Medical School Interview, Job Applications, and etc!

I was hoping to get a bit more free time to make some posts. I am either busy catching up with work, or dead tired. So I will be addressing many things in this post.

1) Medical School Interviews

I know I'm a bit late with this, but hopefully most of you have seen my older posts on tips for medical school interviews. Because I had my interviews back in 2008, I'm not as "updated" as others out there as I'm sure the system has changed. In regards to my particular medical school, we still run the standard panel of 3 interviewing 1 applicant. Each applicant has 20 minutes. Here are some quick tips, which I have mentioned before:

• Reflect on your experiences. Integrate reflection of your past activities into your interview questions. It is one thing to answer the question with one word, but show us an example of when you had shown "this" particular skill or a particular experience where you learned something that helps you be a strong applicant
• Dress smartly - I'm not kidding you...I have seen some applicants turn up in a wrinkled shirt and creased trousers. I guess I don't have the right to judge someone's dress, but this is an interview for a very competitive spot in medical school. You need to impress and the first thing the interviewer sees, is you and how you carry yourself and what you're wearing. Yes we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but why start an uphill battle before you have even sat down in front of the panel. 
• Medical schools want to find out more about your personal qualities that they couldn't get from your personal statement. This is your time to shine in an interview. Some schools allow the interviewers to have read the applicant's personal statement before they come in for their interview. Expand on it.
• Confidence. Yes it is very nervous time, but you need to put on your confident face. Deliver your answers confidently. Don't sound unsure as these are questions about yourself. You shouldn't be unsure of your own personal qualities/experiences/achievements.
• Give succinct answers aka don't beat around the bush, yet try not to give very short answers as that means the interviewer will need to come up with more questions to ask you...
• Think your answers through before answering. You don't lose any points sitting for 30 seconds to think over your answer. Think the interviewers appreciate it more if you gave a structured succinct answer. 
• Back to basics: eye contact, try not to fidget while sat in your seat (trust me the interviewers notice it and it is quite distracting), and try to smile (it just makes the process seem so much less dreary and gloomy)
• I remember before going into my interview I told myself it is just questions about myself. I know myself best and no one knows me better than me. Interviewers (from what I have experienced) aren't out there to catch you out. They honestly want to know more about you and see if that personal statement matches the applicant who sits in front of them. 20 minutes isn't a long time to make that judgement, so as an applicant you don't have much time to get your personality across.

2) Job Applications

Right this biggest pain up the backside you'll face in your final year. Why is it a pain? It is because you're trying to focus on passing your finals, then this FPAS application crops up a few months prior so you're trying to revise yet do your job application correctly. The first step of job applications is filling out your basic details, your degree details/any additional degrees, if you are going for an academic job you have to answer 3 questions where you have 250 (?) words to answer, and then rank your deaneries which are based on regions. You have to rank all 26 or so regions, so you cannot opt out of certain regions. That means doing it strategically as well. Obviously London will be extremely competitive and you'll need to be realistic about your score and whether you can keep up with the rest of the country to get that job. You'll need to have in mind your "backup" region in case things don't go so well. 

Once you submit your application, there are these exams called the "Situational Judgement Test". It is 2.5 hour exam on ethics and being a good doctor. They give you a bunch of scenarios and you have to rank in order or select the best 3 things you should do. It's not exactly an exam you can study for, but it is worth practising. There are lots of books for sale. I personally used MedGrad book "Situational Judgement Test for the Foundation Years Programme 2nd Edition" and found it to be really accurate and similar to the paper itself. It also has really good explanations with the GMC guidance alongside for your reference. It's not cheap, but I thought it really helped me prepare for the SJT. I started practising approximately 2 weeks prior to the exam so it's not something you need to spend a lot of time on. Think the main thing to keep in mind that this exam is about what you SHOULD do, not what you would do.

Once SJT is over, we don't get our results until we find out about our deanery allocation in March, but the wait isn't that painstaking since there are finals to think about! As usual this year jobs have been oversubscribed so we'll see how that goes - fingers crossed.

3) Other Things - Update

So like the title of my blog - life of a medical student is pretty crazy...and I should just rename it to "hectic". I'm now on my final run of placements before end of medical school. Pretty crazy to think about that. It's just now working on skills that are needed for an F1, so that means not going to clinic or theatre and spending majority of my time on the wards and doing jobs. Bit weird to be honest. I always have this temptation to go down to theatres for a nosy.

