JotCast | Year 12 RfE - Student Question Time 29.05.19

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Year 12 RfE - Student Question Time 29.05.19

Molly

3:00

Hello all! Welcome to the RfE Student Question Time event – this is a green event and you’ll find out how to register your attendance shortly.

We have three lovely university students on hand to answer your questions today and they are:

Maddie who studies Physical Geography
Maisie who studies Music
Emily who studies Medicine

I’ll also be on hand to answer any tricky questions to do with RfE or University in general, but please aim your questions to our student panel!

Maddie

3:00

Hi everyone, I'm in my final year and I've studied abroad in New Zealand and completed a Year in Industry. Happy to answer any questions you have! :-)

Laraib

3:01

Hello everyone, How are you all?

Emily

3:01

Hi! I've just finished my 3rd year! Excited to answer all your questions!

Maisie

3:02

Hi everyone! I'm Maisie and I'm a fourth year Music student. Last year I completed a study abroad year at Arizona State University in the USA, and I'm now preparing to graduate university. Ask me anything!

Molly

3:02

Hi @Laraib, we're good here and looking forward to answering all of your questions!

Moneeba mazhar

3:02

What is the most difficult year during medicine?

Asha

3:03

If you don’t get the mock grades you need for medicine, but get the grades after your real examinations, does applying a year later affect tour chances of getting a place?

Moneeba

3:04

During university what is it that you looked forward to the most?

Laraib

3:04

Hi Emily, i'm a year 12 student. How did you cope with your A-Levels and what strategies did you use to revise?

Molly

3:05

@Asha this really depends on where you're applying - you'd be best dropping individual admissions departments an email to double check, as they will all have different policies. Generally gap years are not penalised as long as you are doing something with your gap year that can further your application - volunteering is a good bet for example.

Emily

3:06

Hi @Moneeba, I think it depends on what you enjoy really. The first few years have a lot of science in as you have to learn the basics so if that's something you find hard then you might find that harder. Then in the later years it is more placement based so it depends on which rotations you have. I have enjoyed all of them and found different aspects in each year hard ad different aspects easier so they have been equal so far. The 2nd year has a lot of content in and so does the 4th so these are the ones that people tend to find the hardest as there is a lot of work involved.

Alesha

3:06

What was the most difficult question you got asked in your medicine interview? ie the one that shocked you the most.

Maddie

3:06

Hi @Laraib, I found A-Levels to be okay - I think because I enjoyed the subjects I was studying. I took Geography, Spanish and Biology. At the time they feel daunting but all you can do is try your best! In terms of revising, I found it easiest to look through my textbooks, read first, and then make notes on the most important parts. After that, I read through and highlighted my notes. For Spanish, I tried reading Spanish magazines and listening to Spanish radio, to make sure I practised all parts of the language. DO you have any other questions?

Mur

3:06

Hi, I just wanted to ask, if your predicted grades are lower than the entry requirements will that mean you won’t even be considered despite being eligible for the Access to Leeds programme?

Maisie

3:07

Hi @Moneeba! Before going to university I was most excited about living in a new city and meeting lots of new people. I was particularly excited about student life and living in student halls! Once I started, I quickly decided I wanted to do a study abroad year during my third year of study, so spent a lot of my first and second years looking forward to this and preparing for going away.

Laraib

3:09

Hi Maddie, thank you for your reply. I'm also doing biology, how did you learn all the content? Was biology A2 more difficult that AS?

Molly

3:09

Hi @Mur, your UCAS application and your A2L application will usually be considered side by side, so admissions will take everything into account when it comes to offering places. This doesn't guarantee you an offer by any means, but it does mean that you aren't penalised for having entry requirements that meet the lower A2L criteria rather than the higher standard entry requirements.

Emily

3:10

Hi @Alesha, you get asked a wide variety of questions during your interview so it does depend on your skills& I wouldn't worry if one goes wrong especially if it's an MMI as you can just move on. Most of the time you will have one about ethics which I found quite hard but as long as you do you research about the pillars of medical ethics and can talk through your reasoning their isn't really a wrong answer. Other questions that I found difficult is the reflective ones so for example I go asked how would my work experience affect how other people saw medicine. This was quite hard to think about on the spot so I would say to prepare I would definitely keep a reflective log and make sure you can think about your experience not just list them.

