The end of the medicine road

As you probably realised from the lack of posting here, I didn't get the grades at the point of entry (AAB, in case you were wondering). I got my Physics (B) remarked and it went up to an A (yay!), but by that point I was very happy with my course, Biomedicine at the University of East Anglia, so I decided to stick with it. And I'm glad I did to be honest! Medicine and a career as a doctor isn't cut out for everyone. I realised that the interviewers were telling me something with the 4 post-interview rejections.

In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't stick with medicine. I've got close friends studying it at Cambridge, Oxford, Leicester and Sheffield. I've seen what they're doing in their respective courses and I don't think I have quite the right traits that are needed for it. Biomedicine is much more down my street. In case you're wondering how I got on the course, I was offered a course change at UEA when I was rejected for medicine. A lot of my fellow Biomedics had exactly that too. I don't really know what I'm going to do with my degree yet though. The jury is still out on the graduate medicine route. I quite fancy doing lab work, but I'll see.

The main message from this is, if you can realistically see yourself genuinely being a doctor in the future, then follow the medicine path. You're the best judge of yourself. Weigh up everything, be it positive or slightly negative. Everyone has a path that they are made to do. Mine wasn't medicine, but there will be people reading this who are destined for it.

This is the end of the road for me. I wish you guys all the best luck in medicine, and, who knows, I might end up being treated by one of you sometime in the future!

The end of the holidays

Tomorrow marks the start of my last ever term at school. Its a weird thought. I genuinely have no idea where the past 13 and a half years has gone. It feels like it was only yesterday I was running around carefree in the playground at my primary school, making up random games and generally being quite annoying. Its quite scary. But also exciting. I think I've outgrown school. I dont think I'll miss it too much. But I will miss some of the people there. Just some. Others I will be very happy to see the back of. And I'm not just talking about the pupils.

But tomorrow also marks the start of  a series of ISAs and EMPAs as part of my A levels. For those of you who dont know what they are, they're basically an experiment (usually completely pointless) followed by a series of questions about the experiment, and others similar to it. They're 'how science works' based. I hate how science works. I never know what they're wanting from me. And, quite frankly, I dont care about how long a paperclip is or what percentage of the iron compounds in a solution are iron ll!! Does anyone?? It definitely doesnt keep me awake at night, thats for sure. Still, 2 more weeks of it, then I dont have to do it again, ever. Now thats worth celebrating!!

So thats it, the easter holidays of 2012 are over. And they've been pretty good. During them, I:
-went to Rome
- passed my driving theory test
- slept a lot
- played laser quest for the first time in years
- did a fair bit of work.
All in all, quite successful, I think.

The next proper break will be in 2 months :D I cant wait.

Back in England!

Im back!!! Rome was amazing!! Its one of those cities you could just wonder around all day and always find new places and be amazed at everything around you. And when you get tired, the food around you is brilliant too!! The only downside to it was the italians driving. You'd cross a road because the pedestrian signal was on green and then when you're halfway across you get cars trying to turn right!! I swear there are blanks in the italian highway code for them to fill in as they wish!! But that was the only downside, and i'd definitely visit again!!

My friend asked me to get her this weeks issue of 'kerrang' magazine while she was on holiday. Naturally, before I gave it to her, I had a quick read of it myself, being a rock fan and all. There was a really interesting article about the 'war against emos' and whether anything has really changed since my chemical romance released their album 'welcome to the black parade' (which, in my opinion, is one of the best albums released) and the daily mail published an article (which I subsequently googled and read and I was appalled) about how listening to 'emo' bands such as my chemical romance and greenday' leads to self harm etc. Its classic daily mail, to create an atmosphere of mass panic, be discriminative and encourage bullying just because some people like listening to emo bands, which apparently causes this self harm. Yes, there may be some people who self harm who listen to emo bands, but at the same time, theres plenty who dont. Across the globe, most recently in iraq, there have been killings of anyone who listened to emo music. Ironically, this kind of behaviour is best summed up in the lyrics to 'teenagers' by mcr. Youtube it. Needless to say, I'm genuinely proud to have been in the same room as the man who lead the chant "F*** the daily mail"!! Ok, rant over.

