All those applying for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary schools are aware that they can add only 4 choices in their UCAS form. However they have up until 15th January to add the final fifth choice, which is often considered an insurance choice. It is important to add this final choice. If a student is turned down by all four medical schools, they will then have a good alternative university degree that they could attend. I would recommend finding a degree with AAB entry requirements. MPharm is often a popular choice for those who enjoy Chemistry in particular. Alternatively, degrees such as Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Psychology, Neuroscience or pure Chemistry or pure Biology are all degrees that would fit with the personal statement written for Medicine or Dentistry. Students would then have the opportunity to go on to take Graduate Medicine exams or GAMSAT as they are also known as. Not all medical schools require GAMSAT however, (after completion of a first degree), so it is important to check the requirements.
As always it is advisable to check with universities what they like to see on an application with regards to the fifth choice especially the more competitive universities. However the majority of universities are very happy with a science-based fifth choice as they will understand that the students main objective will be to study medicine or enter a related field.
KCL has very specific requirements for the fifth choice: Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, Pharmacology & Molecular Genetics, Physiology, Neuroscience, Human Sciences and Biomedical Science.
UCL require an additional personal statement if students want to add Pharmacy as a fifth choice.
A fifth choice could also be an humanities based degree – for example if their third A level is something like English Literature or History. If a student wishes to choose something that is not related to Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary then I would advise telephoning the university and finding out what they should do. Some universities are very happy to accept a second personal statement, especially if the university is not included as one of the main four Medical/Dental/Vet schools.