pressure

[han lin]

ok so this is well stupid and probbably not worth replying to but its something that has been bothering me.

I am 17 and in my final year of school taking my A-levels before i attempt to go to uni. I say attempt because its a real struggle.

not so much because of money. i mean money is an issue and it'll be hard but there are ways around these things. its more because of me
argh i'm such a rem writing this sortof thing

anyway. i have wanted for a very long time to be a doctor. i have always wantred to work for a charity and last summer i visited amd worked in a romanian hospital in intensive care and surgery. it was the hardest thing i have ever had to do, but also the most rewarding. i was asked on my first day if i had ever seen anyone die. it was a huge wake up call and served to further consolidate my dream to become a doctor.

coming back to school after that was strange. all my friends were worrying about boys or cars and all i wanted was to go back there and help those people. much as i wanted to. i couldnt. i was of no use whatsoever. and would be of no use until i became qualified. so i started my studies. only. i'm not as clever as i thought i was.

my AS grades came back ( half A-levels) and i got A in psychology, A in critical thinking, B in Drama and C in biology. which i was very very pleased with.

along comes the 15th of october and the final date for applying to do medicine next september. i handed in my applications and was called into the head of sixthform's office. she put my predicted grades up on the computer screen a/b for drama, a/b for psychology and b for biology. ( i had to drop critical thinking) these grades were another good thing i thought, ( the courses i applied to need either ABB or AAB) but she said that she is worrie dthey wont take me because my grades are too low. she explained that other people applying to the course will have straight A grades.

this irked me somewhat but my appliction has gone and there is nothin i can do to change it.

my friends said that i have done so much and experienced much more than people they know applying for medicine but i tihnk they will be looking more at the grades than the person.

I started to look at other courses, mostly psychology, but i dont know what i can do with a psychoilogy degree to really help people. if i wanted ot be a psychiatrist i would have to be a doctor already, but to be a psychologist i need only a psychology degree.

i just dont know. my friend is the most clever person i have ever met ( 11 A*s in her GCSEs and 4A at AS) and she has already recieved conditional offers from some of her unis. i'm just worried i wont get in.

anyway its not really an answerable problem but its something i had to put down to take a look at. kindof wierd but sometimes it helps to read through and take stock from a different perspective.
cheers
x

[Phaerie]

Don't worry han lin. I can't say that you'll definately get a place at medical school. Howev er having been through the application process myself a coupole of years ago i know a few things that'll help you.

The first major thing in your favour is the work experience you did. Medical schools like this. If you get interviews they'll ask a lot of questions about it like "what was the most important thing you feel you learnt?" as well as general one like "what did you do there?" Try coming up with a list of questions they might ask and make sure you can answer each one of them with confidence.

ON the point of confidence, in interviews try not to um and arr. The more confident and the better your communication skills the mroe likely you are to get a place. Medical schools have finally worked out that the best doctors are not necissarily those with good grades, but the ones who have good communication skills and can build up a rapour with patients

I hope this helps
Hugs

[Broccoli]

I hope you'll manage it, han lin... However, should your grades be too low and you decide to study psychology, I would say that it's also a good occupation, where you can help people as well... I mean there are people who are not seriously ill to be in a psychiatrical clinic or something but who do have problems only a good specialist can help with.