Selecting your 4 UK medical schools in UCAS

Choosing the 4 medical schools to apply to can be difficult. Trust me, I understand how it feels to be thinking about which universities to apply to and how to maximize our chances to getting into medical schools. 

I was once an A level student. And I know that the rigor of GCE A levels or IB leaves little time for UCAS application. Students do not have the luxury of time to consider the different schools.

1. Ask yourself again: " Is Medicine for me?"

It is important that you genuinely want to do medicine and are not doing this to please your parents, friends or because 'everyone else is going for it'.  If you are not sure, make sure you try to find out more by shadowing doctors and asking your seniors or even your GP!

2. Select schools that best suit your needs

Medical schools differ in aspects such as location, teaching style, research opportunities, tuition fees, student life, academic focus, clinical exposure in early years. Each school has a different pedagogy. Some are pure problem-based learning and tutorial based, others depend on lectures. Research opportunities varies between different schools. It can be quite helpful to ask your seniors about the 'inside' stuff. Some medical schools provide early clinical exposure (even in pre-clinical years) e.g. Barts and Manchester. If you don't foresee yourself spending time in a quiet town, London and Manchester schools are good choices.

3. Find out what each medical school requires i.e. selection process

Most UK medical schools require either UKCAT or BMAT. Make sure that you meet the minimum requirements of these medical schools before putting them down! My advice is to go to the official webpage of each medical school and look under entry requirement. Find out:

• The types of qualifications accepted: A level, IB, EB, AP, Cambridge Pre-U, etc.
• The subjects pre-requisites. A popular concern is for students not taking biology. 
• UKCAT or BMAT or neither
• Interview selection - location and method of interview (skype, etc.)
• Tuition fees!

Thinking of applying to medical schools that do not require UKCAT or BMAT?

Very few medical schools that choose their candidates solely on A level/IB results and personal statement e.g. Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool. I do not recommend anyone to apply to these schools just because they do not need additional tests. If you're serious enough about being a doctor, taking one additional test or two shouldn't hurt. You shouldn't limit yourself to these 3 schools. Besides, there are people who have not thought about doing medicine but take their chances and apply for medschools. Of course, they would try! It would be a waste not to try to apply for medical schools with the grades they have! I know a few of them. Nonetheless, they are good-natured people with good brains! 

UKCAT or BMAT?

UKCAT and BMAT are very different tests; Excelling in one doesn't necessarily mean you will do well in the other. They barely overlap. UKCAT schools and BMAT schools are also very different. UKCAT gives you a larger group of medical schools to choose from. However, BMAT is required for top-notched schools e.g. Cambridge, Oxford, ICL and UCL. If you are fairly confident of your capabilities and are gunning for these top schools, start practicing BMAT consistently as early as possible. 

The problem of applying to medical schools which do not interview

Several medical schools do not interview their applicants. Edinburgh doesn't interview students for their undergraduate medicine course. My warning to these people applying for Edinburgh is that they might be competing with the very best CV-makers (Olympiad winners, national players, musicians) and the very best UKCAT scores. Besides, interview is really the avenue to prove your worth as a medschool applicant!

4. Pick your 'dream' school and your 'insurance' school 

While it can be tempting to google 'best medical schools in UK' and put the first 4 options in your UCAS form, you shouldn't do this. This is a typical mistake of high-achieving students. The obvious reason why you cannot do this is that you need to choose between Oxford and Cambridge; UCAS requires you to choose one. Besides, no matter how much of a genius you are,  it is almost always to have an insurance. Remember, your chance of getting accepted does not only rely on your academic results, many factors are at play and most of them may not be in your control. 

5. Choose according to your capabilities 

Being strategic with your options is absolutely essential. Remember that applying to medical school is a competition. You are only going to compete with those students applying to the same school. 

Imagine:
"If there are 1000 geniuses applying for medical school, it is very likely that confident geniuses will apply for top schools. It is therefore wise to pick one or two schools that are less competitive."

Having said this, do not underestimate yourself! A good way of measuring your capabilities is to consult your pre-med advisors. Also, they would be a great source of help in connecting you with like-minded people.

Good luck!