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Gap years
Deferred entry
Want to do something other for than study for a bit? When will be the next time you get an opportunity like this? It is a year out of your life though.
Those are probably the things you have asked yourself before planning to take a gap year. You may already know if you like to take one or not and this article is not going to throw ideas of things you can do during your gap year either, as you again probably have some of your own.
Deferred entry is really just a planned gap year. You inform the medical schools that rather than entering into medicine the next year, you will take a year out and go the year after.
Should you decide to defer your entry, be sure to tick the boxes in UCAS apply. Check boxes are located on the university and course selection page. Make sure you tick the right box as there are two to choose from. Also be sure to tick the box for each university you are applying to. (If anybody has a screenshot of this page it would be gratefully received.)
You will be competing with applicants in your current year, not the year you are applying to enter in with. If a university decides to offer you a place, it will be conditional until you meet their requirements. This will be probably be after your exams. After this the offer should change to unconditional. This is the case with all applicants.
Some universities dislike the idea of applicants taking a gap year. Most notably Oxford and Cambridge who claim that it makes you forget some of the previous work you have done. Most are fine with students taking a gap year though all medical schools require that you justify your gap year. You should be able to tell the medical school about your plans and what you hope to achieve from taking a gap year. This should be done in your personal statement and expect to be quizzed about it during your interview.
If all goes to plan, the following August after exams to September of the following year (14ish months) will be all yours. It is a long time so don’t waste it!
Forced Gap year
I fell into this category. Rejected from all I my choices first time round, I went on to get 3 A’s at A-level. When you have a forced gap year, you reapply with a second time through UCAS and try again to get in.
Once you get the required grades, you are in a most enviable position; your commitment to medicine can be seen by your reapplication and you academic knowledge has been determined. If a medical school was to offer you a place it would offer you an unconditional offer. Some schools for some reason may give you a conditional offer; on the condition that you pass criminal and medical checks. Which can be slightly annoying because unconditional offers tend to give you first pick at student accommodation!
Like with deferred entry applicants, medical schools will want to know what your plans are for the year so once you get your forth rejection start planning ahead. A downside with having a forced gap year is that from October to March, you are not really free to do all you want because medical schools will call you in for interviews. Avoid booking travel until you have your application sorted for the following year.
Therefore stick with it and if medicine is something which you really want to do then don’t let one minor setback put you off. Doing the course is well worth the hassle – Good luck.
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