Posts Tagged ‘Personal statement’
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 »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)!
No Comments »Medicine Summer School
Posted on August 28th, 2008 by Sarah
Hi!
I’m Sarah and I’m going to University this October.? Not to read Medicine, but to read Chemistry.??In the end, I felt that?Chemistry was more appropriate for the type of career path I wanted to follow.
This is?my first important point – only choose to apply for Medicine (or any course)?if you are 100% sure that the course is right for you.? Do not let anyone pressurise you into choosing a course that you have doubts about, as it is you who is going to be studying the subject for x amount of years – not anyone else.? You will have to?be?dedicated to?your chosen?subject, and?this will come across?when going through the?interview process.?? Universities will expect you to be passionate about what you want to study.
Last year I attended a Medicine summer school at Durham University.? There were approximately 30 of us on the Medicine course, and the first day began with an introduction to the department.? Immediately, an emphasis was put on commitment to a medical profession.? A level grades were also highlighted.? We were told that Universities asked for 3 A’s for the Medicine course just because the course was so competitive.? This will be the main problem if you apply for Medicine.? Although in the newpapers there are frequent reports of a shortage of doctors in Britain, there aren’t enough places on the Medicine courses to accommodate the?number of applicants.? You will need top grades to have a chance of getting on the course.
On this summer school, we were told what Universities looked for in a personal statement specifically for Medicine applicants.? As well as having the required A level grades and a good UKCAT score, some evidence of work experience was crucial.? Anywhere where you are working with people and helping people on a daily basis.? Apply early to a number of different places to ensure you get some experience.? (A lot of people at the summer school had left it too late and were unable to find any placements at all). ?If you can’t get work experience in a hospital or at your doctors surgery, why not try a hospice or nursing home.? Remember, a lot of other people will be fighting for placements nearer the application time, so act quickly! Even if you don’t manage to get some work experience before you apply, if you have some?lined up for later in the year put this on your personal statement.? It will help!
Throughout the summer school we did classes which would have been typical on the Medicine course.? As well as some theory, there were circuit sessions where we had to do a different activity at each point.? The first ’station’ was first aid.? At this point we each had a dummy which was the supposed casualty?and we had to act out how we would help in the situation.? At the next point blood pressure was explained and we each took a turn taking each other’s blood pressure.? We also practised using stethoscopes and examined our knees and elbows!
The final station was anatomy.? Here we had to paint body parts on first year medical students.? This was fun, although there were several different colours of paints, and the lungs ended up being green – not really a good sign in a patient!? The first years told us about their anatomy classes in which they looked at organs which had been preserved in formaldehyde.? However, due to formaldehyde being an appetite stimulant they always had to go to McDonalds after anatomy class….
1 Comment »How not to be prepared
Posted on August 5th, 2008 by Matt
It’s by doing this website I’ve realised that I’ve only done one stupid thing this summer. I’ve left all of my notes on, and prospectuses for, the universities I’m thinking about applying to back on my bed in halls. In the same pile is my personal statement, and the books I bought about getting into medicine.
It’s a good thing, therefore, that I had planned to buy one more book this summer, Progression to Medicine, Dentistry and Optometry 2009 Entry by UCAS. It’s a real shame I can’t seem to find it in a high street shop anywhere, because I’d like it now! Instead I’ve bought it off the UCAS website, and should have it by the end of the week. A bargin for only ?19.99 including delivery – well, I’ll think it was a bargin if it helps me get in, if not I’ll think I’ve wasted ?20.
They say that first drafts of personal statements are always in need of re-drafting, so I may as well go ahead and just do that. I don’t suppose it can do any harm, this way I’ll be able to pick the best parts from both of them!
Matt says: Now really is the time to be starting your application properly!
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