Mature student seeking advice on plans...

[fsa3011]

I am just getting my head around accepting that I will be classed as a 'mature student'...so please be nice. (Oh, and if there are any alchemists among you who discover the elixir of life, I would desperately like some... The coordinates of the nearest space-time-continium-vortex-wormhole-thingumijiggy would also do............)


In essence, I was hoping if any of you kind folk with a few spare moments would look over my plans and see if I am heading in the right direction...I can't afford to be knocking on the wrong doors or be unrealistic about things. If my 'best laid plans' seem like they will 'go astray'....then please give me a heads-up...

So here goes:


I am twenty right now and because of a few years of clinical depression, (altering medications, varying dosages....trial-and-error...blasted psychiatrists...) I never got round to finishing my A-Levels with my peers. Things improved over the last few months after having enrolled in the local college to try and get these A2s done. My confidence, self-esteem, sense of pride all took a real beating....seeing my classmates from before move on to final years, start PhDs...all makes me pity myself. I am getting over all that...slowly but surely.

I am still determined to get myself into Med School..... My passions lie in that field more than pure sciences.....of course, I will opt to do the latter if it turns out hell would freeze over before I have the remotest chance to be accepted to study medicine....after all, beggars can't be choosers.


2001-2003: I did my IGCSEs abroad...English Language (A*), English Literature (A*), French (A*), Mathematics (A*), Biology (A*), Chemistry (A*), Physics (A*), Geography (A*), History (A*), Computer Studies (A).

2003-2004: I did my AS Levels at a school in the UK, thanks to a scholarship. Biology (286/300), Chemistry (283/300), Physics (284/300), Mathematics (272/300), ICT (275/300).

2004-2007: forced to drop out of school and get my sanity back.

2007-so far: Sat module 4 A2 papers in Biology (94/100), Chemistry (78/90) and Physics (90/90).

Thus, I will be sitting the final module 5 and 6 this June.


To add to the complexities, I will not be classed as a home student until December 2009 (provided everything goes smoothly at the Home Office).....alas I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

So, I can only consider applying for admission in September 2010....which means I have two years to try and improve my application and compensate for the three years I had to take off.


I am sending off applications trying to get a paid health care assistant position within the nhs...heck, I would even settle for being a porter if it means it will pay the bills and provide some experience to prove my commitment. If that does not materialise, I will have to do some other full-time employment and volunteer at a care home on the side.

Would you advise one over the other?

Should I keep some form of studies going in those two years? I am carrying out revision sessions with some of the science students at college and I think the lecturers are impressed with my approach...perhaps enough to arrange some tutoring for me to do in the next two years. Would that be advisable so I can keep on top of academics bearing in mind there is the BMAT I will have to sit?

Or would doing a few more A levels on the side be an idea?



This post has ended up being longer than I expected...so I will leave it at that.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

[aapl]

Your situation doesn't fit the usual candidate profile and so it would be best to explain your situation to med schools you would be interested in going to and get feed back that way.

Both options seems fine but even if you can get paid work in a health care setting, you still need to do voluntary work as much as possible. It's best not to be a one trick pony.

One thing to note is that the top up fee cap is coming off in 2010 and so you will have to pay up higher fee than it is at the moment.

I wouldn't necessarily advise you take more a-levels but your time would be better spent getting more work experience. With regard to bmat it's best to contact the med schools whether you would be eligible to apply. There's no point revising for something when you are not going to considered in the first place. UKCAT on the other hand is an apptitude test and so you can't really revise for it (although you can practice to get used to the timing).

The permanent residency/home student thing is rather complicated and from what i know you need to have been ordinary resident in uk for the full 3 year period before the day of commencing of the course. however, if the reason for your residence in uk have been for full time education then you need to have been ordinary resident in eea or switzerland before the 3 year period.

[fsa3011]

Originally Posted by aapl

One thing to note is that the top up fee cap is coming off in 2010 and so you will have to pay up higher fee than it is at the moment.

WHAT! Top up fee cap comes off?? Ive had my head buried worrying over how I would get these A levels done and get residency and afford the current fees.....I mustve overlooked this.....

Does this mean unis will then charge whatever they feel like?!

Im trying to google more on this....any particular weblink i should read up on?



Oh blast!







Thanks for getting back to me though.....will bear the volunteering thing in mind. BMAT is just for oxford, cambridge, imperial and a few other big ones...right? Should I be contacting their generic admissions department or chase someone up specifically in the actual school of medicine?

The residency thing is complex but I have got my head around it.....by december 2009 I would have been here for three years without the primary reason being education and be eligible for ILR.

[aapl]

BMAT is for ucl as well.

If you email the admission office first and you get no helpful information then phone them.

With regard to the top up fee cap, read this;

http://education.guardian.co.uk/stud...270394,00.html

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u...sectioncode=26

[bpr]

You seem to be doing fine. Keep going with the full A levels, get straight A's if you can. Then(or at the same time) work on your work experience, try to get a long committment to something useful going, such as weekend (asuming you're in college) HCA work or something.

