From Curiosity to Oxford Offer: Hugo’s Journey to a medicine offer

Year 13 student Hugo talks about his offer to study Medicine at the University of Oxford and how the college supported him in the journey.

I think that what stands out about Abbey College Manchester when compared to other schools is the incredible diversity that the college has, not only in culture and nationality, but also in the way we all have different approaches to the same problems. This has helped me to expand my way of thinking and introduced me to new ways of tackling problems that I would’ve never thought about before. Such a diverse student body, paired with incredibly supporting teachers, makes it such an enjoyable learning environment where mistakes aren’t met with judgement but with support, and where new, abstract approaches are welcomed. And it’s this welcoming community that I value most about Abbey College Manchester.

The UCAS Journey

I started preparing for my Oxford application in the beginning of year 12. However, I had long been getting ready to apply for medicine, having already began my volunteering and various other extracurriculars before then. I took part at the medical society at Abbey College Manchester, in both year 12 and year 13. In year 12, we focused on a more wholistic view of medicine, highlighting the problems faced by the NHS and discussing hot topics in healthcare. This not only improved my analytical skills, through the many different articles and data that we read but also gave extra information that I could mention during my interviews. Whereas, in year 13, we focused more on the ethical side of things, tackling various ethical problems where there was no simple right or wrong solution, and which required a good knowledge of the 4 pillars of medicine to answer appropriately. This paired alongside guidance from my teachers regarding my personal statement, with them providing constructive criticism on what I could do to improve it, further helped to strengthen my UCAS application and my overall strength as a medical candidate. Lastly, my mock interviews, with my biology and chemistry teachers, gave me an insight into the type of thinking required to be a successful Oxford applicant and acted as amazing practise before the actual interviews, exposing me to not only Oxbridge-like questions but also to the standard medical questions which focused more on things like communication, and ethical scenarios.  

Attributes to success

I owe my success to my wonderful family, friends and teachers that have all supported me at all the different stages of my life: My mum and dad who planted an intellectual curiosity in me from a very young age; teachers who helped to cultivate that curiosity not only during my time at Abbey College Manchester but also during secondary school and even as early as primary school; lastly my friends who like me were equally as ambitious and gave me friendly competition which pushed me towards greater heights. I think that had I not been surrounded by such amazing people my whole life; I would not be where I am today.  

The University of Oxford Interview

I’ll never forget the final few minutes before the start of my interviews, the feelings of anxiety about what they may ask me, whether I look presentable and the scrutiny that I will be under. To say the least, I was presently surprised. The environment of the interviews was not what I expected; it felt much less like an interview and much more like a conversation that you might have with a teacher about a particular subject of your interest. There were moments where I felt confused or unsure about what I had been asked and it was those moments that required a great deal of tenacity and creative thinking to come up with solutions to the problems posed. Despite such moments, I would say that the whole interview-process, was very rewarding and I had come out of them feeling  proud of my ability to stay cool despite pressure as well as excited knowing that I was able to have conversations with incredible experts in their respective fields. 

Receiving the offer for the University of Oxford

Initially, I felt a great sense of relief knowing that all the hard work I put in had paid off, and that I was now going to go to medical school so long as I get the necessary grades. Then feelings of pride and disbelief at being able to accomplish such a demanding goal, and finally overwhelming excitement at the vast number of opportunities and experiences I would have by studying at a world-renowned university.