Interviews when you already have offers

Hello again,

So this post is a very topical one - what should you do about interview invites once you have already gotten offers?

Before I continue with this, I would like it to be very clear that this is a very emotive topic (as shown through other online resources) so below is just my opinion. I would very much like a discussion on this so, if you have any comments, please feel free to write them! Also - this is a very personal decision, no one can force you to do something, either way. 

If you have been lucky to hear early (and positively) from some of your choices, you could be faced with a situtation where there are still interviews to be had. You face a choice - do you go to those interviews or not? There are many arguments for and against going to interviews with offers:

Don't Go - you already have an offer, so what is the point of stressing out? 

There is also the argument that you are being 'selfish' by going because there are those that do not have any offers... I COMPLETELY DISAGREE with this argument. Firstly; this is rude, unfair and not true. Yes if you dont go, someone else will be offered the place in some instances, but in others, universities won't bother to offer a single interview to someone else because they already interview double, tripple or ten-times the amount of applicants than are places. Secondly; you earned your interview so you are well within your rights to go to it!

Go - as mentioned, you earned all your interviews so they are yours to go to. Also, and more importantly, you may not be sure which medical school you wish to go to and going to interviews is your only way of keeping your options open. And finally, your last interview may be your favourite option so you'll deinitely want to be going to it!

As you can see - there are many arguments (even more than I've written) for either option however, the main point (I would say) is; is there any chance you would want to go to this  univeristy? 

If the answer is 'no', then what's the point in going? I say this more about you than other people -- interviews are, by their nature, rather stressful things that need preparation, so if you have absolutely no interest in going to that university now that you have your ideal offer then why put yourself through it? Unless of couse, you are tyring to get 4 offers, and in that case, it is in your right to attend all of your interviews. 

If the answer is 'yes', then obviously go. You may be leaning more to one university than the other but you'll never actually no until you are faced with the option. Also, you can learn a lot about a university from their interview process. At one of my interviews, the way it was set up etc. actually resulted in me knowing that unless it was my only offer, I would most likely turn an offer down however, I didnt know that at the time of applying. On the flip side, at my third interview, I absolutely loved the university because I got to spend time with medical students and it ended up being much higher up on my 'list' than I had originally thought. 

Anyway, the main point here is that the choice is up to you. If you are in any doubt - go to your interview because there's no harm in that. If you know for sure, then make sure you let universities know ASAP because there is always a chance that the interview will go to someone else. 

That's it for now... I hope many of end up in this conundrum because its a good one to have!!

Dr Wannabe xx

What if you're unsuccessful....

Hello :)

This post is on a topic that isn't the happiest but, unfortunately, is a reality for those wanting to apply for medicine. A great proportion of GEM applicants will have applied unsuccessfully from school or be on their second/third application, so it is a very likely possibility that you have done your best, gotten some interviews and no offers. So, what do you do about it?

The biggest, and probably most obvious, decision is going to be - will you re-apply again? Obviously, if you face 4 rejections (be this pre- or post-interview) you will feel very downcast and disappointed. No matter how many people tell you that it's just because its very competitive, there will be a part of you that thinks you are not good enough because other people have managed to get in. Although this may be the case, it is most unlikely. The truth is, that medicine at graduate-entry level is hugely competitve and it is virtually impossible in some instances (for example; to get an interview at KCL its around 65:1 and then to get an offer after that it is still 7:1). 

You'll need to have a think about whether medicine is really for you - and if it is; you have to reapply!! As I wrote above, there are many people on their seond or third application so you can keep going if its really what you want to do. However, if throughout this process, you've realised that its not for you then there's no shame in that. You still have time to figure out what kind of career you are interested in and as we know, there are many different ways you can help people or be in the healthcare centre. 

If you have made the decision to reapply, you'll need to know where you went wrong and what you're going to do about it. There's no point going through the heartache of 4 rejections and then not changing your application, particualrly if you got 4 pre-interview rejections. Also, it could be in your best interests to apply more 'strategically' - by this I mean; looking more into the details of what each university is looking for and seeing if you are more suited to one place's criteria than the next's. 

If you are re-applying, it's important that you don't spend a year doing nothing... if you have quite a strong application (i.e you got to the interview stage everywhere so it seems like you tick all the criteria boxes) then you could go travelling or doing something suitably different or interesting that you cna discuss it in your personal statement and subsequent interviews. If not, spend the time 'boosting' your application (details below). Either way, you must be seen to not have spent the year sitting about and waiting to be able to reapply again for the next cycle. Also, doing something interesting will keep your mind off the stress of reapplying!!

