1st degree classification Eng/Scot

[cooldude]

Can anyone help advise me?
I'm looking into doing medicine as a second degree and am pleased to see it is becoming more possible than it was when I first thought of it about 8 years ago. I'm 30 now. Wish I had done it years ago but life took over and I thought it was going to cost about £5000 a year in fees but I now think that is not the case.

I often read that you need a certain class of first degree. This confuses me (easily done) as English education is different to Scottish. You can complete an honours degree in England in 3 years and in Scotland that takes 4 years. Anything shorter in Scotland, 3 years say, and it would be a 'designated' degree. But that is one year longer than it would have been in England. I have an MA which took 3 years. First year did Psycology and from then did mainly English. I didn't want to do another year as I had little money and already had 2 jobs trying to keep up.

It's so good to read about all the people considering doing a second degree in medicine as I think they often make much more rounded doctors who really have the drive. A few of the people doing it as a first degree seemed to have chips on their shoulders about how brilliant they were and how much they were going to get paid.

Which are the best schools to apply to bearing in mind I don't have the all important 2.2 (which could be in anything after all)?

I like the look of the Peninsula school.

[bigdaikon]

By saying that you "don't have the all important 2.2", does that mean a 3rd? Or was it a typo and you mean you don't have a 2.1? Apologies if I'm being intrusive; just tell me to frig off if I offend.I ask since, most GEP's with entrance exams stipulate a 2.2 as the minimum (correct me if I'm wrong anyone), whereas 5yr "graduate friendly" course tend to go for 2.1's (although extenuating circumstances are often taken into consideration). Again, I may be a little off...but probably only just! As for your degree classification (i.e. MA), I really think it will be fine. It's the "MA" part they'll look at and, as knowledgable as they may be (i.e. in realsing that it isn't a post-grad), they will regard it as a bona-fide degree! You should check to see if some courses require an Honors degree (I'm not sure all do). However, the golden rule seems to be: contact the institution directly. So, go on...I just did, and someone got back to me within 5 minutes! Lucky me...

[bigdaikon]

It seems that you wouldn't have a problem applying to sit the GAMSAT at Peninsula...

[cooldude]

Thanks for your reply, I was getting a bit paranoid there!

I will contact the colleges direct as I know what you mean, they can't legislate for each circumstance and best that you go to them before fretting for 3 years about it...

You'd be amazed at how little some people know about the different degrees, some places in England where I've done telephone interviews (for jobs) have been totally oblivious. They just repeat blindly about having a 2.1 (yes it was that that I meant and I think - should know really! - the MA degree is more advanced than a BA as you have to do more credits for it) and twice I've talked to people who told me point blank that you can't do a degree in England in 2 years when you can.

I think you can do a 3 year degree in England and it NOT be honours (say when you fail to do a dissertation or it's not v good), then it may be called a designated degree. As for mine, it wasn't called designated and it wasn't just a second choice, it is actually advertised as a specific course, one that allows you to take a range of courses in one subject area and not have to do a dissertation in one.

A lot of dissertations I've read are quite boring and people spend most of the time trying to fill swathes of pages when actually they should have stopped after 10. That is from an 'arts' perspective mind you, perhaps different if you are writing about a new form of electricity that can be made from grass!

So are you on a med course? Best of luck if you are trying to get into one.

[bigdaikon]

Hey Cooldude, I know what you mean about the English ignorance (N.B. I'm not being antagonistic!) with regards to the Scottish system. Just so that I don't infuriate folk, I am English but I studied at Glasgow Uni (the Scottish system allows for so much freedom, which is why I opted for it). As for the designated degree in England, yeah, ur right;it usually is a case of failing to attain a certain standard or not submitting a diss that results in "designated" status.
In relation to your MA, many of my friends (with an MA)have been at an advantage when applying for jobs in England, as a great deal of employers automatically assume that it's a post-grad (or a 4yr) qualification. However, I'm pretty certain that the universities are up to speed, although I'd be astonished if they didn't regard it as being equivalent to an honours. Apologies. Just off on one...
Anyway, the best thing to do is look at all the unis entry requirements and give them a bell. Then it's a case of ascertaining which are truly grad friendly, followed by the laborious process of checking demographics for how many folk they ACTUALLY let in. Good luck. Oh, and no, I don't have a place; I'm applying for 2006.