What has been happening right after exams? I had another rotation in Orthopaedics as we all know you can't get enough of Orthopaedics. It was a really good attachment. Got a lot of theatre time and clinics peppered in between. Scrubbed loads of times and got to work on my surgical skills. Still got all my fingers as well - that's always a bonus. Now in my final year, I've finally really grasped this "pro-active" concept of things and think it has really helped. Instead of waiting to be asked to do something, I offer to do it first or just go off and get it done. Seems to go down well and I've gotten a lot more opportunities to do things and be more involved. Think it helps with gaining trust from the registrar/consultants. Also still managed to stay true to myself and continue to be really personable with the other team members (e.g. consultant, registrar, SHOs, etc). We are all human at the end of the day and no one likes to talk about work all the time. Gotten to know a few more registrars and a few consultants while sat in the coffee room in between cases and just makes the experience more enjoyable. Of course this is after gauging the other person's personality and how open they are. I know when to keep my beak shut and just be really quiet. So far the consultants I have encountered are pretty talkative and really laid back so quite lucky in that sense.

I shall give you all a break! Long enough post I believe! Sorry again for lack of updates...final year just seems to be that much more hectic...somehow.

Which Medical School?

Well it's a new cycle for 2012 medical applicants. I have a received a few messages about which medical schools to apply to. I can't remember if I have done a post on how to pick your unis so I'll just do another one just in case.

1. Get your priorities straight.

What do I mean by priorities? Each person has a different priority. If you're an international student like me: usually location is a huge point. So ask yourself: "what do I care about?" Location? Course structure? Teaching standards? Size of the university? Union? Night life? And so on...

2. Research. Research. Research.

Do as much research as you can to learn about the course structure for each university. Research about the city. Research cost of living. Some cities will cost more to live in than others. London for example is a very expensive place to live in. Finance is a huge thing especially for international students. This is something you should discuss with parents if they are going to be your main sponsors. If you will be on loan, again you need to make sure you spend your money wisely and try to be economic. You don't want to end up in money trouble after your first few years of uni. Also research the location of the university. Is it a campus university (e.g. Nottingham) or is it a uni within the city (e.g. Manchester)?

3. Course Structure.

For medicine, some universities have a PBL system, Traditional, or Integrated (Lectures with PBL). So how do you learn best? Do you like to have small tutoring sessions and learn best from those? Do you like to sit in a large lecture hall with hundreds of other students? Do you want to sit in a lecture hall and then apply your knowledge in a small group? Again, every person is different. By figuring out your learning style - you can already narrow down your universities.

3.1. Course Structure - Dissection.

Also some universities still have full body cadaver dissections and some have gone to prosection where you only get a section of the cadaver to dissect. What would you prefer? Some people don't care and some do. It's all down to personal choice. If you definitely want full body dissection that will literally shoot you down to a handful of universities. If you don't mind well you still got loads of unis to pick from.

3.2. Clinical Exposure.

Now some people see early clinical exposure as a very important aspect to their learning. Some people may not want such early clinical exposure. Some unis throw you out into the medical world in first year and integrate a lot of clinical experience into the course. Some universities keep it traditional and mainly keep you to the learning aspects and keep you away from patients until after 2nd/3rd year. This is something where you will have to do a lot of research on if this is important to you. Some prospectus/websites for the uni will not mention this so speaking to students from the uni of interest will be helpful.

4. Location.

Do you want to study in a big city like London? Or do you prefer to study in a smaller city such as St Andrews? Personally I chose against studying in London or big cities in general because of the distractions. Big cities = more distractions. I get distracted easily and will find excuses to not do my work. At the same time I don't want to be in an isolated area with nothing to do as I would lose my mind. I wanted to find a place with just enough distractions to keep me sane but not too many distractions that I won't get my work done. Best for you to go visit the universities to get a first hand experience of the city and university. I was quite fortunate to be able to travel the UK to visit all the unis I was interested in. Before I went I already had a rough idea which 4 schools I was going to apply to, but after visiting - my list was COMPLETELY different. You will know when you find the right school for you. You get a weird feeling and sense belonging. You gotta be able to picture yourself in that city for 5+ years. 5 years is a LONG time so you must make sure you will enjoy yourself there.

