This student applied in the 2021/22 application cycle and therefore the selection process at Nottingham may have changed since then. You should read all the information a University sends you about the selection process to get the most up to date details!
Remember to check out the glossary at the bottom of the page for our explanations of all the jargon we medical students like to use!
More about this student
Sometimes students share information with us about their demographics, which may help put their application experience into a bit more perspective.
This student identifies as a Taiwanese woman who went to a comprehensive school that doesn’t regularly send students to medical school.
Our Summary
Course: Standard undergraduate entry
Online MMI interview
Admissions Tests: UCAT
Top tip: You don’t need to pay your way – there are plenty of free options to help you prepare.
Before I made my application…
Choosing to apply
When did you decide you wanted to apply to medicine?
At the start of sixth form
How did you choose what medical schools to apply to?
I mainly looked at location, and their entry requirements.
Completing work experience
What types of work experience did you do?
Online work experience
How much work experience did you do?
I only did online work experience for maybe a few days, however, many medical schools in my application cycle knew that it was extremely difficult to get work experience due to the pandemic and therefore it was not as much of a requirement.
During the application process…
Admissions tests
What admissions test did you sit?
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): https://www.ucat.ac.uk/
How did you prepare for your admissions test?
I mainly used practice papers from the test websites. I also used Passmedicine for their question banks. I didn’t have anyone I could’ve asked about the admissions tests and therefore I watched YouTube videos so that I was able to know how other people came to their answers and to figure out my own strategy
What resources did you use?
MEDIFY, MEDENTRY and The Medic Portal course. The course provided a good base on technique and MEDENTRY provided revision resources that were incredibly similar to the real thing. Medify was good but some of it was easier than the real thing but I know they were working on hanging that last time I heard
*This student used paid-for resources. There is no evidence that these give applicants an advantage.
Interviews
What type of interview did you do?
MMI: Multiple Mini Interview. This type of interview usually includes several short interviews or ‘stations’ which may involve different types of questions and scenarios. This is different compared to a panel interview, which may cover the same scenarios/types of questions but be a more ‘traditional’ sit-down interview.
How did you prepare for your interview?
I made sure to read articles about the current affairs in science, for example by getting the BBC news app and bookmarking the topic so I would have easy access to it. That was useful in getting me to not only be aware of what was going on at the time but also to practice thinking about the ethics of certain experiments of the implications of the results.
What was your interview like?
They asked me some general questions about myself, and what I would do in certain situations. There was one section where we did a role play to also gauge how I would act in that particular scenario.
Do you have any further advice?
I got into medical school not being able to afford resources and courses for interviews and admission test. I was also the first in my family to apply for medical school and my school did not regularly have people applying medicine. This meant I did not have anyone to turn to if I was confused on anything. From my experience you don’t need to pay for any courses or resources, there is a wealth of information for free online. Ask your teachers if they know of any doctors or even current medical students that they can put you in contact with. Start practicing for interviews even before you have confirmation that you have received one. If you start practicing only when you have received an invite to interview then it will be a lot more stressful.
Glossary
Online work experience: Some providers are now offering online work experience, such as the Brighton and Sussex Medical School online work experience, or the Observe GP experience by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Passmedicine: Passmed offers 6 months free UCAT revision, but also offers paid revision support for medical students during their courses. Lots of students use it to help them prepare for UCAT.
YouTube: There are many current and recent medical students who create videos on YouTube about their experience and advice about applying. Remember that their experience is personal and individual, and may not reflect yours. They might provide some useful advice but remember that they might be advertising paid for services. Take their advice as part of a more holistic approach alongside moderated advice such as ours, and official advice from universities and test providers.
Role play: Some interviews or interview stations may require you to engage in a bit of role play. You might have to act out being in a scenario where you might have to deliver bad news or a clinical decision.
