Official St. George’s gep 2010 Application thread

[CocoBryce]

MMI looks really interesting and thanks for the head's up about it. I'm wondering how they're going to assess empathy.

What happens next? - St George's University of London

They use roleplays apparently!

[Martigan]

Yes but don't confuse it with the "Doctors and Nurses" you might play at home....

[SiCMFT]

Hi everyone,

I've applied to George's this year too, and as we all are, I'm eagerly awaiting my GAMSAT score. However I was wondering what everyone else's thoughts are on the increase number of applicants this year??

With the current climate surrounding 'fresh' graduates and the unbelievable competition to get any job at all, it sounds like people are expecting that a lot more may be applying to Grad Medicine courses. But my point is that surely if they decided late on, the chances on them going into GAMSAT with less time to prepare would definitely be unappealing.

But what I think is the most important point to consider is the amount of voluntary work that is needed to construct a competitive application. Surely if the new graduates, and those who have applied without even having finished their undergrad course, are going to struggle to have enough experience to be competitive. Obviously there will be cases where people decided a while ago, and will have planned all this out in advance. But I'm only raising this point because I have a friend on MBBS4 at the moment, and between her and the communication I've had with George's themselves, I think that their demands for well rounded students with a broad amount of experience are the deciding factors for applicants, aspects that current undergraduates or new graduates may not possess...?!

I hope that doesn't sound too contorversial, but what does everyone else think??

Discuss!?!

[Dr. Cool]

On a somewhat related note to SiCMFT’s post above (work experience). I notice when people refer to work experience for Georges, they often to use “voluntary” as an operative word, and similarly people are referring to “broad” experience.

Clearly, it’s not *all* down to quantity, etc but all other things being equal: does this mean that they tend to prefer voluntary work over paid work, or is the word voluntary used simply because it's more common? And, again, all other things being equal, do multiple roles trump one long single stint?

As it stands I’ve been working as a phlebotomist for almost 18 months (since leaving uni), but haven’t done anything else. On the up side, I’ve worked with *almost* every patient group I can think of, both in and outpatients and get to see a lot, so in a senses it’s rather varied. On the other hand, aside from adapting a bit to meet the needs of different patients, my role is has never really changed - I’ve just done the one thing.

So my question is, does anyone think it would be worth me getting some voluntary work so I can better tick the boxes and at the same time, perform in another role? It’s not that I don’t have any desire to do voluntary work, the problem is I need every penny I can get, so seeing as I could be earning instead, the “opportunity cost” is a bit off putting if it’s not really going to help me to where I want to be.

Also, at SiCMFT: yeah I do agree. There may well be a lot of science grads in their final year hitting up the GAMSAT, but with very little experience. While they aren't likely to be as competitive when it comes to the interview - my worry is they they'll have railed the GAMSAT, and will outcompete those with with plenty of experience but otherwise borderline GAMSAT scores, preventing them from getting interviewed in the first place (which will thus lower the standard of experience). Having said all that, there's not much point fretting over it, we'll know in a couple of weeks anyway!

[Martigan]

It's may be a little late now, but I would contact the admissions office and ask them. They are nice, friendly and helpful.

[heavenlyjohnson]

As far as I understand it all the universities prefer students with a broad, well rounded set of life experiences as they're less likely to drop out, tend to be better communicators (important for PBL), more committed and more likely to contribute more to the course. I think any experience is relevant, from nursing to volunteering to business if it shows you're self motivated, interested, able to learn and able to work in a team.

Don't worry about quantity now, if you get as far as interview it stops being about pure metrics, it's really about what you can do and how what you have done in the past supports this.

That said, go get voluntary work, it's fun!

[theMANthatCAN]

Those same people that are taking the test this year because there are fewer jobs may bump your mark up, pushing you up past that 75th percentile. It is all subjective at this time, and acer taking their sweet time about it isn't helping! That said the majority ofpeople fail at the section two hurdle, this will be no different.

[heavenlyjohnson]

Those same people that are taking the test this year because there are fewer jobs may bump your mark up, pushing you up past that 75th percentile.

Do you think that St George will increase the number of interviews they carry out this year to take account of the increase in the number of applicants or will they simply raise the cutoff to keep a constant number of interviews?

[Dr. Cool]

At Martin: According to their website you can use anything up until the point of interview for experience. So it might not be too late. Their website, by the way, at one point saying “paid or voluntary” is fine, then stipulating “voluntary” work on the scoring sheet - is why I’ve gotten a tad unsure about all this!

Hopefully, as Johnson said, less ‘directly’ relevant experience will count and get us all some more ‘broadness’ points.

I think it’s possible they’d increase interview invites, but if they do it can’t really be in proportion to the extra number of applicants, since the resources to do that won’t be easy to find. If we assume they’re going to interview a near enough fixed number of candidates, then while more applicants *may* improve an individuals percentile, it will definitely raise the percentile cut off.

[Edit] Just noticed your sig Johnson. Looks brilliant, wish I'd been able to get on there six months ago. If you're not aware, Yale have just put up an organic chemistry course as part of their opencourseware. Freshman Organic Chemistry — Open Yale Courses

[yojimbo]

Just got my acknowledgement today. Can not wait to see my damage for gamsat 2009.