Liliofthelamplight123
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- Aug 19, 2018
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Hello everyone,
Right now I am 19 years old and I will be applying to both US medical schools and UK medical schools this cycle. I apologize in advance if this post is rather lengthy, but there is a lot I want to get off my chest.
I have been working on my Biology B.S. here in the US since 2016 while I was still in high school and will be finished by next spring. I have also taken the MCAT last June (when I was still 18), but since I only got a 503, I’m worried it might not be enough for many schools. My GPA is a 4.0 across all my college classes though. I am also registered to take the UKCAT on September 29th, which is a bit later than I wanted but I had to for scheduling reasons.
I’ve had an extremely busy summer since I’ve also been taking a full load of summer classes so I can finish my degree on time. Last year I did the same thing too, and the year before that I focused on taking as many CLEP and AP tests as I could (for classes other than my prerequisites, which I did in person at my university). My goal is to maintain this momentum and save as much time (and money) as I can. I always like to be working towards something meaningful.
During the last few years I also have some extracurricular hours from my volunteering at the local food bank, my tutoring sessions for people who also wanted to take CLEP tests for various subjects, and I have shadowed 2 doctors. During high school I also participated in a teen program at a local home health agency where I learned about the company and helped create advertisements for them. As much as I tried, I could barely be involved with my premed club at my university because every meeting they had was during one of my classes and I couldn’t bring myself to skip. I know I should have tried to schedule things better back then but the sections for classes like Biochemistry and Microbiology were especially limited and I was left with no other options. I even did a few classes online like my politics classes but even then trying to schedule things was so difficult until I attained the rank of senior and was allowed to register early (along with my President’s List certificate for high GPA).
With all this in mind, my dream is to be able to start medical school next fall whether here or in the UK. I’ve been working hard at this since I was 16 and I have every intention of staying on course. The fact that my MCAT score is so low also worries me deeply. I studied so hard for that test but by some ill luck I got so much lower than I had hoped. I can only pray that I do better on my UKCAT, because I cannot retake the MCAT easily since the testing centers are all so far away from where I live.
This week I am going to start applying to schools on both sides of the ocean. My question is whether (for UK schools) to apply to the traditional medical program which lasts 6 years, or the graduate entry medicine (GEM) which is shorter than that, and if I should take either the IELTS or TOEFL for UK schools? Although I am an American citizen since 2007, I was born in an EU country where English is not the dominant language so I’m not sure if I should do the tests (I also have citizenship for that country as well). Also, I would like to know which schools are friendliest when it comes to accepting international students in the UK? If anyone has any advice regarding scholarships or financial aid for UK schools I would greatly appreciate that as well.
*On a side note, I have the intention to stay and work in the country where I am accepted permanently.
Right now I am 19 years old and I will be applying to both US medical schools and UK medical schools this cycle. I apologize in advance if this post is rather lengthy, but there is a lot I want to get off my chest.
I have been working on my Biology B.S. here in the US since 2016 while I was still in high school and will be finished by next spring. I have also taken the MCAT last June (when I was still 18), but since I only got a 503, I’m worried it might not be enough for many schools. My GPA is a 4.0 across all my college classes though. I am also registered to take the UKCAT on September 29th, which is a bit later than I wanted but I had to for scheduling reasons.
I’ve had an extremely busy summer since I’ve also been taking a full load of summer classes so I can finish my degree on time. Last year I did the same thing too, and the year before that I focused on taking as many CLEP and AP tests as I could (for classes other than my prerequisites, which I did in person at my university). My goal is to maintain this momentum and save as much time (and money) as I can. I always like to be working towards something meaningful.
During the last few years I also have some extracurricular hours from my volunteering at the local food bank, my tutoring sessions for people who also wanted to take CLEP tests for various subjects, and I have shadowed 2 doctors. During high school I also participated in a teen program at a local home health agency where I learned about the company and helped create advertisements for them. As much as I tried, I could barely be involved with my premed club at my university because every meeting they had was during one of my classes and I couldn’t bring myself to skip. I know I should have tried to schedule things better back then but the sections for classes like Biochemistry and Microbiology were especially limited and I was left with no other options. I even did a few classes online like my politics classes but even then trying to schedule things was so difficult until I attained the rank of senior and was allowed to register early (along with my President’s List certificate for high GPA).
With all this in mind, my dream is to be able to start medical school next fall whether here or in the UK. I’ve been working hard at this since I was 16 and I have every intention of staying on course. The fact that my MCAT score is so low also worries me deeply. I studied so hard for that test but by some ill luck I got so much lower than I had hoped. I can only pray that I do better on my UKCAT, because I cannot retake the MCAT easily since the testing centers are all so far away from where I live.
This week I am going to start applying to schools on both sides of the ocean. My question is whether (for UK schools) to apply to the traditional medical program which lasts 6 years, or the graduate entry medicine (GEM) which is shorter than that, and if I should take either the IELTS or TOEFL for UK schools? Although I am an American citizen since 2007, I was born in an EU country where English is not the dominant language so I’m not sure if I should do the tests (I also have citizenship for that country as well). Also, I would like to know which schools are friendliest when it comes to accepting international students in the UK? If anyone has any advice regarding scholarships or financial aid for UK schools I would greatly appreciate that as well.
*On a side note, I have the intention to stay and work in the country where I am accepted permanently.
