hoping to study medicine Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Hey! In my desperate quest to find an alternative route into medicine, besides my IB final grade (which was not sufficient for most universities that I applied to ) I found out that, at some universities in the UK, one can apply to a medicine programme as a "graduate applicant". Meaning that you start by taking a degree in a RELATED field (such as: Biochemistry, physiotherapy, pharmacology etc.) and then apply to medicine. It is preferred that one completes the degree, however in some cases it is possible to switch to medicine after only the first stage of the degree. My question to you is: When applying to medicine as a graduate applicant, regardless of degree, what does the university base their decision on? UKCAT? IELST or TOEFL? Personal statement/ interview? Those damn (excuse the language) IB grades (that arent gonna help me )? The grades/ results from the degree (e.g. Biochemistry) OR some thing else? (Do you perhaps know of any specific universities that accept this alternative route?) VERY grateful for any answer! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I don't know much about this topic, but have you ever considered that if you're not getting the right grades for a medical university, you might struggle with the material? By all accounts medicine is one of the hardest uni courses, far harder and more intensive than IB... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGBellamy Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 It depends what subjects you didn't do well in- if you didn't do well in chem and bio, maybe medicine isn't a good choice for you. If you did really well in those subjects and maths, but not so well in your second language then it shouldn't matter as much. You could apply for something like biomedical sciences.You should be able to apply through UCAS Clearing soon, just make sure your personal statement is kick-ass and you come across as professional.. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoping to study medicine Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I don't know much about this topic, but have you ever considered that if you're not getting the right grades for a medical university, you might struggle with the material? By all accounts medicine is one of the hardest uni courses, far harder and more intensive than IB...That isnt an easy qestion to answer, considering that if I would have truly understood how much there was to study for these six IB subjects during IB1, I would have been a lot smarter about planning how to study, however I dont think I truly got it until February IB2 - giving me a rather limited amount of time...Of course I am not confident that I will easily be able to handle this demanding education, but I AM confident that I am willing to do every thing in my power to have the chance. I am very interested in the human body and specifically the brain and psychiatry (which I hope to specialize in after the approx 5 years of medicine). So if I dont accept my place at medical university of gdansk, I will spend that gap year doing clinical and lab work and possibly do the IB retakes, depending how unbeneficial it is....and apply for the next year. I have applied to Sweden, Denmark , Norway and Gdansk (Poland) this year. And would like to apply for autumn 2012 in the UK. I find it difficult to accept my grade as representative of me. Although I have been playing with the idea of that perhaps this insufficient grade (35 out of 45) can be helpful for my growth - it makes you grateful for the options that you actually have and inspires you to work harder and find alternative paths (from which one perhaps also can learn some thing). I think it has made me more humble.It depends what subjects you didn't do well in- if you didn't do well in chem and bio, maybe medicine isn't a good choice for you. If you did really well in those subjects and maths, but not so well in your second language then it shouldn't matter as much. You could apply for something like biomedical sciences.You should be able to apply through UCAS Clearing soon, just make sure your personal statement is kick-ass and you come across as professional..hmmm well i got 5s in Bio HL and Chem HL. For Biology I think I simply needed to have invested more time in studying and as for chem, I got 6s on paper 1 and 2 but weighed down by IA and paper 3. But then again more time is often the grade-determining factor and a lot comes down to simply having good organizing skills... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I don't know much about this topic, but have you ever considered that if you're not getting the right grades for a medical university, you might struggle with the material? By all accounts medicine is one of the hardest uni courses, far harder and more intensive than IB...That isnt an easy qestion to answer, considering that if I would have truly understood how much there was to study for these six IB subjects during IB1, I would have been a lot smarter about planning how to study, however I dont think I truly got it until February IB2 - giving me a rather limited amount of time...Of course I am not confident that I will easily be able to handle this demanding education, but I AM confident that I am willing to do every thing in my power to have the chance. I am very interested in the human body and specifically the brain and psychiatry (which I hope to specialize in after the approx 5 years of medicine). So if I dont accept my place at medical university of gdansk, I will spend that gap year doing clinical and lab work and possibly do the IB retakes, depending how unbeneficial it is....and apply for the next year. I have applied to Sweden, Denmark , Norway and Gdansk (Poland) this year. And would like to apply for autumn 2012 in the UK. I find it difficult to accept my grade as representative of me. Although I have been playing with the idea of that perhaps this insufficient grade (35 out of 45) can be helpful for my growth - it makes you grateful for the options that you actually have and inspires you to work harder and find alternative paths (from which one perhaps also can learn some thing). I think it has made me more humble.Sounds good mate. Best of luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Apolo Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I think you might want to try Pharmacy, Dentistry or Nutrition and Dietetics. You'll soon start liking your subjects and they are all health related. Those are the most plausible options if you don't get into medicine Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Firstly graduate entry is MORE competitive and a lot harder to get into than undergraduate because there are far less places. Secondly, you don't necessarily have to do a related degree but you do have to have the right A Level/IB grades because they are considered core knowledge which you have to have before starting the course, I believe. You do have an interview and I think you do write a personal statement. Also yeah your degree needs to be a good one, preferably a 1st. If you've done your degree elsewhere they may well require the TOEFL (but it depends on the Uni, really) and as for the UKCAT I'm not sure but I think some Universities might require grads to take it. Different Unis operate differently, so you'll want to look at the information you can find on their websites for the ones you want to apply to.In short, they probably look at all of the things you mentioned, but you can check on their websites. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoping to study medicine Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Firstly graduate entry is MORE competitive and a lot harder to get into than undergraduate because there are far less places. Secondly, you don't necessarily have to do a related degree but you do have to have the right A Level/IB grades because they are considered core knowledge which you have to have before starting the course, I believe. You do have an interview and I think you do write a personal statement. Also yeah your degree needs to be a good one, preferably a 1st. If you've done your degree elsewhere they may well require the TOEFL (but it depends on the Uni, really) and as for the UKCAT I'm not sure but I think some Universities might require grads to take it. Different Unis operate differently, so you'll want to look at the information you can find on their websites for the ones you want to apply to.In short, they probably look at all of the things you mentioned, but you can check on their websites.Yea so this is perhaps not the smartest alternative path into medicine considering how competitive...Have you perhaps heard of any universities in the UK that accept retake candidates?I have emailed every single university in England and Scotland and have gotten a few replies saying that they do NOT accept retakers:s but still waiting for replies from most of them.Thank you so much! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noopur Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Firstly graduate entry is MORE competitive and a lot harder to get into than undergraduate because there are far less places. Secondly, you don't necessarily have to do a related degree but you do have to have the right A Level/IB grades because they are considered core knowledge which you have to have before starting the course, I believe. You do have an interview and I think you do write a personal statement. Also yeah your degree needs to be a good one, preferably a 1st. If you've done your degree elsewhere they may well require the TOEFL (but it depends on the Uni, really) and as for the UKCAT I'm not sure but I think some Universities might require grads to take it. Different Unis operate differently, so you'll want to look at the information you can find on their websites for the ones you want to apply to. In short, they probably look at all of the things you mentioned, but you can check on their websites. Yea so this is perhaps not the smartest alternative path into medicine considering how competitive... Have you perhaps heard of any universities in the UK that accept retake candidates? I have emailed every single university in England and Scotland and have gotten a few replies saying that they do NOT accept retakers:s but still waiting for replies from most of them. Thank you so much! I dont know about medicine but some unis accept resit candidates for dentistry, If you read the guide for how to get into dentistry, its all in there...lycka till Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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