Success at CoWA

**fozzy_68** · 17-02-2011, 06:40 PM

Hey,

I start the A2M course at CoWA this coming September. As the starting point draws closer, I'm getting more and more nervous about how much is resting on this 10 month course.

Just wanting to know what the success rate has been like from previous students.

Please could those students that have been successful in gaining a place at med school or not as the case may be please post here, stating what your results were from CoWA; previous academic/ working background and where you got offered a place.

Would be nice to hear from 2009/2010 cohort.

Regards,

Wayne

**yamazaki** · 05-03-2011, 05:07 PM

I got the impression that the 'success' rate was lower last year, but I'd thought it was higher than zero...

**unvarnishedtruth** · 20-07-2011, 07:06 PM

Dear fozzy_68,

About 25% of the 2010/2011 cohort got into med school this year. Students managed to get into Leeds, Leicester, Hull-York, Brighton, UCL, Durham, Manchester, St. Andrew's, St. G's (the UK one and the Caribbean one too), Keele and Newcastle.

Cambridge and UEA invited a few for interview. In addition, Manchester and Bristol dental schools invited some for interview too.

Backgrounds (academic and professional) varied. Someone on this forum claimed you needed a degree to have a chance at med school. This is not true. A significant number without degrees secured a place. I wouldn't be surprised if there was no correlation between previous academic performance and chance of proceeding to med school. Actually, most of the worst students seemed to be uni-grads with good degrees.

The majority of successful students had healthcare experience. There were 2 paramedics, a few HCAs and 1 nurse, and most had at least volunteer work under their belt. However, I think 2 or more didn't have any such experience. However, they came from challenging fields that necessitated all the abilities a good doctor should exhibit.

The successful candidates seemed to be either healthcare professionals or ex-militaries. However two had financial backgrounds.

As for performance on the course, that's harder to ascertain. At Christmas a surprisingly low proportion got the predicted 6 distinctions needed to secure interviews. As for final exams, the official results haven't been released yet. You can look up what each uni requires. It ranged from distinction overall to nothing less than 6 distinctions. My advice is to be safe and shoot for all 6.

Hopefully this has been useful. I'm happy to offer more insight.

**yamazaki** · 20-07-2011, 07:53 PM

25%?! oh dear...

so, in your opinion, was this lack of success down to poor performance on the course, poor ukcat, or other factors?

**unvarnishedtruth** · 20-07-2011, 08:36 PM

Firstly, I'd like to point out distinction students from COWA may be getting in on the second or third attempt. I don't know, don't have the data. But would not be surprised if that is the case.

I think the low figure is to due other things lacking. Access just addresses the academic part of your application. Your GCSE grades, UKCAT, personal statement, references and work experience all have to be in order to get to the interview stage. And the interview requires a lot: understanding public health issues, realities of life as a doctor, analytical ability, communication skills, etc, etc, etc.

COWA can only help with the academic side to a multifaceted application process. Frankly, I have very little sympathy for those in the 2010/2011 cohort who didn't cover all the bases. Most aspiring med students must have healthcare experience (volunteer is fine), knowledge of life as a doctor, knowledge of important health issues, a polite and courteous manner, academic ability, etc, etc, etc. Access student are certainly not the exception. If anything, more is expected from us.