Nurse doing 4 exams and 3 practicals by end of May!!! HELP

[NurseM]

Hello all

After getting a first class degree in nursing but 2380 in UKCAT ( I didnt sleep, I panicked, I revised for months, I cried, the end) I have 3 rejections and am expecting the last one, any day day now.

So after finishing my degree in March, I spent the summer revising UKCAT, then in October when I took the exam, realised " oh crap" my dream was over. I realised I could so some A levels maybe in one year and started revising AS Chemistry and AS Biology, After a month, I dropped Chemistry, but continued with Biology, and decided to do the Chem AS in June and then A2 in January 2013, as I was going crazy revising for 4 exams,

Anyway....just did my AS Biology exams, did very well I think, but now I have to do the A2 Biology and AS Chemistry, so thats 4 exams and three practicals with mini-exams snuck in.

I am 31, and do 14 hour days in hospital, I read books like I breathe, they come everywhere with me, but chemistry is something else! It's so flippin abstract, it would be easier to learn Korean or Mongolian.

What gets me is that...I already have a degree and for the graduate entry programme, bar some medical schools, you just need to ace the UKCAT, but I'm just not sure I can ace it, I can definatley improve a lot on last years score, but that final number is like the be all and end all of medicine.

I'm gutted that I'm under sooo much pressure now to do 4 exams (2 chem/2 biology_ and three practicals all by May........when all I need is a good UKCAT score.

SO...say I get A's, but crappy UKCAT, then I will have to start revising for the BMAT or GAMSAT as a last resort, because I'm getting old and cant handle more rejections. If only I could show admissions tutors, that nurses make the best doctors and the knowledge I have now, is more than most F1 and F2'S , but alas I cant.

Soooo....anyone else feeling the blues or in a similiar situation.....

Just needed to vent.....thanks for listening....you've been beautiful.

[naseemamaria]

Aww NurseM, firstly congratulations on the first! You should be proud of your achievements. I feel for you as the stress of exams alongside the wait to get into medical is very difficult. I can't suggest much apart from considering non-UKCAT Medicine courses? Have you looked into Liverpool's GEP because they don't require the UKCAT. I don't know your financial situation but if funding wasn't an issue then five year undergraduate degrees usually have a lower UKCAT cut off. Im sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong but schools such as Leeds don't actually have a cut off point. Instead they use your score to differentiate between two candidates. Hope this helps and best of luck! You've already got a first and its in Nursing too, not some dilly dally degree like Criminology and Journalism (like me!) so your degree is bound to get you points ahead of your competition. Again, the very best of luck and feel free to vent here.. there's plenty of people who'll listen. =)