Excerpt
Getting into Medical school is no small feat, especially when considering the many components that can complicate and convolute your application. Icon Education is here to help you break down and understand the process.
What does NTU Medicine look for?
Although it is a comparatively younger medical school compared to that of NUS, the joint Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) degree offered by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Imperial College London (ICL) is still highly-regarded and well recognised in the medical community. It has a similarly competitive programme, with an even smaller cohort size of approximately 160 students each year.
Accepted applicants have academic profiles that typically look like the following:
|
Singapore-Cambridge ‘A’ Levels |
AAA/A for both the 10th and 90th percentile, a pass in Chemistry and a pass in either Biology or Physics. |
|
Polytechnic Diploma |
Accredited diplomas in a Health-Science related course, or other relevant courses, with a good GPA. |
|
International Baccalaureate |
A pass in HL Chemistry, and a pass in either HL Biology or HL Physics. |
|
NUS High School |
Major CAP of minimally 2.0 in Chemistry, and either Biology or physics, and a CAP of minimally 1.0 in another major and in the English Programme. |
|
Other Qualifications |
Applicants must have completed/ will be taking their High School national examinations in the year when they submit their application. Requires supplementary qualification (e.g. IELTS/ TOEFL/ SAT/ PTE Academic/ ACT with Writing/ AST English score/ C1 Advanced) . |
In order to wholly and inclusively assess your suitability for the MBBS programme, all applications applied under the standard admissions route will require you to submit your academic results alongside a 300-word personal statement and two letters of reference.
Applicants who successfully meet the minimum academic requirements but have other outstanding aspects that they would like to support their application, or applicants who do not meet the minimum cut-off scores, can opt to partake in the Aptitude Based Admissions (ABA) scheme. The ABA portion of the application form requires you to submit an additional 500-word essay that expounds on your achievements, and a maximum of 2 appraisal letters. Do keep in mind that NTU only allows for 1 reapplication under the ABA scheme for applicants who were unsuccessful in previous application cycles.
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT is a two-hour long online admissions test deliberately designed to assess whether you possess certain qualities deemed as desirable in the medical field. It has curated sections that specifically examine how you evaluate written and numerical information, the extent of your inference skills, and whether you have the ability to make sound judgments and behave appropriately during a range of complicated situations.
While the cut-off scores for the UCAT varies every year, the 10th percentile score of 2720 and 90th percentile score of 3130 from the Academic Year 2024/ 2025 intake serves as a helpful benchmark for the next round of admissions.
Multiple Mini-Interviews (MMI)
If successfully shortlisted, applicants will then be invited to partake in the MMI, which consists of eight 1-to-1 interviews. These interviews are curated around questions that primarily assess your motivations to study medicine, your understanding of what a career in medicine entails, your ability to manage stress and multi-task, as well as identify your communication, leadership, and teamwork skills. It also serves as a way for the interviewers to learn about your fit, and likely contributions to the medical school.
Tips to enhance your application
Taking into consideration the high levels of competition with other highly-qualified applicants, these are a few things that you can take particular note of in order to best position your application:
1. Unlike the process taken in NUS, the first assessment round for NTU medicine not only considers your academic grades, but takes your personal statement and letters of reference into account as well. This makes it paramount for you to craft a compelling personal statement, which requires you to go beyond merely listing your achievements and what you have done. Do take some time to reflect on your experiences thus far, and take this opportunity to personally reflect and identify specific aspects that directly contribute towards your motivation to study medicine.
2. Many applicants also tend to underestimate the amount of preparation they need, and do not include sufficient buffer time in their application timeline. This is primarily because the nature of questions covered in the UCAT differ greatly from the content that is usually covered in school, catching applicants by surprise. Thus, do ensure that you give yourself enough time to familiarise yourself with the question types, and work on several practice tests under a time limit before commencing the actual test.
3. While it is not mandatory for you to have any job shadowing experience in the medical field prior to your application, it is imperative that you actively seek for relevant avenues that can help you to understand what it takes to build a career in medicine, and whether it is a suitable path for you. For example, your aptitude can be further assessed through your involvement in any research attachments in school, through participating or organising any volunteering events, or the types of personal projects and endeavours that you undertake.
We hope that this has given you a much clearer overview that will support your NTU MBBS application. Feel free to reach out to Icon Education should you require more tailored information and guidance. All the best with your journey!
Additional resources
https://www.icon-plus.com/articles/sg-med-guide
https://youtube.com/difference-between-nus-and-ntu-medicine
https://www.icon-plus.com/articles/day-in-the-life-of-a-doctor-uk-vs-singapore
