Change of attitude: Dragons Den

I've pretty much neglected this blog for one of many reasons, I lost belief in myself to actually study medicine. 

Ever since I did my UKCAT, I'm not even going to lie, I lost all hope COMPLETELY. I said I was going to apply with NO HOPE and probably reapply next year BUT today I realised I'm setting myself up for failure and I shouldn't. 

I was watching dragons den today and started wondering "how did these millionaires actually become millionaires". I went onto trusty old Google and googled "how to become a millionaire?". I didn't do it to actually become one (although that would be awesome) but I just wondered what people wrote about become millionaires. 

I read a couple of articles until I read something which made me think about my medicine application. 

"Your beliefs affect your actions -- and your actions affect your outcomes". 

How did I reach this point. I've got a quote on my wall which says "believe you can and you will, believe you can't and you won't" and I've always believed this to be true. I'm that person who always said "hey be optimistic, hey don't say that otherwise it will happen". 

I'm glad I read these articles, it's amazing how life works, one minute your watching TV next your researching about something random & find exactly what you needed to put you back on track. 

A quick story. My friend from college applied to study Pharmacy during our A2s. I don't remember the entry requirements but for kings college university, they were pretty high but her only worries were getting the grades. On results day she got an email which said CONGRATULATIONS. She got in and she assumed she must have gotten the grades. She came to college and found out she actually didn't get any of what she was predicted or what she even needed to get into pharmacy at Kings, but she still got in which was amazing!

Moral of the story, although she didn't get what she needed she still got in just like she believed she would. The difference between me and her is, at this moment in time, I believe I can get a 1st class honour in my degree and because I believe I will, hopefully I will. The only issue with me is, the UKCAT. I did terribly but hopefully they consider the rest of my application and not rely on my UKCAT score. 

P.s. I did believe I was going to do awful in my UKCAT score and I did just that. Proves how important believing is. 

So now I'm going to say it,

I BELIEVE I WILL GET INTO MEDICINE THIS YEAR! I WILL PUT IN MY ALL AND HOPE FOR THE BEST! 

Good luck to everyone! 

 

Choices!

Last time I mentioned Three of my options but they have since changed (well one has anyway). 

I am changing Imperial to Cambridge. 

I'm just going to be straight up and honest! I am only planning on going to either kings or queen Mary ... Even if I get a spot at Cambridge I won't be going. 

Which means there's no reason for me to apply there. 

Now I've officially decided. I will only apply to queen Mary/Barts & Kings. 

And when I reapply next year ... I will do the GAMSAT to add St George as an option inshallah.

Pointless post but just thought I should update ! 

I will not be doing an entrance test anymore (was planning on doing the BMAT) but sticking to my LOW UKCAT score of 580. 

I emailed Kings and they replied that the competitive average score was 720 for (A102). 

Go ahead LAUGH! Coz I'm laughing at myself more than you are. 

My plan for the Gap year is to apply for the scientist training program with the NHS and hopefully gain more experience for my next round of applications. 

I am starting my dissertation intro & starting revision for Clinical Biochemistry ... Since we have the SHITTEST teacher next year. 

Btw this is the teacher that I had for the module I got 50% in. Since I don't want the same thing to happen, I have to focus and work on that module quiet a lot (if it's difficult). 

Anyways wish all you GCSE and A-level students got what you hoped for ... If not don't be too sad! It's not the end of the world. 

UKCAT Experience & Results

As I've mentioned my UKCAT is today, specifically at 10:45. Right now (9:29am) i am on the bus to the test centre, apparently according to google maps it should take me 45 minutes to get there. 

I thought I would document pre & post UKCAT. My optimism hasn't increased at all, to the point I've mentally signed myself up for another round of applications next year. But inshallah everything has already been decreed and all I can do is, do my best. 

I hope I won't be late. I don't have internet on my phone therefore won't be able to post this until I get home (not that I'm finished writing) but yeah. 

Just came out of the test! Is it okay to say I told you so to my self? Lol I don't know why I'm acting like the situation is funny tbh. 

I've scored : 

Verbal reasoning : 520

Quantitative reasoning: 630

Abstract reasoning: 620

Decision Analysis: 550

Situational judgment: Band 2 

2320 total, average  580 :(

I've got below average which SUCKS! I know it's stupid but I will still be applying to medicine at Kings & Queen Mary. 

My options are limited & I will most likely not get in but i think it's worth trying since I have nothing to lose anyway. What's the worst that can happen? Rejections ? I'm ready for that! 