And as for my future, nothing's changed. Im still working for the grades. Im trying to get a job, but there seems to be like nothing available at the moment. Ah well, just gotta roll with it!

Bye bye ucas, for another 6 months anyhow

Yes thats right, i got a big fat rejection from liverpool, making 4/4 rejections, dammit. I thought that my interview had gone ok too... Ah well, for next cycle i've only got to refine my interview technique, make my personal statement better and ace the ukcat. Not that much really >.<

In a way im relieved that its over. No more constant email/track checking and no more clock watching for every time half 5 came around ( as that was when decisions were sent out for liverpool). Im pretty sure my academics may have suffered slightly as a result. Still, gotta pick myself up and move on to the next big thing, ie A level exams.

In other news, i finally finished my epq and handed it all in!! On the deadline, but hey, i did it!! It took a while to get going, due to my lack of motivation with it and having interview prep etc too, but i managed to write that essay and do the presentation!! Note to anyone who does it in the future: get it done in the summer of y12. Soon after that ucas and interviews take over and before you know it, you're a week before the deadline and youve only written the title. Its best to do it earlier and not have a mad panic. Trust me on that one.

Now school has finally broken up for 2 weeks, i can finally relax. Well, as much as you can with A levels looming. And how best to start than going to rome for a few days :-D i fly tomorrow and i cant wait. The only problem is i dont know any italian. This is going to go well...

Guess what??!!

Yes, you probably guessed it, I'm still waiting for a decision from my 4th uni. I can't believe they're taking this long. I mean it's 7 days before the UCAS deadline for unis to give decisions, for crying out loud!! Still, I've been waiting for 5 months and 16 days exactly. I guess another 7 days at most won't hurt- much.

I've been thinking about what I'd do if I didn't get Liverpool this year. First and foremost, get the grades. I'd like to throw a couple of A*s into the mix, but I highly doubt I'll manage that. Ah well, As are enough. I'd definitely take a gap year and try again. I'm definitely going to get a job, cos something tells me that med schools wont be very happy if I say that I spent the year doing sod all. I'd also like to go travelling too. Possibly go back to Argentina, but politics will probably get in the way of that. East Asia would be good, or maybe another part of South America. There's just soo many places!! I may just get a dartboard and stick a world map over it and wherever the dart lands, that's where I'll go! Unless it lands in the middle of the ocean... Then I'll just throw it again xD

Theres not really much else to say at the moment. I'm still waiting. My younger sister is currently seeing the comedian daniel sloss (which I am insanely jealous about), and I'm stuck here trying to learn what colours the solutions of transition metal complexes turn when they're reacted with various different ligands. Ahh the joys of chemistry A level...

My story so far

Evening all :) This is my first blog post, and I'm quite excited about it all. I finally have my own space to write my story so far, and at the same time, hopefully help other medical applicants and medical students in the future.

So here goes.

Lets start with a little bit about me. I'm a 17 year old student and I'm studying my A- Levels (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) at a school somewhere near Manchester. I've applied to study Medicine at University, and so far it's been a rollercoaster ride, with some highs (namely when I got 3/4 interviews) and some crappy lows (when I subsequently got rejected from 2/3 interviews). I'm still waiting on the third post interview uni. It should be some time in the next 2 weeks. Not gonna lie, I'm shitting it.

So, what else is going on in my life? Well, last week, results came out. I did ok, not the best, but not horribly bad either. I'm just soo glad I don't have to redo Physics 4. Now that was a bitch of a module. I've been doing all the sums- what I can afford to get in the summer modules and the ISAs to get those 3 As I so desperately need. And then I'm going to work my arse off to make sure I get them.

Also, despite turning 17 ages ago, I've only just started learning to drive. I guess the stress of exams, interviews, UCAS etc stopped me from starting it beforehand. And I love it! And that's not just because I'm quite good at it! It's the whole being in control of a car, and the freedom that will come with it in the end that I love. And also the fact I'm quite lazy...