Dyscalculia.

As I type this (well, the intro anyway... I don't write that quickly), I am somewhere under the Bristol channel on a train. I've had my Cardiff interview this morning and looking forward to a nap...


Hopefully, the admissions team won't read this post - on two separate occassions I have proved my mother right in that 'the most intelligent people have no common sense. Yes, I have quite a few A Grades but I am also a right royal thicko. Obviously I do not use this terminology in reference to anyone other than myself. Particularly whilst working with Special Needs children.


That was as far as I got on the train before I decided to play Angry Birds instead. And it's also now a day outdated, so I'll start afresh. On the eve of the interview I realised I hadn't read the Interview Checklist. Passport, driving license, NI Card, bank statement. Photocopies. And photographs. Bugger. An 11pm trip to my Grandads printer/scanner. A 7am trip to the photo booth at ASDA, disaster averted. 


I say 'disaster averted'... yes, I suppose I got to Cardiff okay and with the relevant documentation. I was incredibly tired what with all the panicking and rushing and gentle rocking on the train which always puts me to sleep. But my photobooth picture was not pretty... Now, I'm not entirely sure what they want it for - they ask for two photographs - and I assume it's to put with  your statement as a reminder of who you are. I'm hoping they don't use it for my Student ID Card because I look like a drug-crazed serial killer. It's a bizarre fact that applicants refrain from wearing make-up to interview, tuck your hair behind your ears, no nail polish, flat shoes and high necklines with low hemlines. God only knows why, although I suppose how could you have a doctor who was partial to some blusher and eyeliner? Never mind... the point is that without make-up I look rather jaundiced. See below.

Shannon, medical applicant and autism  support worker

Aileen Wournos, notorious serial killer and hooker.

Anywayyyy, the interview itself. If I'm honest, and without tempting fate, I had good vibes. The interviewers were lovely (friendly 4th year, charming anaethetist and grandad-like GP with the best Welsh accent you could hope for). They asked me the basic questions as well as quizzing me on the more interesting parts of my statement, particularly around my jobs and Extended Project. They laughed and smiled and nodded in the right places, and I even got a 'I like the way you put that, that was very nice'. But I guess you never know... Like I've said again and again, there are so many fantastic applicants it must be a real challenge to choose between them. From my gut feeling, what will have let me down will be my initial nerves - I was called in 10 minutes early, so hadn't had a chance to fully focus and it showed. When speaking under pressure I find it difficult to control the pitch of my voice and have to concentrate on keeping my breathing even. During one question I paused to catch my breath and re-focus, and was even asked if I could 'expand on my answer' as if they thought I had finished. I'll kick myself for that one.


So there you go, now it's kind of limbo-land with very little going on either way until February. I can kick back now for 3 weeks or so, and just see what happens. My mental time frame looks like this:


Hull York: offer made before end of February. (Last interview held yesterday, so just waiting for candidates to be ranked - assume it could be earlier)


Cardiff: Endeavour to inform candidates before the end of February


Leeds: begin interviewing in February (invites given out mid-January), offers made in April


Southampton: First offers made in February (last year they said this but gave some in January). Could wait until April.


Speaking of Southampton, I had an automatic email reply from them which contained lots of information including 'this year, our UKCAT threshold score will be 3210.' My score was 2981. Of course, I was upset (and yes, shed a tear) until the next day when mum asked to read the email. 'What did you say your UKCAT score was Shannon? It says here the threshold score will be 2310.' Oh, right. I guess I read it wrong then mum. No need to worry, I'm still in the race. Was wondering why my Grandparents called to see 'if I was okay'.

Wreck.

Apart from the ridiculous journey, Hull went okay. Ish. For an interview, anyway.


HYMS interviews are a pretty set procedure for everybody - seven questions on very set topics, plus your opinion of an article you've just read. I'm not allowed to discuss what was asked - but HYMS very helpfully provide a list of 'example' questions on their website, which are conveniently very similar to many of the questions I was asked.  


Unlike anywhere else I've been, HYMS include a tour of their campus as part of your interview - the campus is really lovely, and the accomodation is as well. The student house we looked around backed directly on to the campus and housed five people with all bills included as well as a cleaner. An extra large room here (which was pretty enormous) cost £72 per week; which I thought was pretty fair! Even my taxis around Hull were cheap, so I do think it would make a perfect student-budget city.


After our interviews we were shown a presentation 'persuading' us to choose HYMS, should we receive more than one offer. Interestingly from the 1100 applicants, 800 passed the academic criteria (meaning 300 applied to a Uni they couldn't get in to?!). 450 were invited to interview on of these 290 of us will be offered a place. This means that my chance of success now is around the 2/3 mark. Which is reassuring, particularly compared to somewhere like Leeds where my chances are around 1/16.


(Also, we were told that each year around 50% of applicants to Medical School in the UK don't receive any offers - so now I don't feel too bad about my rejections last year.)


