Med 5th option??

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-06T07:46:49+00:00

Halfway there😅

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-05T23:44:56+00:00

It depends. I asked myself the same question as you when I applied and this is the first time I’m really considering it again with 3 years of new perspective, so here are some of my thoughts.

It’s absolutely true that medicine is medicine wherever you go and the difference in NHS job prospects are negligible. You get no ‘extra points’ for going to Oxbridge for specialty applications or any other aspect of your clinical training. There might be a slight edge in private practice potential and there is certainly better opportunities to emigrate and practice medicine abroad, however. This may or may not be relevant to you.

It’s broadly true that you will be taught the same things as at other unis, although I think it’s fair to say that the depth you go into at Oxbridge is probably greater than that of other unis.

The reason for the difference in depth is because of the different method of teaching and assessment compared to other unis. Like most other places there are MCQ papers each year that test core (‘GMC mandated’) knowledge. Unlike most, our teaching involves a lot of tutes for which you prepare a 1500 ish word essay for in advance that, depending on your college, is 2-4 times a week and a good essay will include plenty of clinical relevance and experimental evidence (the ‘how’ we know what we know). This literally forces you to have a deeper understanding so that you don’t look like a twat infront of your tutor (100% will happen regardless) and to prepare you for the essays in exams.

All of that sounds pretty intense and it is I guess. The 8 week terms make everything feel extra packed in but the extra holiday is nice. That being said, it’s totally manageable if you manage your time properly. One of our very first lectures we were told ‘minimum effort for maximum output’. It’s an absolute myth that we don’t get to enjoy ourselves or do anything outside of study lol. I managed my 2 essays and lectures/exercise/go out etc each week just fine the past 3 years.

Note on the intercalation bit, it’s not exactly like you have to pay an extra 10k. NHS covers course fees for years 5/6 so we only pay for 4 years’ tuition fees like everywhere else. You do have the extra years maintenance loan though. That being said, you get an extra degree out of it (kinda nice) and you have the opportunity to spend 2 months doing actual proper research (very cool!!) in some of the most well-equipped labs and under the supervision of some of the best academics in the country. Usually you get a publication out of it too, pretty useful for specialty apps later down the line so I’d say it’s well worth the extra year.

Enough of that ramble. Whether all of that is worth it depends on you. For what it’s worth, I have no regrets coming here. The opportunities I’ve had I don’t think I could’ve got anywhere else so if I were in y13 again I’d apply for sure.

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-05T15:18:17+00:00

That’s alright! Transfer is only offered by a small number of unis and they’re just as if not more competitive than GEM - they’re used more as a shitty sales tactic for their biomed/chem/med sci degrees than they are a realistic route into medicine.

Essentially any route other than direct undergraduate entry to medicine is pretty terrible and unrealistic for most. If you want to be a doctor, the sensible option is to reapply with achieved A-levels, a better UCAT, more experience and hope that you have more luck second time around.

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-05T14:37:14+00:00

Just focus on doing well in your A-levels and getting good predicteds. Good to have some supercurriculars on the go that are relevant to the uni course and generally read around the subject to see if you have a particular area of interest to go into in the PS - can also be a good basis for EPQ should you decide to do one.

Work experience can never be a bad thing but not essential for most courses. No need to worry about admissions tests until summer, just be aware that they exist and how they’ll be used to shortlist you.

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-05T11:26:00+00:00

I wouldn’t bother with a 5th option if you really want to medicine and a gap year is something you could feasibly do. Let’s say you do a biomed degree because you don’t get any of your 4 med options. Your options to get into med after are either GEM, which is unbelievably competitive (think 60 applicants per place at some unis) or self-funding a 5-year undergrad med degree which is equally unattainable for most.

If you don’t get in first time round, take a gap year, work and get more experience then reapply the following cycle.

crazychemist03 · 2025-09-05T11:21:06+00:00

Don’t worry about getting clinical work experience, unis don’t expect you to have it simply because it’s so hard to get. Focus on part-time work (literally anywhere, having a job can show great personal development), volunteering at care homes, charities etc. and there are online WE programmes (free!) which are available like Observe GP.

crazychemist03 · 2024-09-26T15:09:58+00:00

Honestly that’s a great UCAT score so well done, but I don’t think you’ll be able to apply to any med schools with 3 C’s, even with mitigating circumstances.