I don't think that there's any need to discuss it in more depths since I won't be any help to you, who might be preparing for the UKCAT. 

The only thing I will say is DA 550 WTH! I honestly felt more confident in this section (during revision) than QR. Okay I'm finished ! 

Overall feeling : Alhamdulilah - all praise is due to Allah! 

Hopefully I will do better next year inshallah!!! 

UKCAT soon!

In 18 hours I will have my UKCAT results. My test is Monday morning and honestly I'm not even revising today. Not because I believe I will do extremely well, on the contrary!  I honestly feel like I am going to get something between 400-500 or less than 600, I'm usually very optimistic but also realistic. I don't believe I've grasped the UKCAT as much as I wished to and I also don't want to wait around and feel nervous until I get the test over and done with. I've rescheduled it 3 times and don't want to reschedule it anymore (although I believe at this point it's too late). 

Whatever I get I think I'm still going to apply to study medicine just because I don't believe I have anything to loose. 

Anyway I will be back tomorrow to let you know what the results are for tomorrow inshallah. 

UCAS 2016 GEM entry!

I realised the other day my blog posts are sooooo short! I usually enjoy reading longs ones as they seem very informative. 

Last night, it was Tooooooo tooooo hot, which made me stay up till 5am. I decided to use my time effectively. I looked for the Ucas 2016 entry registration and registered myself.

Today I completed the entire APPLICATION! I know right *crazy*. Anyways I realised today something sad! I obviously already knew but I just didn't have to think about it. My GCSEs and A-levels. I swear when I look at my grades, I feel so silly for being so optimistic about medicine, when in all honestly, my grades don't look like a medicine worthy applicant. I don't want to feel disheartened yet. I feel like I'm nearly there and hopefully their might still be a chance. Anyways there's no point regretting the past! I will continue to wait for the future inshallah it all goes well. 

My choices: 

1st Imperial College London

2nd Kings College London 

3rd Queen Mary University 

At the moment I don't have a 4th choice which is okay I guess since I have till October to worry about that. 

I have sent off my referee info and waiting for reference. 

I'm also still editing my personal statment, which according to my friend makes me sound like a person who wants to take up a charity case LOL, guess I need to work on it ALOT more.

I have really been getting the hang of UKCAT revision! Thank God (Alhamdulilah). I have finished revising for Decision analysis which has to be my FAVOURTE section! I'm currently struggling on master class questions for the Abstract analysis. Not looking forward to revising Quantitative reasoning at allllllll! And feeling Meh! About verbal reasoning. 

Will update you more when there's more progress. 

2nd YEAR RESULTS!

Good news, I have all my results for second year Biomedical Science. 

Firstly I want to say I worked so much harder this year than last year. I am happy with what I got (apart from one module) but everything else was awesome. I am planning on working even HARDER next year and get a first overall (inshallah). 

Here are my 2nd year results: 

Biochemistry: 77% 

Statistics: 72% 

Clinical science: 71% 

Microbiology&immunology: 50% 

Overall percentage: 68%

68% I'm annoyed with that to be honest! I guess microbiology&immunology has really put me down! But oh well! I got myself a 2:1 which was actually 1 mark off a 1st class which really sucks. 

At the end of the day IM HAPPY! And I guess that's what counts, my happiness. I hope the same thing doesn't happen to me next year though inshallah! 

I hope I get a solid 1st class honour for my BSc inshallah. I know I say inshallah too much but i feel like if I don't say it I will end up regretting it. 

Right now I am working on my UKCAT! 

Good news, I have the opportunity to do my lab based dissertation in the summer l. I honestly don't think I would be able to handle all the stress in 3rd year so if I do this now and finish before 3rd year, I would be stress free inshallah and can focus on exams & revision. 

I don't think I have anything else to share. Hope everyone is having an awesome summer! Goodluck with all your results. 

Personal statement!

Good news! I have finished writing my personal statement. Want to know how long it took me? A few hours LOL I don't even know why I am laughing. 

Anyways it took me a few hours which means it isn't the best especially since it's a first draft. I'm going to leave it for a week or so and then look at it again and try make some corrections ... Maybe take things off and add new stuff.

I might be over the word limit but will definitely fix that next time inshallah. 

Last post I said I had to do: 

- write my personal statment 

- revise UKCAT 

- revise BMAT 

Now that personal statement is done I have 2 things left. 

I'll definitely be sharing my second year results with you guys once they have been released inshallah. 

I still haven't bought a BMAT revision book but as soon as i finish revising (or should I say start then finish) I will buy it. 

Starting UKCAT prep today.