Help!! Conditional offer starting 2006?!?

[charlie7699]

After a pretty anxious week waiting for results, I checked UCAS late on Friday night. A conditional offer (pending the usual checks etc) was made by SGHMS, my preferred choice. I was understandably chuffed.

I awoke with a hangover this morning and logged in to see if Nottingham had made a decision. The offer from St Georges had seemingly been changed to a "starting 2006" offer?!? "Please note change of start date" had also been added to the notes.

Obviously there's no one at SGHMS or UCAS to discuss this with and I can't find anything online pertaining to this. I'm doing my head in and don't fancy waiting another 18 months to start med school. Does anyone have any experience of this?

[auden]

Charlie,

they do make a number of offers like this I think. Are you applying for the 5 year? They say that some people they think would benefit from a gap year, so they offer them for a year's time so they can take one and come back to it with a guaranteed place.

sounds good to me - I'd love another year to do something exciting :-)

but check with them Monday - sounds odd it changed but maybe they had to correct it.

libs

[charlie7699]

Thanks for your reply Auden,

I'm applying for the 4 year GEP (perhaps I'm in the wrong thread area of the forum?). Have done loads of work experience and as I'm a mature student (29 years old) I'd rather get going sooner rather than later.

If I were 18 again and appyling for the five year course then I'd be absolutely up for a year out. But I'm not, more's the pity...

I suppose whatever happens I'll have to wait until Monday to get a proper answer. Not feeling very generous towards UCAStrack at the moment. Perhaps snail mail is preferable in this case.

[Joella]

Some people are definitely offered deferred places for the GEP - but I am sure at the open day they mentioned that these would normally be given to students at the younger end of mature (those straight out of finishing their first degree at 21/22)

[auden]

It's also possible that they have offered you one of the waiting list places - ie they want to take you but have filled their 05 quota so they offer you for 2006 but say you have to take an 05 place if it becomes available last minute. I think they write to you with precise details if that's the case - they mentioned it at open day.

might see you there in either Sept or 06 then - I'm also holding a GEP offer but have not made my mind up yet on where to go (I have one more result not confirmed)

Libs

[Manaf]

Charlie this thing happens often, it doesn't have to do with quotas or anything. It happened to me, and the reason was that I wouldn't have been 18 at the start of the course. Maybe that is the reason, when I emailed them they told me that you HAVE to be 18 at the start of the course and not a day later, which really annoyed me, but I still waited for a year, and took a gap year, and now hopefully i will start in october.

If you really liked the uni, I recommend you to wait, but if you get offers from other universities that you fancy and you really don't want to take a gap-year, then you should go to another univeristy.

From personal experience I really enjoyed the gap year in many aspects, travelled around, did some voluntary experience, I also got a cerfitificate in business administration... so it is all up to you.... good luck in making your choice, I had a hard time doing so.

[charlie7699]

Thank you all for your advice. Manaf, being 18 at the time the course starts is definitely not the issue.

I guess that I need to know what chance there is of getting in this year off the waiting list before I decide to take either this option or go to Nottingham (if sucessful). I don't think that I can wait another 18 months for this as this is my second go anyway...

[Frank's mum]

This definitely sounds like a 'waiting list' offer from Georges and from what I remember most people got in for the 2004 start from the waiting list last year. Also if you have an offer from Georges, the most likely outcome is that you also have a Notts offer. I have heard of people with Notts offers getting a rejection from Georges, but not the other way around.
Alison

[charlie7699]

Frank's mum,

That is the sort of thing I desperately want to hear. Much appreciated, I'm choosing to trust you utterly on this one(!)

As well as being anxious to get started asap (I didn't make the cut last year), I don't think that I can bear another 18 months in media sales.

[auden]

Know that feeling! I was in marketing and got out before I started the applications process. Now working in politics until the GE, doing something I find fulfilling if a bit tiring at times.

hope it goes well for you! Would Georges be your first choice even if Derby come through? I think I'm nearly convinced it's mine - would be madness for me to move to london financially but I loved it when I went for open day.

Libs