5. Entrance Requirement.

Some universities require higher grades than others. Your grades is something you can't really change or influence. You will probably have a ballpark idea on what grades you will achieve by the end of the year so look for reasonable unis that you know you will be a competitive applicant. It's nice to dream to go to certain universities but if you don't have the grades for it, you could end up wasting 1 of your 4 choices. Marks isn't everything to get into medicine. Everyone applying will be smart. They use marks as a cut-off and if you don't make the cut-off...well they won't even look at your extra curricular activities that make you seem unique. Also now with the UKCAT, more and more unis are putting more importance on it and using it to cut out applicants as medicine is such a popular course. Admissions need a way to cut down the number so they will use the UKCAT. So look up what are the cut-off marks for each university. Again like your grades, no point in applying to a uni where your UKCAT score is well below what is stated as they will cut you out without looking at your application. If UKCAT didn't go so well, there are still unis that do not look at UKCAT. I believe Birmingham and Liverpool don't use the UKCAT. Some schools need the BMAT so they will not look at UKCAT. Please do your research and look at the entrance requirements.

So this is a pretty rough list of what you should definitely keep in mind when choosing your universities. It takes a lot of research and priority setting. Location and Course Structure will probably be your best two filters to narrow down your list. If you're an international applicant, make sure you check if the university is international friendly. Some universities may not accept your high school diploma/standards. Remember choosing which uni to go to should be YOUR choice and YOUR decision. Yes of course if your parents are helping you out with money, they have a bit of say, but again you have to make sure you will be happy at the university and will enjoy the teaching. So select your unis carefully and take your time with it. Think it through and try and get some opinions as well. By the way I quite enjoyed this website: UnionView. It's a website which has a review of almost all the unis in the UK. So take a look at it if you don't get the chance to visit the uni.

Good luck with your application and I truly hope this has helped.

Research Attachment.

I just got my Research Attachment Proposal list and what a head scratch. The university has given us 93 research projects to choose from and if I had to be bluntly honest - I've only seen 3 which have "appealed" to me. Hard part is that we have to pick 5 projects and list them in the order of preference. Tough choices! At the moment I've picked another 2 but I have NO interest in them and would be quite disappointed if I ended up getting placed in them. At the moment I'm doing more research into the other research topics to see what seems interesting despite not knowing much about those other research topics. What a tedious process...especially going through each and every single research topic, but if I want to pick something I would do well in then I guess it is worth my time to look into each thing.

For those just joining my blog and reading around - please let me direct you to my archives over to the right. I've written a few blog entries on application and interview tips which may come in handy...especially the interview tips as it is interview time now.

Good luck to those who are having their interviews and those who are still waiting to hear from their universities - don't fret! Be patient...no point of worrying as no matter how much you worry it's not like the faster you'll find out about whether or not you'll get an interview. There's nothing you can do so try and relax and concentrate on your school work!

Those with an offer: YAY congratssss!!!!! Exciting stuff. Just meet those offers and you'll be itching to get to university and embark on your new journey.

One more week.

Hi everyone!

Wow these last few days have been hectic. Trying to buy some final items for England, packing, looking for stuff, cleaning my room, etc. Well here's some good news: I FINALLY got the email from Ottawa that my Student Visa has been issued. I should be receiving it soon. Yay!

6 days 'til I leave.
12 days 'til Freshers.
19 days 'til start of uni.

Wowzers.

For those of you still doing/panicking about your UCAS application. Don't worry! Just make sure you put some thought into it. Don't rush. Everything will come together in the end.

Technically its also 12 days til the official start of my Freshers Blog. So hopefully everyone will look out for it as I'll try and post every day of my freshers week to keep you all in the loop!

2 More Weeks.

Hi everyone!

Yay it is finally September. If I was still in high school I should be starting school tomorrow! Yikes! Technically I still have 3 more weeks of summer holiday which is crazy as almost all my friends have already started university. I can finally start my countdown to England. I am leaving September 15 so I am really stoked....and at the same time praying that my Visa will arrive before I leave.

14 more days 'til I leave for England.
20 more days 'til Freshers Week/Intro Week.
27 more days 'til the first day of University.

I am soo excited! Anyways I just wanted to keep this blog updated so here's another quick UCAS/admissions tip:

Don't be scared to ask questions! If you're unsure about the university's requirements or have questions about their course call and ask! But obviously first check their website and prospectus before calling but other than that go ahead and call! Most of the admissions people are very friendly and helpful.

YES VISA LETTER!

