Exeter University
Overview
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University Life
For Year 1 and 2, medics are usually based on St Luke’s Campus, which is a smaller campus, home to a lot of the science subjects. There is a café, called Cross Keys which is the social hub of the campus, a library, study rooms, dissection labs, grassy areas to have a sit down and a gym with swimming pool facilities. In 2019, a student bar was trialled on St Luke’s which will hopefully be in action next years! St Luke’s is also a short distance from town, and the main Streatham Campus where most of the uni sports teams and other courses are based, so it is easy to get involved up there and a lot of medics do. The local area in Devon is also super pretty – there are plenty of opportunities for beach days, hiking through Dartmoor, a really pretty national park, and visiting other seaside towns.
At Exeter you will also spend some of your time studying in Cornwall. This would either be for years 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, or just Year 5. Its nice to have a change of scenery, and the beaches in Cornwall are amazing. The good thing is that you can put in preferences to where you want to go, so usually you will end up with all your friends in the same place.
Social Life
Exeter medics are never lacking social events that’s for sure! There is plenty of things to cater for people that drink, and also people that don’t. Freshers are also assigned a medic “family” who are there to guide you through the first term. The medics sport societies are a great way to socialise with people. Other societies include Medics football, rugby, netball and touch rugby, and all of these do great sessions, socials and nights out at the medic club favourites, Timepiece and Unit 1. MedSoc is also a big presence on St Luke’s, and runs big socials for everyone on the course including quizzes, weekends away, and big nights out that are always a laugh (and usually themed!). You also can’t forget the Summer and Winter medic balls and the medic ski trip, which are real highlights of the year! Academic societies also exist to meet people with similar academic interests to you, for example SurgSoc, Obs and Gynae Soc, and Cardiology Soc. It is so easy to get involved, relax and have a laugh. These and sports societies also exist down at the Cornwall campus, so no one misses out!
Interview
Interviews are in December and Feburary, so make sure you are avalible in the general exam period. Exeter uses Multiple Mini Interviews – candidates rotated round 7 stations that are 3 minutes each, but it is worth checking that this hasn’t changed, for when you apply. The 3-minute stations are good, because it gives you an almost perfect amount of time to say what you want, but not waffle. Some good general topics would probably be to go over your medical ethics, do some research about the course and city, and to think about what you’ve taken away from your past experiences that will make you a good doctor. To get an offer at Exeter you have to be deemed suitable in 5 out of 7 of your stations. If there are too many candidates deemed suitable, UKCAT was used again for 2019 entry to decide who gets offers, so this is something to think about.
Tips
The way students are recruited for interviews was largely through your predicted/ achieved grades. For example, achieved grades of 3A* was tier 1, achieved A*A*A / predicted 3A*s was tier 2, etc. The UCAT was then used if necessary, to cut off within a tier. In previous years, the cut off was within tier 2. This process was still used for 2019 entry, so it is definitely worth ensuring that you have good predicted/achieved grades and a good UCAT. However, it is worth checking that these policies remain the same, because they always have the potential to change!
If anyone ever has any questions about the medic application process or wants some help, feel free to dm me on Instagram @ellie_richardsonn