Update

So I know it's been a while since I last posted on this blog, so I just thought I'd write an update about what's happened over the last few months.

The first and most important thing: I applied to Medical School! After hours of slaving over my personal statemen and studying for the UKCAT, I finally got it finished and sent off my UCAS form.

I had an interview at one of the universities I applied to in mid-November, and I feel like it went quite well! The panel who interviewed me were lovely and they weren't trying to catch me out - they definitely tried to make me feel at ease, and if I got a bit stuck they wouldn't try and keep pushing and pushing me for an answer if my mind went blank (which unfortunately did happen just once). I felt like I could answer the questions - hopefully it was good enough for me to get in! Fingers crossed.

I also got an offer to study Biochemistry as my backup - hopefully I won't have to take up this offer, but it's still nice to just have one offer when I log onto my UCAS Track page.

I've also obviously got my AS grades - I was really happy with them and they were good enough to allow me to apply to medical school so that was great!

I've started A2! It's quite difficult, but hopefully I can manage it for the rest of the year. I've dropped French and continued with Biology, Chemistry and Maths and they're all so interesting.

It is quite difficult seeing everybody get offers when you know that you're not going to get any offers until around March, but then everybody else who's applying to medicine is in the same boat as you. I'm watching all of the threads for the applicants to my universities on The Student Room, and it can be quite nerve-wracking, especially when you see other people getting interviews at a university you applied to!

I'm trying to keep up to date by reading the BMJ and BBC News, and I follow some of the Medical Schools on twitter, as they sometimes post about the medical research that their university is undertaking.

So that's just a little update about what's going on! Hopefully I'll try to post on here more often - sorry for slacking!

Choosing Unis

Just a quick post because it's quite late and I reeeeeeally need to sleep.

Picking the university that you want to go to is so important, especially for Medicine because everywhere wants different things and they're all so picky! So here's a list of things to look at and questions to ask yourself when you're trying to pick which universities to look at or apply to.

1. What grades do they want? There's no point applying to somewhere like Birmingham if you don't have exceptional GCSEs (a good number of A*s, especially in all sciences, Maths and English) however, universities like Newcastle don't even consider your GCSE grades. It'a good idea to look at what they want in case you don't have it, because if you don't have the right GCSEs it's straight to the "no" pile. Play to your strengths when looking at universities.

2. What A level subjects do they want? Some universities require specific AS grades, whereas some don't mind. Some Chemistry and Biology to A2, whereas some only want Chemistry. Some want Maths AS, some don't. Check which subjects they want to make sure you don't end up stuck taking the wrong subjects.

3. What kind of course do they offer? There are different types of Medicine course: PBL, Integrated, Traditional, systems-based... You need to decide what best suits you to make sure that you'll learn well when you go there, so definitely look into these options.

4. How much work experience do they want? If they want loads of experience but you only have a few days then don't apply, however if they say that they want just some experience in a healthcare setting then if you have that, go for it! Universities definitely understand that not everybody can get work experience in a hospital so anything is good! Hospices, old peoples homes, etc.

5. UKCAT/BMAT? Check to see if they want these things. You'll need to start practicing and book early to make sure that you're ready for it, because sometimes these exams can be the deciding factor. So check this first, and if you think you'll be bad at it, try to look at other universities that don't want it (Birmingham, Bristol...)

6. What's the city like? When you visit the university definitely go and visit the city because you may love the university but hate the city, and don't forget you have to go and live in that city after your first year.

7. Application process? Once you've chosen where you want to apply, it's worth checking their application processes just to make sure that you know what you're letting yourself in for, and which things they focus on more in their application. Southampton, for example, doesn't interview so you'd have to make your personal statement fantastic in order to apply there. Just get an idea of how they do things, and a good way to do this is to either email the university or find out at their open day.

These are just a few of the things you should look at. Of course there are others, but these are the questions that I've been asking myself recently about the universities that I've seen.

I hope that this helps!

To Do...

This post is just going to be about things that I do at school, and things that I've done or am going to do in order to improve my personal statement.

Firstly, of course, is the all important UKCAT. Most universities require that you do the UKCAT (except Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol) and universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and some London ones require the BMAT. I've started practicing a bit for this test, and I have to say I'm finding it so hard, especially Abstract Reasoning. I'm okay on Decision Analysis, but the others throw me because of the strangely worded questions. So I'm determined to practice hard over the Summer so that I can get the best result possible!

Then we have work experience. Ahhh, work experience. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any work experience in a hospital but I've managed to find a volunteering opportunity in a Children's Hospice, and some work experience in a school for disabled children. Hopefully if I reflect really well on what I learn from these experiences then I'll be able to sound just as good as applicants who have been to a hospital. Also, in March I went to Lourdes and volunteered for the HCPT with disabled children, and I'm aiming to try and get some work experience in a GP during the Summer as well.

We've been told at school to go to some lectures, so I'm planning on watching some TED talks and downloading some lectures on iTunes U. I've bought quite a few books to read as well, and I'll list the books that I'm reading at the bottom of this post. I'm probably going to do a few book reviews as well so anyone interested could read them; and also it'll benefit me because I'll be able to reflect on what I've read! I'm going to some science lectures next week and I'm going to do a first aid course, so those will contribute too.

I try to do quite a few extra-curricular activities and I'm currently taking part in our school musical, Mary Poppins, and I've been in other school shows too. I want to set up a Medical Society in my school so that we can discuss medical issues, because it'll give me some drive to research more things, and I can give advice to the lower years too! I do singing lessons, I'm in my school choir and I go to Rangers (which is part of Girl Guiding UK) so I really hope that I'm okay on the extra-curricular front!

I think that's it? Sorry it's been such a long post! I just thought maybe things I do could help you think of ideas of things to do as well.

Books I've read/am going to read:

• The Viral Storm - Nathan Wolfe - DONE
• The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
• The Epigenetics Revolution - Nessa Carey
• Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
• How We Die - Sherwin B. Nuland - IN PROCESS
• Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction - Tony Hope - IN PROCESS

Introduction

Hi!

So I'm Nicole, I'm 17 and I'm hoping to study Medicine at University. I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French for my A levels, and I'm coming towards the end of year 12.

I know that even the prospect of applying to medical school is so ominous and scary. I can safely say that I am absolutely terrified that I'm going to get no offers, and that I'm going to be stuck with nothing to do. Every time I think that I've done everything I can, something else pops up which makes me doubt myself all over again.

My overall aim for this blog is to just help anyone who wants to apply for medical school. I'm not an expert (clearly), and I haven't even been through the whole process of applying yet, but I know that when I was beginning to think about applying I was scouring the web to see if I could find any form of help from somebody who was just normal, and had been in the same position as me! This will be a sort of diary of my journey, just to let you know what I'm up to and I'm what I'm doing to improve my application.

So if any of you are like I was, then this page is here to help you. Hopefully my posts will give you some ideas of things to do to apply for medical school, and if you want to ask me anything, or offer me any advice that would be massively appreciated too!

Nicole xxxx

p.s. "Nich" is pronounced as "neesh". It's just a nickname that I've been given by my friends, and Doctor Nicole was already taken as an address!