WOW! AM I LUCKY OR WHAT? My visa appointment was scheduled for August 26th 10:00 am. I finally got my tracking number for my Visa letter and I called up DHL to ask when will it arrive and they said: "Wednesday or Thursday depending on customs". So I was super nervous and anxious because on the website the next visa appointment is in September and that guarantees me missing my flight and most likely freshers week. ACK. So Monday night before I went to sleep I went to check the Visa Letter tracking and it said that it was in Cincinnati, Ohio and I was pretty sure it will stop over in the west coast of the US. Next morning (Tuesday) at 10:30am someone rings the doorbell and to my surprise it was DHL! I was so shocked to find out that it was my Visa Letter and it was kinda amazing that it only took one day to ship my letter from the UK to Canada. Crazy right? And a bit of luck too.

So this morning I went to my Visa appointment...the agent wasn't that helpful. She just confirmed my personal details and got my fingerprints....she didn't even ask for my Visa letter...or any of my documents. She just shoved my visa application form into an envelope with my passport and left me with an address to send my stuff to. Like I thought they would help you check through your documents and stuff....but obviously not. I really hope I did everything right because I really need the Visa to be done/processed ASAP. I hope hope hope hope the British High Commission in Ottawa will understand my situation and will process it faster. :(

Anyways I just wanted to let you guys know that my Visa is now coming along...but hopefully everything is all good with my application as I cannot risk it getting rejected. Ahhhhhh.

Interviews plus random ranting.

Hello! Well sadly I will have to start this post with a rant. I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN MY VISA LETTER FROM MY UNI! At this pace I will not make my flight on Sept 15 and MIGHT miss freshers week. Ughhh. I've been calling up the uni every day so far rushing my visa letter and they said they'll email me today with the tracking number. Guess what? I didn't get it. Like I understand that the uni is busy and A Levels came out (congrats to those who made their offers), but the Visa letter is quite important. HOPEFULLY I'll get an email with the tracking tomorrow.

*End Rant*

So the main topic of this post will be about med school interviews. How I see with interviews is that you've got your foot in the door and all you need to do is make a final push to get through. This means that the uni is probably quite interested in you, so put your head to it and deliver a fantastic interview. For some it may be a breeze, for others, interviews may be their worst nightmare. For me I'm pretty talkative (if you haven't realized) so I found the interview pretty relaxed. Depending on the uni, the interviews will be set out differently. You could have a panel of 2 - 5(?) interviewers...the more...not the merrier. It is quite nerve-racking to be interviewed by a large amount of people as when one person asks the question you've got the others just sitting there either looking bored to death or intrigued. The uni generally will ask some ice breakers which are pretty easy/guessable questions. Obviously they will ask "Why Medicine?". Please do know how to answer that...it is a basic question where you can answer easily with just a little bit of preparation. Before your interview there are some things that may help:

1. Re-read your personal statement - interviewers will most likely ask you about it

2. Research about the university - come up with points that you like about the uni (impress the interviewer with your knowledge)

3. Look professional!!!!!!!!!!!! - please dress properly and appropriately to the interview. don't just throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. dress well!

4. Do a bit of prep work - research some common med questions, think about some answers. BUT I am quite against people memorizing their answers because when it comes time for them to answer, they sound like a robot rehearsing a line! just think about the question no need to start writing out answers! natural is what's best! Sometimes the interviewer may ask about medical advancements or anything medically related in the news. Be prepared for that! Don't talk about something you know nothing about.

5. BE CONFIDENT! - try not to be shy with the interviewer, they aren't there to whip you. they just want to find out more about you. answer honestly and be confident in every answer you deliver...try to avoid the annoying "ummm"s and the excessive use of "like".

6. Smile! - don't walk into the room like you've been sentenced to death. have fun (i know it's easy to say...not so easy to do but do try!)

Let me give you a helping hand on SOME possible questions:

Why Medicine?

Why this university?

Why not be a nurse?

What are some qualities of a doctor?

With all questions remember don't just answer "Why Medicine?" with "Because I like to help people." Expand on your answer reflect on it, what have you done to help you decide that Medicine is the career for you. With every question make sure you expand. If you have to answer a negative question like "What is one bad quality about you?", don't just say "I take a long time to do my work". Instead, turn your answer into a positive and say that you take a long time, BUT you take long to make sure your work is done with the best of quality and there are no errors. It isn't really that hard.

Interviews isn't rocket science. Just be yourself. Give genuine answers which are straight from your heart. Remember you only get an interview because the uni is interested in having you. Good luck!

THE WAITING GAME.

Yes sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have been quite busy doing....erm....nothing. Actually I really wanted to think over this post before I post it so it doesn't sound like crap bunched together into a massive paragraph...but it probably will still end up sounding like crap bunched together. Hmm.

