Guy’s King’s and St Thomas’ (GKT) School of Medicine

graceylee · 01-09-2008, 12:14 PM

Don't know what to do. I really want to do medicine at kings, i got a low UKCAT result, average 510

, i phoned the admissions office and they said they offer interviews to the top 20%, and then a few from personal statements etc!!

Does anybody know how many interviews they offer just by looking at personal statement????

This means..... i know i have to make my statement sound surperb! like i ran a marathon whilst giving birth or something!!!!!

icecream · 01-09-2008, 04:22 PM

from kcl site: Medicine MBBS : Programme Search : King's College London

Quote:

UKCAT scores
Your UKCAT scores will be considered in our selection for interview. They will not be the sole indicator for selection. They will be balanced against achievement in other areas, in particular your academic performance to date. All indicators will be considered together in deciding who will be selected for interview. It is therefore important to understand that there is no universal 'cut off' score for the UKCAT when applying for 2009 entry. For example, if an applicant has an excellent academic background then the test scores will play a less significant part in selection. For those with weaker academic backgrounds (relative to our overall applicant pool), the scores will become more important. An applicant who may not normally be considered on academic grounds could be invited to interview on the strength of strong UKCAT scores that may indicate potential. Also, if applicants are very similar in all other ways, the score may be the determining factor in selection for interview.

Therefore, those invited to interview could 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.

Frodo · 01-09-2008, 10:42 PM

Do you want to appl for GPEP or 5 year MBBS course?

It also depends whether you want to apply for GPEP or the 5 year mbbs course. Just like what the website says your ukcat score isn't that important if your are academically consistent for the 5 year course.

However for the GPEP course you would need to score quite highly as they rank in order of UKCAT scores.

469er · 02-09-2008, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graceylee

Don't know what to do. I really want to do medicine at kings, i got a low UKCAT result, average 510

, i phoned the admissions office and they said they offer interviews to the top 20%, and then a few from personal statements etc!!

Does anybody know how many interviews they offer just by looking at personal statement????

This means..... i know i have to make my statement sound surperb! like i ran a marathon whilst giving birth or something!!!!!

Recapping what others have said, it depends entirely whether you are going for the 4-year or the 5-year. What admissions told you applies to the 4-year, and if this is what you are aiming for I think it is highly unlikely you would be selected for interview with a UKCAT of 510. I believe 700ish was about the cut-off last year. In theory, an outstanding application in all other respects would outweigh your score. In practice, you would be taking a huge risk. Unless you have run a marathon whilst giving birth. In which case you could probably get so much sponsorship money you wouldn't need the financial advantages of a GEP.

For the 5-year, the UKCAT score is less of an issue, as the selection process is more rounded. 510 is still not brilliant, though. I mean no disrespect, as I think it's a rather stupid test, and there are all sorts of reasons for a person's performance to be at the low end. However, King's is a very popular medical school, and you should include it in your choices only if you are fully awake to the fact that it's a bit of a gamble. But if you really, really want King's, then my personal feeling would be to give it a punt - avoid the 'what if' syndrome, and all that. The other thing that may be helpful is to ask yourself what it is about King's that you're so attracted to, and whether it's something you could find elsewhere. HTH Good luck.

50PH// · 17-09-2008, 04:17 AM

Thought it would be silly to start a new thread when i have the same concerns. I just want to know if am being realistic as being a reapplicant, dun want straight rejections

.

i have ukcat average of 687.5 and 3 As in human biology, chem n maths and a B in AS physics. have got a gcse equivalent thng from pakistan (86% as we have no grades) and as english not being my first language, have done a test called IELTS. For that i got a band 8 whereas the med school asks for 7.5. emailed the uni regarding the gcse equivalent and they thnk its fine. so should i giv it a go?

i see GKT gives a lot of importance to A*s in gcses... should i still apply? Thanks

Jacob-Ressa · 17-09-2008, 01:41 PM

Graceylee

Although The 5 year programme admission puts less weight on UKCAT than 4 year, from what I understand it is still one of the most important factors in selection. I think it is used alongside the number of A* you have at GCSE when they are choosing who to offer interviews to.

My UKCAT avg was 650 and at GCSE I got 8A*. A friend of mine with a UKCAT of 580 and 5A* at GCSE was rejected quite early on despite having excellent personal statement/work experience etc.

I was interviewed right at the end of the cycle, so interpret whatever you want from that. That having been said there was a girl there that day who had poor GCSE’s and a UKCAT of 550 or something. But I think she was applying through some scheme Kings do for people from inner city London schools.

I wouldn’t say “don’t bother applying” because I am a firm believer that you should follow your dreams. Although if you want my honest opinion, unless the rest of your application is outstanding, you are going to have a fairly hard time getting an offer.

This is however, only my opinion, and who can really tell who is going to get chosen, other than the Kings admissions tutors themselves?

50PH//

Kings do place a lot of emphasis on A* grades, although as you haven’t done GCSE’s they can’t judge you on them. I am not familiar with the exam system in Pakistan so I couldn’t tell you whether your 86% is a good score, although it sounds like it is. Your UKCAT and A-level results are certainly good enough to not disqualify you. If you want to go there I would say it is worth giving it a shot.