u/Longjumping_Ad_3709

Medical student / early FY perspective: everyone says “pick a pathway early” but the official pages are scattered and person specs change.

Trying to understand:

- when people commit to IMT vs surgical run-through vs ACCS

- whether an intercalated year actually changes anything for academic routes

- how much of FY1/FY2 is just keeping options open vs actively building one specialty's evidence

Not asking which specialty is best - more how you **planned** the route without overcommitting in year 1.

What would you tell your FY1 self with hindsight?

Sitting UCAT in July and trying not to burn money on three different subscriptions.

So far I've done the official practice tests and some other random stuff. Mocks feel like the main gap - I want timed full runs with review, not just untimed drills.

What has worked for you for:

- full timed mocks (not just section drills)

- tracking weak areas between mocks

- QR data-set / table practice

Not looking for "buy X" spam - genuinely want to know what sixth formers are using this cycle and whether anything free is actually usable before paying for Medify/MedEntry tier stuff.