You're in a very similar place to me, application wise, as the earliest I can start is 2010. I think of it as a blessing, we have two years to apply! Double the chance! (that is, without having to take a gap year from my perspective)
Sort your grades, try to get 3 A's predicted for this autumns applications then just get cracking on your personal statement and sort a referee.

[Imhotep]

Originally Posted by aapl

One thing to note is that the top up fee cap is coming off in 2010 and so you will have to pay up higher fee than it is at the moment.

I'd agree that fees are likely to be more expensive in a few years time, but I doubt the cap will be abolished altogether (although I don't think we can say for sure since it isn't certain what sort of government we'll end up with after the next election - and neither of the likely candidates seems to be indicating which way they would go).

The current variable fees were capped at £3000 (+ inflation increases) for the life of the parliament, which means in theory it could be completely removed and a fees free-for-all ensue after the next general election. Then universities could operate like a true market and I'd guess, in a high-demand subject like medicine, price quite a few people who would be great doctors out of the market.

The fee cap will probably form part of the 2009 review of higher education funding and, for political reasons, is likely to remain, although at a higher level (some universities seem to be calling for the cap to be increased to £8,000).

Stephen

[fsa3011]

Thanks for the links, aapl, and the info, imhotep (stephen).....hopefully the cap will stay, otherwise the Russell Group might start charging extortionately like the Ivy League. I'm not an economist, but if government subsidised fees are a huge burden on Darling's budget....then with the whole credit crunch going on, things don't seem to bode well for us future students, do they?

Speak up, NUS! If they managed to get HSBC to reverse their decision on new graduates being charged interest on their overdraft s as soon as they finish uni, then they must be able to do something here......

Bpr, i am focusing everything on these exams....two months of no social life and hard work....can't afford to have things going wrong this time round. The college has links with a few care homes, so i will get something long-term arranged through these for the summer onwards. Sent off applications for a few befriending schemes.....1.5 hours a week for at least six months...thats long term enough. (Going to be a real challenge though....most of their clients have some form of dementia).



I'd like someone to put some realism into me....am I fooling myself by thinking I could make it to one of the Golden Triangle? Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial......... Its the three year gap that counts against me which I am trying to compensate for with plenty of volunteering between now and sep 2010.....but will it be enough?

Cambridge have two mature student colleges which offer medicine.....Wolfson and St Edmunds....and a huge £5k p.a. bursary too..... The missus loves the rural atmosphere of cambridge town too....so although once she graduates she'd like to be based in london, she'd be willing to move somewhere in between the two so we can both commute.....

I can't afford to be unrealistic at this stage.....so I would appreciate your views!

[chris5656]

Originally Posted by fsa3011

I'd like someone to put some realism into me....am I fooling myself by thinking I could make it to one of the Golden Triangle? Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial......... !

Yeh, because 'Golden triangle' admissions tutors regularly post on this forum...

my point is, the people giving you advice are undoubtedly very intelligent and well-meaning, but they are not in a position to know exactly what your chances of getting in to med school are. You need to phone the schools up and chat with them about it. Or just apply anyway (and do everything you can to strengthen your application in the mean time) - you have nothing to lose.

[fsa3011]

Originally Posted by chris5656

Yeh, because 'Golden triangle' admissions tutors regularly post on this forum...

my point is, the people giving you advice are undoubtedly very intelligent and well-meaning, but they are not in a position to know exactly what your chances of getting in to med school are. You need to phone the schools up and chat with them about it. Or just apply anyway (and do everything you can to strengthen your application in the mean time) - you have nothing to lose.

No need to be sarcastic, Chris. Obviously, I am not asking for exact chances...I thought that would have been implied.

Does it hurt to ask current students, prospective students, recent graduates for their views?

There could be members in this forum who were in similar circumstances and managed to be resilient enough to make it...I was hunting out for their experiences for inspiration.

Too much to ask?

[chris5656]

Originally Posted by fsa3011

I'd like someone to put some realism into me....am I fooling myself by thinking I could make it to one of the Golden Triangle? Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial.........

What would you do, If [posing as an oxford med student] I said: 'full marks for effort, but you are wasting your time.' Would you stop chasing your dream and think about other careers. Hopefully not, hopefully you would tell me to get lost.
Similarly, if I told you you would definitely get in, would you believe me?

Originally Posted by fsa3011

No need to be sarcastic, Chris. Obviously, I am not asking for exact chances...I thought that would have been implied.

Does it hurt to ask current students, prospective students, recent graduates for their views?

There could be members in this forum who were in similar circumstances and managed to be resilient enough to make it...I was hunting out for their experiences for inspiration.

The inspiration should come from yourself - from the strength of your desire to study medicine. If other people have done it before, then great, but it makes it no more likely that you will succeed. If nobody has done it before and you will be the first, it makes it no less likely that you will succeed....... if you get what im saying: whatever other people have done does not change who you are and what you are capapble of.

With the 'Golden triangle' specifically: you have quite unique circumstances so if you are sensible you will phone them anyway, regardless of what is said on here, so why not just jump to that.

Thanks for posting on my Biology thread. Thats done and dusted now, and doesnt matter now because I got in to PMS.

p.s. as you wished - no more sarcasm