Opinion on IB retakes for Med School

[niranjan1998]

Im hoping to reapply to med school in UK in 2017. I finished my IB course in 2016. I had a predicted 41/45 but due to medical conditions such as a surgery which cost me 2 months of classes and a few unfortunate circumstances I wasn't able to perform to my best and only secured a 35/45. I had A in my Psychology EE and a B in TOK. I somehow (no clue how- kind of blanked out on the day of the chem exam as i missed a lot of classes) only got a 4/7 in chem and I got a 5 in Bio missing a 6 by 1 point. I had an offer which i missed and so will have to reapply this year. I am resitting Bio and Chem HL in November and hoping to get a 7/7 in both as I was predicted earlier but since applications to med schools are to be done by Oct 15th I am not sure how I can address my issue to the universities as most of them apparently do not accept resits. I will also be taking my UKCAT this year and am preparing hard for it. I hope someone can help me regarding my applications and what I should do to be a worthy applicant to med schools in UK as I was already devastated once after missing a chance. I also have perfect grades till grade 10 and have trinity guitar certificates along with volunteering work, clinical internships and experience at animal shelters. I was also the school Head boy/ captain in grade 10. I am worried these resits and the score i submit will greatly decide a lot. 
Thank you.

[IB`NOT`ez]

Wow that sucks, hope you still get into med school. I can't imagine how rough it must have been to be predicted a 7 for Biochemistry HL but just due to ill luck, the results were significantly different  

Yeah I think taking re-sitting your exams is a worthwhile option to entertain provided you can maintain your motivation and willpower to prepare well for your retakes. If you do so, I wish you the best of luck to get that 7/7 for Biochemistry -- I don't know how or why, but I believe you can do it -- and if you find it boring to be preparing for exams alone, feel free to contact me through PM or Skype and I can do my best to spot you.

A gap year can also be an option if you can take a medical-related internship or volunteer job during it.

I can also suggest looking into Australian universities as their school year starts differently compared to UK or US, so they'll have different deadlines for applications. 

Sorry I can't be of more help as I'm also still struggling with my own university applications :/ 

Edited August 20, 2016 by IB`ez

[ChocolateDrop]

On 20/08/2016 at 0:25 PM, niranjan1998 said:

Im hoping to reapply to med school in UK in 2017. I finished my IB course in 2016. I had a predicted 41/45 but due to medical conditions such as a surgery which cost me 2 months of classes and a few unfortunate circumstances I wasn't able to perform to my best and only secured a 35/45. I had A in my Psychology EE and a B in TOK. I somehow (no clue how- kind of blanked out on the day of the chem exam as i missed a lot of classes) only got a 4/7 in chem and I got a 5 in Bio missing a 6 by 1 point. I had an offer which i missed and so will have to reapply this year. I am resitting Bio and Chem HL in November and hoping to get a 7/7 in both as I was predicted earlier but since applications to med schools are to be done by Oct 15th I am not sure how I can address my issue to the universities as most of them apparently do not accept resits. I will also be taking my UKCAT this year and am preparing hard for it. I hope someone can help me regarding my applications and what I should do to be a worthy applicant to med schools in UK as I was already devastated once after missing a chance. I also have perfect grades till grade 10 and have trinity guitar certificates along with volunteering work, clinical internships and experience at animal shelters. I was also the school Head boy/ captain in grade 10. I am worried these resits and the score i submit will greatly decide a lot. 
Thank you.

I know this post is old, but I think this information may be worthwhile. 

 

I just wanted to inform you you have what is called "extenuating circumstances". The surgery was beyond your control and cost you 2 months of schooling which in turn affected your performance. When it comes to applying make sure your reference highlights these extenuating circumstances and you fill in any extenuating circumstances forms if you need to. A lot more UK medical schools are bit more leniant in considering resist students with extenuating circumstances as opposed to those without any. However you'll have to check each university's updated resit policy to see if they do because some of them won't accept resit students extenuating circumstances or not.