Oldies for 2010

[tiger_lilly]

If you are worried bout uprooting your family, i'll suggest brighton. Easy commute to london, a friend of mine commuted last year - there is a train from victoria no matter the time of day and its mature friendly (so i've been told). Its foundation school is part of south thames denary but then ur med school does matter anyone.

Not sure how they use the ukcat thou.

[Bubblez.MD]

Am I too late for an oldy introduction? I feel left out!
I'm 22, applying for 2010 entry. I've wanted to do medicine since the age of 3. In year 11 a few months before my GCSE exams, my Grandad passed away and I took some time off school, he was very close to me and I found it hard to focus when I went back to school after about 3 weeks. And mock exams took place the day after I went back - which meant I flunked most of them, and so I was put into foundation for most of my GCSES the result being that I ended up with 2 A's and the rest of them were C's . My (evil) biology teacher told me this meant that I could never to medicine..I was heartbroken, just finished a Psychology degree this year and I can't get medicine out of my head, or my heart, so I'm going for it

[psjorge]

If you are worried bout uprooting your family, i'll suggest brighton. Easy commute to london, a friend of mine commuted last year - there is a train from victoria no matter the time of day and its mature friendly (so i've been told). Its foundation school is part of south thames denary but then ur med school does matter anyone.

Not sure how they use the ukcat thou.

Actually, commuting idea is becoming increasingly interesting. It might be a good compromise...

I've spoken with tha Admissions people at Brighton and they seemed nice. I must confees that the fact that the school is new (I believe their first graduates finished in '07) is quite appealing because I've already tought at a dental school that was just starting and the thrill of it is very refreshing.


I had also contacted East Anglia and got an answer today. They said they would be happy with my application. Don't know exactly if that means i have a good chance of being admitted or they're just being polite...


At the moment the options I'm placing on the table are:king's, barts, brighton, leicester, east anglia

[Manana]

Hi everyone

I'm another oldie, and cross-eyed to boot after sitting the Gamsat today!

I'm in the north west and not particularly mobile which has limited my choices. I've also decided to apply mainly to 5 yrs as I want to hang on to my work life balance.

My choices are:

Manchester (5 yr)
Keele (5 yr)
Nottingham (4 yr)
Lancaster (5 yr)

My educational background is a 2:1 in Economics and a PhD. I also did an OU conversion course in psychology just for fun

Good luck to you all in your applications

[Everhopeful]

I can confirm that Barts is very mature friendly. I'm 42 now and there are a fair few people in their 30s, 40s and even some 50+ on the course. If you go for the 5 year course it's been condensed so you get 2 weeks off at xmas, 2 at Easter and about 4 months off in the summer for the first 2 years so that helps if you want to work or spend time with family... I think someone mentioned it being a conservative course.. I wouldn't say that. It's a mixture of systems teaching, PBL and early clinical contact and is frankly the friendliest medical school you could imagine..
Hope that helps with anyone deliberating over whether to apply to Barts.

[psjorge]

Hi, boys and girls!

My application saga continues.

The last thing I would like to see happening would be to apply to a given school, use a slot at UCAS and afterwards receive an e-mail informing that my application failled to meet the entry criteria!

In order to prevent that I e-mailed my transcripts to all the schools that I'm considering applying to.

Until now I received confirmation of my eligibility from East Anglia (they said that they "would be happy to receive my application") and from Barts.

I can confirm that Barts is very mature friendly. I'm 42 now and there are a fair few people in their 30s, 40s and even some 50+ on the course. If you go for the 5 year course it's been condensed so you get 2 weeks off at xmas, 2 at Easter and about 4 months off in the summer for the first 2 years so that helps if you want to work or spend time with family... I think someone mentioned it being a conservative course.. I wouldn't say that. It's a mixture of systems teaching, PBL and early clinical contact and is frankly the friendliest medical school you could imagine..

Thanks for your comment, Everhopeful. I must confess that from the very beginning Barts seemed a quite friendly place and, more important, a place where I would feel at ease with. I can't really tell why... it just felt so. On the other hand, I've been in contact with their Admission's Office and they've always answered my questions in a helpfull manner.

I'll keep you guys up-dated!

All the best,
Pedro

[more_eggs_please]

What is the latest Pedro?

[psjorge]

What is the latest Pedro?

Well, not much really!

Finished my personal statement and think it's OK. In fact I think it's more than OK but I'm biased! Also have the reference letter and cleared some doubts regarding how to fill in some info with UCAS. Also received confirmation from Keele that I'm eligible to apply there. Tried to call King's but the Admission's Office is closed until Monday... and that's it!

At this point my doubt is whether it's worth having a go at King's. After serious consideration I narrowed down my list to:

1- Barts. That's where I really want to go.
2- King's. Do I have a decent chance? Is it worth a try? Still very unsure about this one...
3- Brighton. It seems a nice school and has a PBL curriculum. It's not far from London.
4- East Anglia. Also seems nice and also has PBL and their criteria may be more forgiving...
5- Keele. It may be a bit in the middle of nowhere but their criteria may also be more forgiving...

Next step: speak with the Admission's Office at King's and dependant on what they say include or exclude them.

If I don't get any information otherwise these will be my application choices...

Anyone wants to share something?

All the best to you all,
Pedro

[fortysixandtwo]

Hey all!

I too am an "oldie" applying for medicine this year. I'm 25 with a BSc in Music Technology and an MA in Sonic Arts.
I'm studying A Level Chemistry and Biology this year having already done Maths (A), Further Maths (B), Physics (A) and Chemistry (B) when I was at school 7 years ago.

I'm from N. Ireland and I'm applying for:

1) Glasgow
2) Newcastle (maybe the GEP)
3) Aberdeen
4) Liverpool

My UCAS is pretty much ready to go. I've written and re-written my personal statement many times (it's so hard to fit everything in!), but I'm fairly confident I've finally got it reading the way I want it too.

Good luck to all. Maybe I'll have the pleasure of meeting some of you next year. Oldies for the win!

[astronaut]

I'm from N. Ireland

A few of us it would seem.

I have eight years on you - I'm 33, maths graduate, been fluctuating between homes in London and N Ireland for five years now. Will probably settle eventually in England so choices are - in order - SGUL, King's, Warwick and Notts.

Good luck to all...