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The send-off
Posted on October 13th, 2008 by Matt
Well, I’m pleased to announce that I was able to send off my UCAS application tonight. After many weeks of entering details, writing statements, chasing references, and the rest, I’ve finally done it.
?17.00 on the credit card later, and my application is being processed by UCAS before being sent to the 4 medical schools I have applied to. BSMS, Bristol, Sheffield and Southampton – let’s hope they’ll like my application!
Now, like many others, I’m eagerly watching the postbox, waiting for details about how to logon to Track. No doubt I’ll become more addicted that than I am to Facebook…
Matt is happy now, and semi stress-free.
No Comments »Bouncing to and fro
Posted on October 1st, 2008 by Matt
‘It feels like it’s never ending, but I can see that I’m almost done; just one left thing to do, and that’s put it onto UCAS. I’m talking about my personal statement, and the number of people checking it and suggesting improvements!
The number of people able to help with personal statements is amazing. I’ve had my Connexions adviser, my personal tutor, a UCAS co-ordinator, a medical doctor (yes, that’s Rob!), a manager, and a couple of friends have a look. The best advice I’ve had comes from the UCAS co-ordinator, who pointed out about 6 or 7 different grammer errors.
Which is something to look out for. You’ll find after staring at Microsoft Office Word or UCAS Apply for 30 minutes making some changes, you don’t notice the grammer errors that have creeped in, ie ‘caring for people by in an’. And spelling can be just as bad, because word doesn’t notice the difference between ‘their’, ‘there’ or ‘they’re’ really! Get as many people as possinle just to proof read it and circle anything that is grammatically wrong, or that simply doesn’t sound right at first pass. Remember, and admissions tutor is not likely to re-read something 2 or 3 times just to figure out what it means!
However, after about 5 or so full drafts, I’m done. Now the simple part, of copying and pasting from Microsoft Office Word into UCAS apply. And making sure that I’m below the 4,000 character and 47 line limits. Actually, a good time for a warning – you’re more likely to go over the 47 lines before you go over the 4,000 characters!
Matt is putting his personal statement into UCAS…
No Comments »Visiting Newcastle
Posted on September 27th, 2008 by Matt
Well, a big “Hello” to all of you reading this who found us through the flyers I was handing out a mere two hours ago! I should also say thank-you for taking the time to have a nosey around the site, and I hope you enjoy what you find.
I enjoyed the day, apart from being told I couldn’t hand out my leaflets on-campus. The lecture by Dr. Philip Bradley was of good quality, he explained everything that he needed to about the Newcastle course, as well as the admissions procedure in-depth.
One thing I didn’t like was the small cafe, which I felt didn’t have enough food or staff for an open day! Otherwise, it was a good day. Nice to meet you all!
Matt is writing this blog from Newcastle Central Station.
No Comments »Working hard
Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by Matt
Sorry about the short absence from both Rob and I. We’ve both been working extremely hard, certainly I’m doing a total of about 20 hours contact time at college, plus all of the homework and coursework that goes with it.
Rob is still doing his Obs & Gynae rotation at the minute, and I’d say we’ve a long way to go before the EU Working Time Directive starts to affect junior doctors. Rob tells me that this week he is on the nightshift, starting at 9pm, and finishing at 11am the following morning. He jokes, “I have about enough time to work, eat, and sleep – usually in that order!”
Not to worry, I’m off at the end of October for a week, and I will personally be overseeing some significant updates to the site, including the Interview Question Bank, Work Experience, and the difference between the teaching/assment styles. I also know Rob is planning to free up some time to make some contributions too!
Don’t forget that while we’re working away at the site, it will remain free-of-charge to our users, so do make the most of it! I can promise you that next year’s users will have to pay for their membership…
Matt is glad he isn’t a junior doctor – yet…
No Comments »Summer is over
Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Matt
I don’t think anybody can testify to this more than Rob & I, based on a very short conversation I’ve had with him last night.
In the last 3 weeks, neither of us have managed to do any of the work we had planned on the site, aside from a couple of blog posts each. To be frank, our newest blogger, Sarah, has probably done more than Rob & I combined! But that’s not because we’re lazy or anything, we’ve just both been doing far more than we imagined – you can follow Rob’s life as a junior doctor by reading the “Foundation Year 1″ blog, as you’ll see 8-day weeks are still expected from junior doctors.
From my perspective, I’ve had results to collect, and then enter into UCAS. I’ve had to sit down and think about whether I’m actually going to realistically achieve the grades for medicine, and I’ve decided that I should, as long as I resit 2 of my chemistry modules and get better grades. And that’s something you should all do about now, realistically check that you can meet the entry requirements for your chosen course by the end of this academic year.
I have been out as a volunteer first aider for 4 solid days, and had to take a 5th day just to recover from the cumulative 46 hours of shifts. I’ll blog about how that will help me both in writing my personal statement, and in talking about what I have gained from it in an interview type situation later.
I haven’t even started my personal statement properly. Something which, now I think about it, kinda scares me. I now have less than 6 weeks to do it. Oh shit. One reality check, please, I think. It’s a good thing MedicalAdmissions.co.uk offers a personal statement checking service to applicants, I think I’ll be making use of that before the end of this month!
Back to the website, we’ve already had to put the launch date back by a full month. I’ve had to block-out two full weekends from my diary to work on the scripting and main content areas. I know Rob is also looking into taking some of his annual leave so that he can really work on the Interview Question Bank for when you all need it. And now we’re faced with the fact that we have 26 days to get this site live, and ready-to-use, because I’ll be out and about in Newcastle University for the visit day, handing out our new flyers!
Matt is panicking about his personal statement (or lack of)!
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