Anyways when I was applying for med I dreaded the "WAITING GAME". Here's what goes down: You check UCAS every 5-30 minutes...no joke. I myself saw people always checking their UCAS before and I told myself "No way am I going to be THAT obsessed." Obviously I failed and it is just really hard to avoid not checking UCAS. What I found that has put me off from checking UCAS continuously is that I am technically stalking UCAS to see myself get rejected. Most medical universities require an interview before they offer so if you think about it you're checking ucas non stop to see that "UNSUCCESSFUL" pop up. Sad right?

I must say the waiting game is quite stressful as you are waiting for that glorious email from your uni that says "INTERVIEW". I can tell you this: the first email you get which asks for an interview is probably the best feeling on Earth. I was so esctatic when I saw the email...and unfortunately I was in a library and just jumped out from my chair. Trust me I got a bunch of deathly glares. It is a great feeling. Most applicants keep asking when will they hear from the university about interviews and usually interviews begin from November all the way to April. From experience, earlier the interview the better. The two unis that offered me an interview asked me to have an interview before Christmas holiday. When I arrived for my interview the medical admissions said that they will hand out decisions BEFORE Christmas. So technically the uni will give you an amazing Christmas present or completely kill your Christmas. One university took about one week to reply and fortunately I was offered a conditional offer. The other university took exactly two weeks to reply and it was 2 days before Christmas. This university was my first choice and I did get a conditional offer. So this kind of gives you a good time frame of how long the university will get back to you if they are going to offer you. I think it is safe to say they will take from 1-3 weeks to reply if they want to take you.

I heard from my universities pretty early (November to be precise), but I've heard from my friends that it is quite nerve-racking as the months go by. You start to doubt yourself and you start to get anxious. But do not worry. Yes it is a bit off putting to see on forums and hearing about people getting interviews, but do remember that there are THOUSANDS of applicants and it does take time for the admissions office to go through their applications. It does not mean your application is weaker; hence, the later time. Just stay confident and just RELAXXXX!!!!

If you do receive an unsucessful, do not be sad. You've still got 3 more unis and one rejection doesn't mean ALL will reject. Some unis look for certain people that will fit into their "bubble" and I'm sure if you have done your research there will be at least one uni in your choice where you feel that you fit in and feel comfortable at that uni. If you want input on why you got rejected don't hesitate to call up the uni and ask. Some admissions offices are quite friendly and will tell you what is wrong with your application and perhaps even tell you some pointers on how to improve your application! It's not all that bad!

Well I'm probably sounding like I have verbal diahrea. Plus I don't know what else to talk about. The waiting game is just the waiting game. You wait and hope that your application was good enough to get that interview. Just hope for the best and be confident. :)

More Tips!!!

I can't really sleep. Should not have slept in 'til 2pm. Grrr. I had this sudden urge to list out some basic tips about uni applications/med applications in no specific order.

1. DO YOUR RESEARCH! DO YOUR RESEARCH! DO YOUR RESEARCH!
I can't emphasize it anymore as it is VERY important to research about the uni you are interested in going. Plus it'll give you bonus points in the interview when the interviewer asks you "Why do you like our course/uni?" And it really sucks when you end up at the uni that you dream of going to but end up hating the course.

2. Visit the university!
I've got friends who didn't even visit their universities before applying and they were SHOCKED to see what the uni is actually like and what the city is like. Nothing worse than travelling for hours to a foreign country/city and find out that you loathe the place and you feel out of place.

3. Go to open days!
Kinda related to point #2 but open days are really important. The head of departments will usually be speaking for the course and he/she will probably give you some juicy hints and tips for you personal statement and you can guage what type of applicant they are looking for. Also an EXCELLENT time to ask questions.

4. Reflect in you personal statement!
Just discussed it in the last post. Makes your personal statement so much more three dimensional and much more interesting to read. Imagine admissions officers reading through thousands of personal statements that sound alike. Make yours stand out and do some deep reflections about the stuff you'll be talking about.

5. Start your application AHEAD OF TIME!
Don't leave it til the last day to finish up your personal statement. To be honest, I started my personal statement in July and my application was due in October. I was glad I started early because it gave me plenty of time to read it over, change it, revise it, etc. You'll regret it if you leave it til the last minute as you'll know you can do a better job of it.

