Lady Gaga...

I had my interview last Thursday, thought it went pretty well but as per I was sickly nervous. Luckily mine was a morning interview so I didn't have to endure it for too long, I have so much sympathy for those people who have to wait till the afternoon.

I had to sign a confidentiality agreement at the beginning (lol!) so I can't tell you any questions or anything but the ethical question involved Lady Gaga, threw me a little bit :S

Otherwise they were fairly standard and oriented around my personal statement, which was quite nice because I know about that!

Although, instead of asking me "Why do you want to do Medicine?" which is a nice question, a question I know the answer to, a questions I have practised, they asked me "Why do you want to be a doctor over other healthcare professionals?" :/ Throwing me into the landmine-filled zone of not offending everyone else who works in hospitals, whilst still making sure they know you think medicine is AWESOME

Interestingly, this year I had to submit a form beforehand with contact details for all my work experience / volunteering placements, didn't have to do that last year! I guess it's to weed out people who are lying, but I really can't imagine them ringing around all the placements for every applicant. It seems Universities are tightening their belts though, so any prospective applicants, think before lying!!

I saw my friend doing medicine at the same place, it was nice to see him, but I was also a bit sad when I thought I could have been with him, being a first year medic, ach.

Oh well, MUST TRY AND MOVE ON (haha) the tour of the uni and meeting all the current students made me SO EXCITED

But, I'm now finding it really hard to concentrate on my biomed course :S It's so so hard to motivate myself to go to lectures and do work, because I know that (hopefully) I should be leaving soon

Anyways, as usual I'm wishing every whos waiting for offers/rejections and going to interviews THE BEST OF LUCK!

Medicine Interviews

I have an interview tomorrow!

Argh, nervous :S But I feel pretty prepared, also, isn't everything easier the second time round? :P

For advice you can see my incredibly comphrensive, and possibly a bit intimidating, posts on interview preparation:

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-preparation.html

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-prep-2.html

http://youngwannabedoctor.blogspot.com/2010/11/useful-links.html

But please don't let these scare you, a friend told me that it was slightly worrying how much preparation there seemed to be, BUT PLEASE DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS

Every Medical school has different expectations and interview techniques, and at some places you won't even get asked a question about current medical news, whereas at others you will be expected to know big headlines from that week.

So, as usual, research is the key.

I had an interview at the same place last year, and managed to get an offer, so hoping for the same!

Best luck for everyone with interviews and those who are waiting to hear, if you have any questions about particular universities, post below and I will try my best to answer

My story

I felt like getting all up close and personal today after a commenter asked me about my own offers etc... If you really do just want to know what GCSE's you need - LOOK AT POSTS BELOW
If you want to know about my little life, well read on

I've gone about getting into Medicine a bit of weird route, so I shall bullet point:

• Last year, when I was in A2, I got offers YAY
• August rolled on, missed my A in Chemistry by a few UMS - got A*AB overall
• Begged and pleaded down the phone, but nope they were having none of it
• After a few agonising weeks of shittyness, I decided to take my reserve offer of Biomed
• Got to Uni and decided that, whilst the course was fascinating, I still wanted to do Medicine
• Re-applied in October 2011 as a re-sit applicant at University (there really aren't many places you can apply)
• Continued on my biomed course, really enjoying it - great teaching, great Uni, wonderful friends, societies etc - I genuinely thought I would get straight rejections, the chances of an offer seemed so slim
• AN INTERVIEW - January 2012 - so shocked, literally couldn't believe it
• AN OFFER - January 2012, from a different Uni - I almost started crying on the phone to my Mum
• Really kicked Chemistry revision into high gear
• Resat Chem5 (today 1St Feb 2012)

So that's my story really! I'm still on my Biomed course here at Uni, I'm going to ask for a transfer to Medicine at the end of the year, but if I don't get that (and get my A in Chemistry) I will be off

Please don't miss your grades haha, it was horrific, probably one of the worst months of my life. You will feel embarrassed, like you have let everyone down (Mum) and mostly you hate yourself a little bit, because what kind of f*cking IDIOT gives up the chance to do what they desperately want to do.

I tried to put on a front for my friends etc who didn't really understand what it means to give up Medicine when you have put so much hard work into getting there. They thought Biomed was the same and didn't get the fuss, I never explained.

It has taken me a longer time (and I mean months) to come to terms with the fact I missed my grades, I KNOW this sounds ridiculous and melodramatic, but just 3 years of hard work wasted on one exam. I spent ages feeling confused and lost and sad.

ANYHOW, at the moment I feel super positive about everything, it's kind of all turned out to be a silver lining situation.

I've had all the greatness of being a fresher at Uni; the friends, the independence, the nights out, the societies instead of being stuck at home on a Gap Yah missing all my friends and not making many new ones, stalking their photos while I'm working full time with my whole LIFE being about Medicine.

And now I have an offer!! :D

I think I'm going to take my student loan for 3rd term, drop out, and bugger off travelling.

Essentially meaning, I'm going to have the experience of freshers at uni (on a less demanding course), a gap year with all the travelling and none of the work, AND get to do medicine at the end of it!

Despite this, PLEASE DON'T TAKE THE ROUTE I TOOK hahaha

I'm still making sacrifices: I'm going to have leave all my friends, sports etc behind, and go through the whole "getting to know" people process again :S I'm loosing all my security

I've also already signed for a house, meaning I'm losing a hefty deposit

I feel like I've grown up a lot, my perspective on life has changed a lot, and ultimately while it was a slightly unpleasant experience, it was probably one of the most important ones I've had so far (well educationally anyway...)

Anyways, enough poignant stuff, back to analysing all of your GCSE grades.....

Good luck my bambinis!

If you have any questions, post below and I will try my best to answer them