Worth a second try?

[karmaq]

Hello nice people,

Looking for some advice. I am a mature international applicant, and got rejected by all four places I applied to this year, without an interview. I have in the meantime started pre med coursework in the US, and am working towards applying to med schools in the US for 2010.

I am wondering whether it is worth reapplying in the UK, given that UK med schools want you to jump through all their own hoops, which means I have to complete the A levels I began last year, my pre med coursework will not be accepted. This means duplicating a certain amount of effort. However, I really prefer the UK to the US (finances and other things work out similar for me), but cant decide whether its worth the effort to reapply for 2009 to the UK schools. Here then are the issues as I see them:

Pro reapplying:
a) I can get better grades on the A levels.
b) I can probably supply a reccomendation from a pre med committee, as opposed to one individual. I dont know if that matters?
c) I had no idea that you can actually study for the UKCAT, so this time round I will of course.

Cons:
a) I can only take the A levels in January 2009, this means that the UCAS application will go in with the same grades as last time. (C in Chemistry, B in Biology (and I still cant figure how that second one happened)) – which I firmly believe do not reflect what I can do academically. The reasons for these grades are a little complicated.)
b) I am an international, mature student, with a first degree in the humanities. Am I targeting such a narrow set of possible spaces that my chances are minimal?
c) Not living in the UK right now, I feel like I am trying to work a system from the outside, and I wonder if that a losing proposition? Do the intangibles like understanding admissions committees and processes, ‘between the lines’ of various med schools, knowing the medical scenario and debates in the country a little closer, stuff like that, matter a great deal?

Any advice on would be very welcome….looking forward to hearing from many of you.....

confusedly,

[amy2705598]

Hi Karmaq,

Without knowing your degree class it's a little bit hard to advise. If you've got a good degree grade often it doesn't matter what your A levels are, but as you already know all the uni's are different.

Did you do any of the entry tests (GAMSAT, BMAT)? If so and you didn't do brilliantly, maybe this time just apply to ones without the entry tests (Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, etc). On the other hand if you didn't try any of the entry tests maybe you should have a go at one.

I'd say it was probably worth another go, but have a long look at all the different entry requirements of the uni's, and see if you can match yourself to the 4 that most closely match what you have to offer.

Did you get any interviews? If not then your personal statement probably needs work, but if you did get interviews then your PS if probably okay. Maybe you could try calling the med schools you applied to and see where you went wrong.

Hope that helps a little bit!

[karmaq]

Hi amy, yes it does, thanks. I got a 2:1 in my first degree, and did not take any entrance tests other than the UKCAT. I didnt get any interviews so I guess the PS needs reworking.. But I am a little lost about how to match my choices to what I can offer..... as far as I can tell, they all want the same thing - this is what i mean by the disadvantages of not being close to hand. Is there reading between the lines of prospectii and website info I should be doing and am not? I cant attend open days so that makes me one degree farther removed.

Leeds just sent me some feedback, and Birmingham said they wanted predicted As on the A levels....Kings no feedback because I didn't make the interview list; and Cardiff just will not respond to repeated emails

[amy2705598]

Try checking out Medschoolsonline - Medical Course Guide for Graduates - Graduate Entry 4-Year Courses , it's got lots of info in one place about entry requirements. Although I know for a fact that Birmingham only considers those with firsts (or 2.1 from oxford/cambridge), even though it doesn't say this in its prospectus. Southampton doesn't interview for places (or it didn't when I was applying 2 years ago), it just goes by ucas form & p.s., so if you get a cracking p.s. it might be worth a shot - that's sort of what I meant by trying to match your choices. If on the other hand you come across better in person than on paper then you're better off with an interview.

I got most my information from this site, going to the individual med school forums. If you didn't do brilliantly with the UKCAT, then maybe either try the GAMSAT (although it apparantly is very difficult!), or apply to uni's with no entrance exam. Or if you did okay with the UKCAT just apply to other uni's that accept it - Kings have a very, very high cut off point for interviews.

There's normally loads of people willing to read through your p.s. to make suggestions, can't remember which thread it's in, but it's here somewhere!

Also I just noticed on the website I posted above, that it seems that different med schools have different numbers of places allocated for international students. Therefore it might be worth checking round the schools to see which have the most international places.

[karmaq]

thanks, this really helps.

I did try to go by which unis have most places for international applicants, and most of them just stated a percentage. Anyway, I think the ps had a lot to do with it, and the UKCAT score. Also, this time round I am better placed to do the GAMSAT or others, so maybe that will broaden my choices.

btw, do you think being able to go to open days makes a big difference? I can't.

[amy2705598]

well you might get a better feel for the place, and get some additional info. but i didn't attend any open days, i only visited birmingham when i had my interview & had a good luck round then. i don't think it's essential, you can get a pretty good idea from the website / prospectus.

good luck