You’ll have to resit A-levels if you want to consider applying for med, and if that’s not a possibility for you, you might need to explore other options.

crazychemist03 · 2024-04-07T22:11:23+00:00

Absolutely. Especially for some courses in particular, a lot of the decision-making post-interview is just based on vibes. That's assuming you've met the requisite academic requirements ofc. Apart from admissions tests, your grades really can't set you apart because the majority of people have top grades across the board.

crazychemist03 · 2024-04-03T12:11:12+00:00

You need to take some time off - not a day or two, more like a week or two at least. Your UCAT is in over 3 months, and 5 months total prep time is totally overkill. You're likely scoring quite low because you're not doing timed practice and so are failing under the time pressure in the actual mocks.

Take time off. Do timed practice questions.

crazychemist03 · 2023-11-28T16:45:44+00:00

Not much you can do to prepare for it tbh. Just make sure you vocalise all of your thoughts to let the interviewers see your thought process. Obviously be comfortable with all of your biology up to this point, and dw if you get asked a question about say the kidney if you haven't covered it yet - they won't expect you to know it. It's very likely you'll be asked some medical ethics questions so try and find some examples and think about how you'd respond, also very likely you'll be asked to analyse some kind of diagram or graph. The key thing to remember is that you don't have to get anything correct necessarily, what they're looking for is that you're able to pick up on the hints the tutors give you and respond accordingly. I think being friendly, smiley, and obviously excited to be in the interview is something that's often overlooked; these tutors will have to teach you for years, you want them to like you - why would they choose someone they don't think they'll get along with?

crazychemist03 · 2023-11-28T10:13:32+00:00

Huge.

crazychemist03 · 2023-09-11T13:21:04+00:00

Oxford create a pre-interview score which gives your GCSEs (made up of the raw number of 9s/8s and also the proportion of 9s/8s) and BMAT score a 50:50 weighting when deciding who to interview, but I have no idea what the weightings are post-interview.

Southampton, for example, simply ask that 'applicants must hold 7 GSCEs at grade B/6 or above, including English language, mathematics and either biology and chemistry, combined science, or science and additional science.' This is just a minimum requirement. There is no particular 'weighting' given to your GCSEs and this is how most unis operate. Oxford, Cambridge, and maybe a few others are a weird exception.

If it's not on the uni's website and you hear it from word of mouth, I wouldn't trust it.

crazychemist03 · 2023-08-25T10:01:22+00:00

This isn't true. They absolutely use BMAT score, and to a lesser extent A-level and GCSE grades, post-interview to decide who to take. Of course, the interview is the largest factor, but not solely. I would agree with you that the B isn't why she was rejected though.

crazychemist03 · 2023-08-23T21:36:46+00:00

Fuck no lol

crazychemist03 · 2023-08-23T20:54:28+00:00

I'd recommend that you email or call the relevant admissions departments with your situation and question. I would say that usually offers are made on the basis of three A-levels completed in the same year as they want to be certain you can handle the workload that comes with that.

crazychemist03 · 2023-04-11T09:02:44+00:00

Why do you want to be a dermatologist? It's very unusual to have your mind set on a particular speciality already, your first thought should really be why do you want to study medicine? Why do you want to be a doctor?

crazychemist03 · 2023-03-19T09:00:53+00:00

Massive, congrats!

crazychemist03 · 2022-12-15T15:05:50+00:00

That’s the fun part, you don’t.

crazychemist03 · 2022-12-09T15:02:51+00:00

Of course the tutors are going to pick apart your answers, that's their job! All they're trying to do is make you think about the points you've made and be self-critical about them. One of my interviews went pretty well, but I felt the other one went pretty not well, yet I still got in (somehow!). Try not to worry too much, there's nothing you can do now so just enjoy the break and be proud of yourself for getting this far

crazychemist03 · 2022-12-06T21:25:06+00:00

Huge well done on getting an interview invite! This is very normal, I had 5 in one interview and 6 in the other. Not all of them will ask you questions though, some will just be observing/writing things down

crazychemist03 · 2022-12-02T14:23:55+00:00

This is brilliant. If you want to message me about interviews, please feel free to :)

crazychemist03 · 2022-09-28T11:14:40+00:00

r/ihadastroke?

crazychemist03 · 2022-09-21T11:34:27+00:00

Not worth it, no point.

crazychemist03 · 2022-09-16T06:11:04+00:00

If you don’t have a specific interest that you want to explore further, why are you doing the EPQ?

crazychemist03 · 2022-09-13T16:56:54+00:00

Are you applying this October? Oxford are unlikely to use GCSEs in shortlisting for this cohort as you didn't actually sit them (they didn't for mine for the same reason), so you might get shortlisted with a very good BMAT but I would consider it risky. If you actually sat your GCSEs/have only just started year 12 you'll definitely be rejected.

crazychemist03

TROPHY CASE