Maariya

3:10

what happens if you bmat and ukcat go really bad, do you still have a chance applying for medicine/dentistry - but i am more concerned about dentistry

Mur

3:11

I still haven’t managed to get any volounteering at all, I always get turned down - does this mean I can’t apply for medicine?

Maddie

3:11

You're welcome @Laraib! I really enjoyed studying Biology at A-Level. A2 is a step up from AS, naturally, but it's definitely manageable, especially if you're interested in the subject. For me, I made sure I kept lots of notes during lessons, and I found the CGP Guidebooks really, really helpful. I took lots of notes from those and just read through them a lot, highlighting all the important parts. Diagrams are a great way to learn and remember things too! Keep your notes colourful and organised :-)

Noran

3:12

Are u still eligible for access to Leeds even if you are taking a gap year, also if you are taking a gap year should we still apply to university this year? And does medicine look down on gap year applicants?

Molly

3:14

@Noran hello! Yes you would still be eligible. We recommend applying this year while you still have support from your school/college with your application and reference. You can indicate that you'd like to 'defer' entry on your UCAS form, this won't be looked down upon, but you should be prepared to explain what you plan to do with the year at interview!

Emily

3:14

Hi Maariya! Don't worry if it's goes wrong and just make sure that you are prepared and know what to expect on the day, I would recommend the websites as you can do real practice tests. However, if it doesn't go as planned that's ok. My UKCAT wasn't great so I just applied to 2 unis that scored it alongside everything else like your grades and personal statement then I did two unis that did BMAT so that I had another go. You can find out how they look at your UKCAT/ BHMAT on the course websites. Unfortunately, you do not know what you get in BMAT until after you applied so it is a bit more of a gamble but I preferred it and did better in it so it was worth it in the end but it totally depends on you.

Olivia

3:14

The course I want to do is only offered at certain universities so to fill up all my applications I'd have to apply for different courses, so how would I tailor my personal statement to two different courses?

Aneesah

3:15

Hi,When applying to access to Leeds, dentistry offer is reduced to ABB if I am correct. I study Biology Chemistry and Psychology; can I get the A in psychology or does it have to be Chemistry or Biology?

Noran

3:15

How do u answer “ what is your biggest weakness?” (in interviews) the correct way?

Molly

3:15

@Mur admissions teams know how hard it is to get volunteering and work experience in the exact field you're applying for, especially with things like medicine. Any volunteering/work experience you can get - even if it's in a charity shop, primary school, nursery etc - is still really useful. It's all about *how* you discuss this at interview and in your personal statement. Try broadening your search - there are lots of different places to find things, which we have covered in a newsletter and also on the Life Skills event in Easter!

3:16

How do i check my overall event attendance?

Molly

3:16

@S you need to email the RfE inbox for this one - reachforexcellence@leeds.ac.uk

Mur

3:16

Thanks Molly, so will we be publishing our A2L and UCAS application at the same time?

Molly

3:16

@Aneesah, hello, yes it would be reduced to ABB, across all the subjects you are studying - it should be fine if you get your A in Psychology

3:18

When will we know about access for Leeds

Jennifer

3:18

I was wondering whether I could apply to genetics as my 5th choice

Laraib

3:18

Whats the best thing about studying in Leeds?

Molly

3:18

@Mur the aim is to get them as close together as possible, but there is a longer deadline for A2L than there is for UCAS. In the event that the University makes a decision to reject you before they have read your A2L application, this would then be reconsidered with both your A2L application and your UCAS application in mind, but this doesn't guarantee that the decision will change!

3:19

@O we'll tell you everything you need to know, don't worry! Access to Leeds for 2020 entry doesn't open until September. If you're coming on summer school you'll hear about it then, if not, we'll be in touch via email in September

Maariya

3:19

can you still apply for access to leeds if you don't get any dentistry offers so you reapply the following year?

Maddie

3:20

Hi @Noran, that is a tricky one! I've been applying to graduate jobs recently, so I've had to research this myself. I find the best thing to do is to be genuine, and try and turn a negative into a positive. However, try to avoid cliches like "I'm a perfectionist". I personally go down the route of: I'm stubborn at asking for help. I feel insecure if I have to ask for guidance from those people above me. However, during University and my Year in Industry, I have found it important to ask for help when I'm struggling. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in fact lets me develop faster and show my willingness to learn. Make sure you search online and try and buy an interview guidebook, as they can help you further with this!

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