ACCESS to medicine. Manchester College. 2012 entry...

**Doctorteeth** · 11-04-2012, 05:45 PM

I emailed them last week and they said they will be looking at the february applications in the Easter Holidays as they have had a full teaching schedule,

Fingers crossed everyone.

**Nua** · 13-04-2012, 03:09 AM

I emailed them and I got a reply saying that they will be in touch in due course with the outcome of my application form. Don't understand what's taking them so long, as it seems that everyone else heard back pretty quickly after submitting an application and were invited for assessments.

**BethanyG713** · 17-04-2012, 04:10 AM

Hi Guys i have a initial assessment on the 24th of April, does anyone have one on the same day?

**kenndelhannah** · 18-04-2012, 10:50 PM

Hi everyone,
I had my interview and assessment today and it went pretty well I think

The assessment isn't major hard but you will need to revise your GCSE maths and English if you haven't really used it. Andreas, the course leader, is really nice and supportive. He said we will find out at the beginning of June ish. He said in around 3 weeks - 2 months. Good luck!

**Qualityassured** · 19-04-2012, 03:30 AM

Hello kendlehannah,

good to know everything went well. I just cannot wait til June, its TORTURE.

Good luck btw

**kenndelhannah** · 19-04-2012, 02:32 PM

Qualityassured...I know! June is just soooo far

But fingers crossed it only takes 3 weeks! Good luck!

**Jolt** · 21-04-2012, 04:09 PM

"As for success rate for medicine, I was informed that first time applications have around a 40% success rate, and 90% if you reapply the year after after being unsuccessful, I just thought I would share that."

I'd take that with a pinch of salt.

In my year on the Manchester A2M, out of the campus group of around 25 only four people successfully made it onto a medicine course in the first attempt, with two of those four being onto a 6 year programme (essentially another foundation/access programme, with a guaranteed place after if you pass). Some others in the group got places on other courses (chemistry, anatomy etc), with the hope of being able to medicine apply again when they were post-grads.

The following year a couple of other people got places in medicine with their second applications I believe.

In short, the success rates are nowhere close to 40% and 90% for medicine.

**futuredestination** · 22-04-2012, 02:53 AM

Hey i have applied to this as an alternative route, because i got a 2:2 in biomedical science in 2011 and didnt achieve good a level grades prior to that. Is it worth doing this course and applying as an undergraduate or is my 2:2 a dead end for me?

what are the success rates of people who have studied on this course at manchester college getting into med school whether it was here or overseas, does anybody know?

**Jolt** · 22-04-2012, 05:53 PM

If you're applying as a mature/graduate you have to be tactical about what you choose to disclose and not.

A 2:2 in a previous degree would be fine for some universities, but others would turn you down because of it. If you did something like an Access course, it would fulfil the academic criteria for entry to an undergraduate programme, and in that situation a previous degree wouldn't be bringing anything extra to your application anyway, so it might be better not to say you've studied at all. There isn't a central database that stores everyone's qualifications beyond UCAS which records admissions, but doesn't say whether or not you finished.

Before starting medicine I studied law for a few years. I eventually dropped out after two years of it and got a job. If I'd have finished the degree and got the 2:2 or 3rd that I was heading for, I wouldn't have been able to get into the universities I'm at now. Bizarrely, as I dropped out it wasn't a problem. I also know other people on my course that have previous degrees that are 2:2/3rds that they decided not to disclose.

Regarding the success rates of the Access to Medicine courses - they're a bit of a red herring. How many students do or don't get into medicine off these courses has nothing to do with the qualification and everything to do with the candidate. If the university you apply to accepts the access diploma in place of A Levels (if you email them they'll tell you) then whether or not you get an interview and subsequent place depends on the rest of your application. If you've got a high UKCAT, plenty of experience and a good personal statement then provided you put some thought into your university choices then you'll have a good chance at an interview.

When I did the Manchester A2M course the tutors didn't really emphasize the importance of things like preparing for your UKCAT and being smart about your university choices. There was some mention of the need to get work experience and put some time into personal statements, but not nearly enough in my opinion. As a result, the success rate for students getting onto medicine in my year was extremely poor. When the university responses started coming in after Christmas there were a lot of unhappy people. We'd also been quoted the figures for success that have been mentioned in this thread and, for our year at least, they weren't anywhere close to being accurate. I'm not blaming this on the college though, because everyone on the course was of an age that would be considered well into adulthood and could have found the information to improve their applications if they have looked. Instead everyone seemed to regress into a weird school type behaviour where they waited to be spoon-fed everything.

I should say, though, the teaching on the course is excellent and the course tutors seem to be genuinely passionate about getting people into medicine (although they can be a little grumpy sometimes). If you get on the course and turn up and try, you'll get the distinctions you need to get into medicine if you get a place. Whether or not you get a place is entirely up to you.

**futuredestination** · 22-04-2012, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jolt

If you're applying as a mature/graduate you have to be tactical about what you choose to disclose and not.

A 2:2 in a previous degree would be fine for some universities, but others would turn you down because of it. If you did something like an Access course, it would fulfil the academic criteria for entry to an undergraduate programme, and in that situation a previous degree wouldn't be bringing anything extra to your application anyway, so it might be better not to say you've studied at all. There isn't a central database that stores everyone's qualifications beyond UCAS which records admissions, but doesn't say whether or not you finished.

Before starting medicine I studied law for a few years. I eventually dropped out after two years of it and got a job. If I'd have finished the degree and got the 2:2 or 3rd that I was heading for, I wouldn't have been able to get into the universities I'm at now. Bizarrely, as I dropped out it wasn't a problem. I also know other people on my course that have previous degrees that are 2:2/3rds that they decided not to disclose.

Regarding the success rates of the Access to Medicine courses - they're a bit of a red herring. How many students do or don't get into medicine off these courses has nothing to do with the qualification and everything to do with the candidate. If the university you apply to accepts the access diploma in place of A Levels (if you email them they'll tell you) then whether or not you get an interview and subsequent place depends on the rest of your application. If you've got a high UKCAT, plenty of experience and a good personal statement then provided you put some thought into your university choices then you'll have a good chance at an interview.

When I did the Manchester A2M course the tutors didn't really emphasize the importance of things like preparing for your UKCAT and being smart about your university choices. There was some mention of the need to get work experience and put some time into personal statements, but not nearly enough in my opinion. As a result, the success rate for students getting onto medicine in my year was extremely poor. When the university responses started coming in after Christmas there were a lot of unhappy people. We'd also been quoted the figures for success that have been mentioned in this thread and, for our year at least, they weren't anywhere close to being accurate. I'm not blaming this on the college though, because everyone on the course was of an age that would be considered well into adulthood and could have found the information to improve their applications if they have looked. Instead everyone seemed to regress into a weird school type behaviour where they waited to be spoon-fed everything.

I should say, though, the teaching on the course is excellent and the course tutors seem to be genuinely passionate about getting people into medicine (although they can be a little grumpy sometimes). If you get on the course and turn up and try, you'll get the distinctions you need to get into medicine if you get a place. Whether or not you get a place is entirely up to you.

Thank you so much for your help!!
So you did the access to medicine at manchester college and got into medicine on the first application when doing the course? What universities did you apply to and what kind of experience did you have? Im intrigued now because you have already done what im thinking about doing!!