The reflex question for everybody to ask is 'so how do you think you did?' It's a really hard call; I felt I answered all the questions reasonably well, and had very few 'Doh!' moments. However, you come out and everybody seems to have given the same answers to the questions! A couple of questions were reiterated to me, as I hadn't fully addressed all aspects that they had asked for, but for others I tried to give a very balanced, full answer which often ended with 'however I feel your question is too broad to give you a specific answer'. I know that, despite my 'ultra-cool' demeanour in the holding room, I become very nervous and can appear quite flustered and edgy. I guess they know you're nervous. The one question I can say I answered really well was based around the standard 'Why do you want to study here?' and this is where my interview prep really paid off.


Each interview has to be prepped for differently - at HYMS your interview is completely seperate to your personal statement score, so there's no need to analyse your statement and second guess what's going to be asked. Like all interviews, I expected the 'Why do you want to come here?' and the general probing of my awareness of current medical issues; but they're hardly expecting you to be familiar with every piece of research. I keep up-to-date by reading the NHS' Behind the Headlines website every so often and listening to the news occasionally. In terms of HYMS specific prep, I spent an hour or so each night for a week reading and poking around on the Medical Schools' website. 


But that's it. I find out at the end of February. As a very pleasant surprise, I received an invite for interview at Cardiff next month (the email arrived the day before Hull, so was a good nerve-settler). Cardiff is very different in terms of interview technique and requires lots of prep... so that's my holiday homework (although at least I'm not revising for January exams!!)


Hope you've had a good Christmas! 

Cartography.

So I'm all applied and raring to go (according to the emails etc I could be hearing back any time from next week-ish...), whilst feeling a nauseous mix of anxiety, confidence and scepticism.


With Medicine, there's no 'the hardest part is...' because it's all time consuming and nerve-wracking and difficult, from the personal statement to the UKCAT, to actually choosing where you want to go. If I'm honest, last year I copped out on my choices - they became secondary issues, despite how important it is to think carefully where you want to live for the next 6 years!


Last year my choices looked like this:


University of Bristol because it's local. And reputable. And I kind of like the shopping there.
University of Oxford again it's local. The shopping is very good and the streets are just so quaint. (Plus it's the only place I'd ever visited prior to applying - admittedly whilst I was in Year 8 - so it just made sense.)
Peninsula Medical School apparently everyone gets in there.
Keele University the prospectus is pretty. It looks like a castle, on a lake, IN A VILLAGE. Too cute.


Looking back, I'm not surprised the 'so why do you want to study here' part didn't go so great... and it's actually rather embarrassing to read my honest responses here.


This year, however, was far more thoughtful... and hopefully you'll find the reasoning behind my choices potentially useful, regardless of the course you're applying for! It's difficult to know where to go - after all, it's logistically impossible to visit all of them, and when you do they all look fantastic and lovely and welcoming. 


FYI, there are 32 medical schools in the UK, three of which are for postgraduate medicine only - compared to a subject like Maths, or English, Medicine is relatively easy to begin narrowing down.


The first step was clearly to eliminate anywhere 'too far'; I'm talking Scotland, Northern Ireland and Newcastle.

And then I'm thinking how poor I'd be if I lived in London (plus I couldn't cope with black-coloured snot 24/7), so those were crossed out too...

And I wouldn't want to apply anywhere for the second time running - if I wasn't good enough last year, then I guess they probably won't want me this year.

So now I'm left with thirteen. Birmingham won't accept me (they'd like 7 A*s and I have 5), plus it's a big, mean-looking city. Come to think of it, I'd much rather be somewhere with a bit of breathing space... so Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham can be crossed off too. I've tried the Oxbridge thing, and I wasn't really feeling it so Cambridge might as well go too.

So I'm down to my final eight (much like Judge's Houses on the X Factor) and four have to go. If I'm honest, neither Norwich nor Sheffield really inspired me when I read up so that makes narrowing down slightly easier... And I'm left with six, only two more to decide against before my final four.

So what do we have left?


L for Leeds
H for Hull and York Medical School
Le for Leicester
C for Cardiff
S for Southampton
B for Brighton and Sussex Medical School


I thought about the things I most wanted out of medical school; I like the PBL learning method (each week you learn about a topic e.g. heart disease and your learning progresses outwards, like a spiders web, rather than linear learning, like at school), I want to practice full body dissection, I want an opportunity for research and intercalated degrees (a mini-degree as an extra year within your medical degree), I want to live on a campus but the change of a dual school Uni is appealing. I want fresh air and space to think.


So I tallied them. I read the prospectus and gave each school a mark in a column if they have it. Cardiff practice full-body dissection. Southampton are research-led. BSMS can provide plenty of fresh air and space, Leeds is a perfect student, party city. And you have to remember applying to medical school is competitive - where do I appeal most? My strong UKCAT score would be wasted at Cardiff, who barely look at it whereas Leicester love it. Southampton don't interview, so you need a strong personal statement - is mine that individual?


Eventually, I think my heart and head compromised. Regardless of the 'scores' I'd given each, I'd already started to fall in love with the four I knew I really wanted. All for different reasons, but all unique and perfect in their own way. Cardiff's dissection room. Southampton's research labs. Leeds' student-friendly campus. Hull/York's contrast between beautiful York and poverty-stricken Hull.


It'll be interesting. At the moment I have a vague idea of where I'd like to go most -> least. But then I haven't visited them all yet... and I doubt I'll have much of a choice to make. Best of two, if I'm lucky. We'll see; I've been told to expect answers before Christmas.