My top 5 tips for applying to medicine

Originally written in early 2020, before I started university

Hi readers! my name is Sarah and I am a medicine applicant who's been through the application process two times now and I'm writing this blog post to share some really good tips I've learnt along the way. Seeing as 2021 entry is guessed to be more competitive than ever I hope you find these helpful!

Tip 1: Apply to your strengths

In order to increase you chances of securing a university interview its crucial to apply to your strengths. Do you have amazing GCSEs? Apply to a university that places a large proportion of its decision making for interview invitation on GCSEs. Similarly, if you don't get a 'competitive' UCAT/BMAT score, then apply for a university that has a lower requirement or 'typical UCAT/BMAT score'. Other examples of things to consider are; where the university is and if they offer priority to students living in your area, if you will be a care leaver (sometimes this can guarantee you an interview), if the university has a summer school for applicants, where completion can guarantee or bolster your chances of getting an interview.

Tip 2: Get as much information as possible, be resourceful!

It goes without saying that everyone should check the university website to see information on entry requirements, however, one thing that can be done that most people don't think of is to ask universities additional information via freedom of information enquiry. For example, on a university website you probably won't be able to find information on what the lowest UCAT score to gain an interview invite was, but on a freedom of information website, such as WhatDoTheyKnow.com all that information can be found. You can find out all kinds of information such as pre and post-interview cut off scores, the number of offers made or students admitted for a given cohort, one can even ask about missed grades. Any questions are fine so long as they don't risk releasing information that can identify individuals. Finding information on minimum UCAT/BMAT scores on these sites can be very useful as it can prevent you from wasting a UCAS choice!

Tip 3: put research into making your plan B

Most people make their 4 medicine choices on UCAS and then pick a 5th choice that may be science related, or may be completely different. Sometimes not a lot of thought is put into it because they aren't truly thinking of doing the subject when they are putting it down on UCAS. However this is something that shouldn't happen as it will shape their alternate route into medicine if they don't meet their medicine offer or don't get an interview. When making this choice students should think about how easy it can be to get into medicine with this choice if they end up having to rely on it. They should think about things like this;

• Can you transfer to medicine after 1 year of this course? (this would speed up your journey to medicine)

• Does this course interest you? (If you end up taking it for 3 years you're going to want to be doing something you're interested in)

• What will be the extra steps you have to take in order to fund a graduate degree?

• Is this a course that a graduate entry medicine course would accept, or would you enter an undergraduate medical degree instead?

A plan B for getting into medicine doesn't need to be a graduate entry medicine route, some may worry about funding a second degree and may opt for a foundation course or resitting a subject. Some might even plan on going and studying medicine abroad, using a paid service like MedConnect to help them. With lower tuition fees and lower grades (e.g BBB) being accepted, its an attractive option if you can afford it. There are a lot of things that should be considered before making a solid decision, ideally before you submit your medicine application in October however most non-medicine courses have UCAS deadlines of January so that allows for more time to decide, plus, if you still haven't made your mind up or change your mind about studying a non-medicine course, there is always clearing if it comes down to it. I made a little flow diagram to illustrate just some of the routes into medicine for school leavers.

School leaver routes

Tip 4: start your preparations for applying early in order to give yourself an easier time!

"To fail to prepare, is to prepare to fail" - Benjamin Franklin

This one is one that people have probably heard without fail. However it really is crucial, especially with regards to UCAT/BMAT practice. There will be students that will say 'oh I only studied for my UCAT/BMAT a week before my test and aced it' and try to create a false sense of security but do not listen to them, they are probably not telling the truth either about the duration of their studying or their score for starters and even if they are, its not a good idea to follow by that example. Some people may find these exams quite easy and some may not, but its better to find out which boat you're in early on so you can improve, if you naturally find them easy you can probably get away with spending less time working on them to get a competitive score. If you don't find them easy then you've given yourself lots of time to invest in getting a competitive score. (I recommend using medify, UCATs free available mock papers, and UKCAT for dummies book)

Tip 5: If you can get a lower offer, GET ONE!

The typical offer for medicine is AAA, but what a lot of people don't realise is that there are ways to get lower offers. For example, through achieving an A/A* in EPQ, having certain contextual data (for example, living in a deprived area, being the first in your family to go to university or being in care otherwise known as widening access criteria) or participating in certain programmes or summer schools that some universities run or widening access groups such as Realising Opportunities. Examples of universities that offer contextual offers are;

• Anglia Ruskin University

• Newcastle University

• Hull York Medical School

• University of Bristol

• Queen Mary University London

This is not an exhaustive list, and you should definitely see if the university you intend on applying to gives contextual offers and if they do, you should make sure they have the information on your eligibility. Having a lower offer can take some of the stress off of having to get 3 A's in your a-levels, sure you'll still be aiming for that, but if you miss it you're still in because you've still met your offer! The time to be looking into contextual offers/schemes/summer schools is year 12, as they have relatively early deadlines and by year 13 it is too late, so if you're a year 12 (or even year 11!) looking to study medicine, look to see if you're able to participate in realising opportunities and start looking into summer schools in year 12 too!

I hope these tips have been helpful, if there are any other queries you'd like me to give a shot at answering feel free to leave a comment and ill try my best to answer them.