection for interview but are not the sole indicator for selection. In particular they are balanced against actual and predicted academic achievement. All indicators are considered together in deciding who will be selected for interview. Those invited to interview offer a broad range of UKCAT scores. For 2008 entry, the lowest average score for an applicant invited to interview was 513 and the highest 776. UCAS applications that offer suitable academic standards of qualifications are processed in four stages. Firstly, an academic score is given for attained or predicted qualifications. Secondly, the UCAS personal statement and reference are carefully evaluated and objectively scored. The third score is then given for attainment in the UK CAT. A summary of these scores determines which candidates are then selected for interview. Interviews take place between October and March and achieve the fourth objective score. Some overseas applicants are interviewed overseas. Ultimately, offers will be made to candidates who achieve an overall score that is greater than the designated threshold. Although some offers are made on a rolling basis, the majority are made in late March each year."

Good luck to you all - there is a lot of misinformation about admissions so check for accuracies before allowing yourself to be discouraged.