Clinical School

When you make the ominous decision to apply to Cambridge to study medicine, you are warned that you will need to reapply for clinical school. However, this warning comes at the time when you still consider yourself reasonably, or even very, intelligent, and therefore falls completely on deaf ears. You think to yourself, 'If I can get in the first time round, surely doing it again will be no problem?'

You promptly forget about such things, merrily failing exams and perhaps trying a few bits and pieces here and there until third year, when a horrifying application form finds its way into your inbox. It is awful. It wants to know everything. And now you have the sneaking suspicion that while on UCAS you were some shining goddess of a student, you are now just so much insignificant mediocrity. Perhaps your DoS has even said that you stand not a single chance.

Come January, you attend an interview, and are briefly reminded just how much sheer terror makes you want to evaporate in your interview suit. You are asked awkward questions that you agonise over for weeks to come. You dread that answering something just a little wrong will land you living in London, paying twice as much to do a course you didn't really apply for.

And then...you wait.

We are still on stage three. Today is the 17th February, and according to our handy timetable our offers were made nearly two weeks ago, and we replied to offers yesterday. Good to know the clinical school cares so deeply about our wellbeing.