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
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