6. BE HONEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah it's important to do a lot of work experience and volunteer work to make your application stand out but please don't lie or exaggerrate. It may not seem obvious to you but it may seem obvious to the trained eyes of the admissions officers. Even if you get past that stage, you better be able to support what you wrote in your personal statement. Nothing more awkward than being asked about a work experience you've never done.

7. Try and do some work experience/volunteer work!
Work experience and volunteer work helps you get a better feel of your possible future career. For example for medicine, I volunteered at the old people's home and did work experience at the blood lab and the blood clinic. It is very useful and you learn a lot. Plus you can talk about it in your personal statement.

8. Read the small print!
Kind of related to point #1 but when you look at the course details make sure you read the DETAILS. Dont' just skim it. It is VERY IMPORTANT to know what your course is about so you know what to look foward to. Especially as an international student there are some universities that do NOT take international students and obviously you wouldn't want to apply to that uni if they won't take you. For med you've got only 4 choices. Make them worthwhile choices.

9. Prepare for the UKCAT!
People say you don't need to study for the UKCAT. Yeah they're right you actually CANNOT study for it. BUT you can prepare yourself. It is a very fast test and you will have to get used to the timing. Make sure you go and check out some websites that may have practice papers for you and the UKCAT site does have one full timed practice exam which I would do the day or two before the actual exam. See the end of the post for some useful links.

10. Just relax!
I totally understand that for some people uni applications can be extremely stressful. But just sit back and relax. Take your time and start early. Of course it'll be stressful it you're doing up your application like 2 days before the due date. Give yourself plenty of time so you can think over your application and make the right decisions. When you're calm you'll write a better personal statement and it'll be more genuine. I know the application process can be very stressful so seriously give yourself time and RELAX!

Something to look forward to. In the near future I will be posting up about "What happens after sending in your application/THE DREADED WAITING GAME".

As promised here are some useful links:
http://www.unionview.com/Home
Tours of most of the unis in the UK/helps if you can't visit
http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/
Official UKCAT site
http://www.gl-science.com/2008/06/ukcat-overview/
Brief overview of the UKCAT
http://www.onexamination.com/Exam-Revision/UKCAT.aspx
Got a lot of practice questions
http://medstudentz.com/european-medical-schools/449-uk-medicine-interview-questions.html
Common interview questions
http://www.medical-interviews.co.uk/resources/questionsms.htm
More common interview questions
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passing-Clinical-Aptitude-University-Entrance/dp/1846410371
Pretty good book
http://www.apply2medicine.co.uk/index.php?product_id=29963&target=products
Good book as well

There are a lot of links but I need some time to find them. There's a few up there and hopefully I'll post some more later on.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Random thoughts.

Well I think I finally hit the "slightly stressed level" for university. I just realized that I have about one more month and I still haven't got my Visa to study in the UK yet. But thats not all MY fault. It is more because the university still hasn't sent my Visa letter to allow me to get my Visa. Argh i hope it actually won't take that long for me to get my Visa. :(

So I guess that kinda leads me to my next tip for UCAS applications: Do NOT leave your application til the last minute. You will seriously kick yourself in the butt later on. Might as well get it done NOW and enjoy the rest of the summer/first weeks of school.

Yes a nice and short post today. Too tired to think of stuff to write about plus I don't want to bore you.

EDIT: I forgot to add earlier on that also to add to my stress: I haven't even STARTED to think about what I am going to pack for university. I actually don't even want to think about it. Ugh.

Rewind to last year this time.

I promised that I will be posting up about my experience with applying to UK unis for Medicine. So here we go. Last year this time I was probably sitting in my room staring at a blank word document trying to figure out what I should write for my Personal Statement. It was probably the most frustrating thing to do up because there was so much to say yet so little lines for you to write. I also think I took my UKCAT around this time too. I did a bit of studying. Bought some UKCAT books online and did some practice papers but you can't really study for this test. In the end I did pretty well so I was happy.

Hmmm I don't know what should I really talk about. I chose my 4 universities like a month prior because I flew to England to go to the open days to check out the area/the course. I probably visited about 10 universities and managed to cut it down to 4 EASILY after the trip. So I guess one tip is to visit all the universities that you are interested in applying to as it will really help with cutting out universities.

Oh I guess one tip with writing up personal statements is to write true to your heart and don't exaggerate and tell lies. The admissions people are pretty darn smart and they'll probably figure it out...if not they'll catch you during the interview as they do ask you about your personal statement.

I can't really think of what else to talk about. Maybe I should think about it some more and will post up later.