BSMS graduate applicants

[Med student wannabe]

Hey people I hope all is well.

For graduate applicants who are applying to BSMS has anyone received an e-mail recently requesting for a copy of their degree transcript? It's just that I got this e-mail recently from the admissions tutor stating that it may be to my advantage to provide a copy of my degree transcript. When I received the e-mail I thought that maybe this was a good thing because maybe BSMS have gone through my application and have taken everything into consideration. Or maybe this is just to help with the amount of graduate applicants they receive. Who knows really? It would be nice to hear other people's opinion about it.

Med Student Wannabe

[the_slob]

Hi

No I just got asked by St Andrews to provide my degree transcript too. I think it is to confirm they are interested but that they need confirmation of your results. I didn't get asked for them last year but didn't gain any interviews so I am hopeful that this is positive.

I also finished first year at Edinburgh in biochemistry before deciding it wasnt for me. I stated this in my covering letter as a positive thing and now they are asking for these results too. I am a bit embarassed as I had given up by that point and only sat the exams due to my parents telling me to just in case I wanted to continue on after the summer. I got 4 D's and a C! I will be lucky if they don't send me a letter telling me that people who don't try don't get!

Unfortunately St Andrews is one of those places where the BSc in third year is mandatory so it probably doesn't look too good!

Anyway I would get those transcripts back to them asap.

P.S. They cost me £11 from Edinburgh..

[Med student wannabe]

Hey the_slob I think you might be right about the uni being interested because they wouldn't notify you unless they wasn't. As regards your results for your degree they may not be good but don't despair as my godbrother didn't have the correct A level grades and he is in his 4th yr of med school now!!! I think the admissions officers take other things into consideration other than academic credentials which is important for a profession such as medicine. Thanks for your response and good luck with your application.

Med Student Wannabe

[the_slob]

Thanks and the same to you!

I am hoping they will look at them as a plus and not a negative. From speaking to the admissions people it would seem that Edinburgh and St Andrews generally now want to see advanced higher level chemistry taken by grad applicants which is not what they state in their prospectus'. In Scotland school leavers have until now usually just got higher level passes on leaving school due to the way the system works. I pointed out that they should have made this clearer in their prospectus but to no avail.

I think the whole process is about selling yourself in the right way and maximising all your plus's. All very arbitrary though and I think if you want it enough you will get it. Last year I actually wrote my personal statement in about a day then regretted sending it from the moment I clicked the button. The key is meticulous planning at every stage of the process and no glaring cock-ups!

[smilingsophie]

hey,
i got an email from brighton saying the same ting as u before christmas, si i sent them my degree results from years 1 and 2 but i havnt herd anyting bk from them

[the_slob]

It turned out that Outlook wan't routing my emails through my hotmail account so none of the emails I had sent had got through. Finally managed to find somewhere to fax them though which cost £5.20!

I think it must be a good sign because they wouldn't be asking for it unless they wanted confirmation of what you had told them. Believe me after a year of total silence then rejections last year I am very pleased that Edinburgh and St Andrews have contacted me about various things. At least they know I exist!

[tria]

Oh blimey, I've heard nothing from bsms! Maybe time to begin preparing myself for the worst then... Good luck to all you guys though, it can only be a good thing that they've asked for extra info

[the_slob]

Don't panic! I can't be sure this is a positive thing. Maybe they thought I was lying though how anyone could make up my academic history I am not sure.

The problem with my academic history is that it is quite convoluted having started one degree then swapped to finish another. The first part of the degree though was biochemistry and I was told the level of study accomplished meant I could use it in my application. They probably are checking out that I gained sufficient merit etc so this may not apply to all applicants.