Below, I've just outlined some common reasons for rejections and what you can do about it:

4 Pre-interview Rejections

Unfortunately, at this stage, very few universities will give you specific reasons as to why they rejected you so it'll be a bit down to you to try and figure it out. Generally speaking, pre-interview rejections are because you have failed to meet some of their conditions:

- UKCAT/GAMSAT/BMAT score not high enough

- Do not fulfil the academic criteria (eg: if they specific certail grades/subjects at A level or university and you do not have them - however, this is very much a lack of research on your part as this information will be readily available on both their website and the prospectus)

- Issues with the personal statement (some universities are very prescriptive about what they expect to see on your personal statement and if you haven't provided this, then you will not get an invite to interview. This is a lot harder to determine as you may be rejected based on your personal statement but you thought you had fulfilled the conditions) 

If you are in this situation then, assuming you are re-applying, you will need to be very critical of your application and in the year that follows do everything you can to 'boost' your application: 

- In terms of your extrance exams, this would be preparing for longer to ensure a higher mark and generally speaking, you will do better because its not the first time you're attempting them. 

- In terms of your personal statement, you could go out and get more health/care related experience (this could even be working as an HCA so you have some great hands-on experience). However, you may feel you actually have enough experience so it could just have been how you wrote your personal statement (for example; you may have written it as more of a lsit of what you've done rather than showing what you learned from everything). 

Post-interview Rejections

At this stage, you know that at least you are 'good enough' to be invited to interview. This means that you fulfill their criteria on paper so you may not need to change too much on your application. Obviously, you will need to retake some entrance exams but hopefully you will just perform better because you will have had more practice than the first time (with the UKCAT, there is normally a trend that your average score increases each time you take it). 

Most universities will be able to offer some sort of feedback at this stage - although this may not always be that detailed it is still a starting point. For some of you, it may just be that you were very nervous because this was either your first interview or you have never experienced the format before (eg: as is often the case with MMIs). Whatever the case may be, you will be able to work on it because you will have more time. Take the feedback as constructive rather than a criticism and learn from it (assuming you are reapplying). 

As with pre-interview rejections, there may be many things you can do to boost your application (see above for details) and, again, make sure you spend the year doing something that you can say is worhtwhile etc. 

One piece of advice - don't go into further study unless you really want it. Many people are tempted to do masters or even PhD just to fill the time... This is not advisable as they are very time consuming and expensive and also, you need to have successful applications for them which isn't easy either. However, if you were always interested in getting a masters, it could be a good way to spend the year (particualrly if you find a one year course that attracts you)

So, that's about it... If this advice applies to you, then I'm very sorry for your disappointment but DON'T LOOSE HOPE!!! If you really want it, there'll always be a way :)

Dr Wannabe xx

Replies and Decisions

Hi all -

Apologies for the radio silence but it has mainly been due to the fact that we were all in a limbo -- waiting around for any last minute interview invites and the subsequent looooooong wait for decisions. But now, in mid-Feburary, we are all (or most of us) starting to hear back from places. 

So - three things can happen at this stage:

- Rejection

- Conditional Offer

- Unconditional Offer (however with medicine, offers are always conditional on proof of degree qualification and DBS clearance). 

All these options are possible from all of the choices you interviewed so you'll (hopefully) be in a sitatuation where you are looking at 1-4 conditional/unconditional offers. If, however, you get no offers, you'll need to think about what's next (see a later post for this topic). 

Assuming you get offers, two potential options are out there:

If you only receive one offer - then congratulations!!! All you needed was one and you've got it - so job done! You can reply to confirm your offer through UCAS and you'll know what's happening come september. 

If you receive more than one offer - then, extra congrstulaltions!! It's very impressive but now you need to make a choice.... which one will you go to?! Lots of resources are out there to help you make this decision; going through each university's websites/prospectus, looking at the offer pack and talking to other people (this can be in person on through various online facilities such as TSR etc.).

I happen to have been in the latter of thw two situations and my best advice would be go with your gut. All the medical schools in the UK are fantastic, so you'll never make the 'wrong' decision but there coudl be a decision that is wrong for you. Most people will have had one or two preferred choices when looking around so if that's you then choose your favourites, if not then you'll have to weigh up the pros and the cons of each place and if you are really struggling, do a checklist and give each place a mark out of 10 - the highest mark 'wins' and that's where you'll go (obviously, in reality, it is never as simple as this but this method can be a very good starting point with some surprising results). I would also say  that there is nothing wrong with turning a place down just because you dont have that 'feeling' about it.... this blog is mainly directed at GEMs so we have all been through the uni application process once, so you'll have more of a grasp of what suits you so if somewhere doesn't 'float your boat' then there's no point entertaining the idea of going! 

If you are yet to graduate (or are a school leaver), you will have to put a firm and insurance choice on UCAS. For graduates, this is almost pointless as most offers will be for a 2i (in some cases a 1st, but that is rare) however, there is a small chance that should you not get your 2i that one of your choices would lower the entrance conditions (please note - this is very unlikely, but if you've got more than one choice, there's no harm in it). In terms of school leavers, there is a chance that your offers will be  different from places so defintiely put a firm and insurance place if you can. 

Replying deadlines are all on the UCAS website but generally speaking, if you have heard back from all of your choices by the 31st March, you have until the 7th May to reply. In most cases, this will be the deadline as many universities have post-offer open days before the 31st so will have let you know by then. 

So, that's just a quick run through of the potential outcomes and your choices. Good Luck!!

Dr Wannabe xx