This guest blog was written by Dr Elizabeth Adey – director of Uni Direct, a UK based company whot specialises in UK and European university applications. Are you thinking about applying to study medicine at university in the UK for 2021 entry? The UK has some of the most highly regarded universities in the world, located in great cities like London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath. To prepare for entry for medicine in the UK in 2021, applicants should start work now. Applying to university in the UK is usually done through UCAS, the UK undergraduate application system. UCAS has strict deadlines and applicants for medicine need to apply by mid-October the year before they start (October 15th 2020 for entry in September/October 2021). For those applying through UCAS for other degree courses, the deadline is January 15th 2021 for entry that year. Applications to UK schools require you to prepare a well-thought through personal statement (letter of motivation) around one page in length. Students applying for medicine also have to sit additional admissions tests that they must sit in order to be considered for a place. You can either chose to sit the BMAT or UCAT admissions test and you need to select four universities to apply to through UCAS that all accept one of these tests. We are running a webinar in August and will talk a lot more about which test to select.
All UCAS applicants need a reference from a teacher and are required to provide administrative details as part of their application. Uni Direct is a registered UCAS centre based in the UK and helps students complete their UCAS forms to apply for medicine. Applications for courses like medicine also involve interviews of all prospective students. Interviews for international students usually take place online. Many MBBS courses carry out mini-assessment interviews. We recommend you attend in person if you are invited to interview. Besides the results from your medical admissions test, there are two factors that can really help your chances of getting a place to study medicine. The first is having straight A grades at school. You need to have studied Chemistry, preferably alongside Biology, and then either Maths or Physics. The second factor we recommend is that you get some work experience. This can be very important for gaining admission to some universities. Ideally, we recommend working in a health care role. It doesn’t have to be anything particularly grandeur, just something that shows you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine. Some students chose to gain some work experience at a hospital and shadow a consultant. It all helps demonstrate your interest in studying medicine. Deciding what degree course to study and where to study at, is a difficult process. Speaking to a counsellor can help you work out what options are available and where you are likely to meet the entrance criteria for. Good luck in your future university studies. Uni Direct, who are UK based, and The Study Centre, covering the Caribbean islands, are jointly running a webinar to help students understand more about the process of applying to study medicine in the UK. Uni Direct is a registered UCAS centre and can support you in making your application to study medicine. To sign up to join that webinar, please click here.
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By Anicia Wood – College Sports Recruiting Consultant
Going to college and university is not cheap, it is an investment that many repay throughout their lifetimes. Receiving a scholarship for any prospective college student and their family is a dream come through. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), more than 150,000 student-athletes receive around $2.9 billion in athletic scholarships in the NCAA Divisions 1 and 2 each year. Although this figure appears to be large, being one of the 150,000 to get a piece of the $2.9 billion pie is quite rare, considering the large population of scholarship hopefuls from across the world. There are many misconceptions about scholarships; that is the type of scholarships, how scholarship offers work, and how much aid student-athletes receive, just to name a few. College isn’t cheap, therefore understanding the details is very important if you are looking to lessen your college costs. So, let’s put it all into perspective…let’s talk the truth about athletic scholarships. Ivy League schools are infamous for their extremely tough admissions process.
Typically, Ivy League schools have an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent. However, each year, thousands of applications from enthusiastic bright minds continue to be received by admissions without fail. ![]() You may be wondering about the title of this blog entry. So, what are champagne dreams you ask? Well, I came up with the term to describe the aspirations of my students. A toast often follows the attainment of dreams, especially those that may not be visibly in the initial stages of planning. The ultimate toasting beverage is champagne, which can be quite an expensive commodity to purchase, especially if you reside in the Caribbean [inflation, price gouging and all]. ![]() It’s the best way to describe the months following my last blog post. On top of a very crazy schedule, I was suffering from writer’s block. Trust me; it wasn’t that I lacked a topic to write about. It was the exact opposite. There were too many issues and matters that I wanted to touch and the overstimulation of multiple thoughts resulted in a long-term block. This year was not short of issues and matters that resonated with me. Many of which resulted in several internal mental discussions and in some cases full blown debates. One issue that stomped me on several occasions was the Barbados Secondary Entrance Examination, better known as ‘The Common Entrance’. ![]() "Well my cousin in Canada said that……" or "My friend's son did this…and this happened"… are typical statements often echoed when discussing schools, programs and/or study destinations. . Usually, such stories are shared in hopes of achieving a similar outcome. However, quite often, these stories are relayed with little to no context. One common scenario is the scholarship story; where persons heard of someone that received multiple scholarships. This blanket statement is provided with little to no supporting story lines. I have often found that there is always more to the story. For example, the student had a different citizenship or residency status making them eligible for more scholarships or the person was an athlete and the scholarships were worked out internally with the school or the scholarships were from different schools and were not full etc. There is always context. This has taught me that people are more attuned to the outcome but never well versed in the process. |
Advisorss Sheena Alleyne
Lead advisor at The Student Centre, who is dedicated to making CAREER SENSE out of higher education. Anicia Wood
College Recruiting Consultant at Carib Athletes, who is dedicated to guiding Caribbean Athletes to college/university sport programs to fulfil their dreams through competitive sport and education. Dr. Elizabeth Adey
Uni Direct I am passionate about education and the opportunities I believe it creates for people and the wider society. Education opens doors and facilitates change.
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