UCL or Bristol

Hi, I've received offers from UCL and Bristol for medicine but I'm struggling to decide which one to put as my firm choice. UCL really appeals to me because its London and its amazing teaching hospitals but Bristol seemed really friendly and the course looks really good too. Can anyone help me on which one is the best to go for?

Reply 1

hprynne

2

Which do you feel more natural and comfortable in, when you presumably visited an open day etc? Which can you imagine yourself at? Perhaps speaking to parents/sixth form advisers would be a good idea. At current UCL is 4th on the league table for Medicine and Bristol is 17th - I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make to you...

But good luck, I wish you the best! And congratulations, Medicine is hard enough to get into as it is, not to mention being offered places at such outstanding universities!

Reply 2

KA125

5

To be honest, they are both absolutely brilliant IMO...

I wanted London or Bristol and got a London uni... It's kind of a good dilemma to be in!

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Reply 3

NoahJ

2

Original post by LWM

Hi, I've received offers from UCL and Bristol for medicine but I'm struggling to decide which one to put as my firm choice. UCL really appeals to me because its London and its amazing teaching hospitals but Bristol seemed really friendly and the course looks really good too. Can anyone help me on which one is the best to go for?

Hi there,

I'm currently at Bristol, and while that might make me biased :smile:

I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you may have

Well done on getting offers!

Reply 4

Δεφιαντ1

3

If you want to practice abroad, go to UCL. Otherwise, just pick whichever feels friendlier, and more social. Honestly you will love either one so it depends on what you are looking for.

Reply 5

LWM

OP

thanks everyone, this has been really helpful :smile:

Reply 6

Amy_78

Original post by Δεφιαντ1

If you want to practice abroad, go to UCL. Otherwise, just pick whichever feels friendlier, and more social. Honestly you will love either one so it depends on what you are looking for.

Original post by hprynne

At current UCL is 4th on the league table for Medicine and Bristol is 17th - I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make to you...

Would you consider it a waste of doing well in the BMAT if you didn't choose UCL? Most people say prestige is irrelevant to where you do medicine. But there must be a reason Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial and Edinburgh year in year out are at the top of every kind of league table? How much would it be a disadvantage to practice abroad if the med school was lower down?

Reply 7

ukmed108

7

Original post by Amy_78

Would you consider it a waste of doing well in the BMAT if you didn't choose UCL? Most people say prestige is irrelevant to where you do medicine. But there must be a reason Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial and Edinburgh year in year out are at the top of every kind of league table? How much would it be a disadvantage to practice abroad if the med school was lower down?

Probably not much but..

Anecdotally the only 2 non american GI fellows at Harvard are from Oxford and Cambridge and the only non american transplant surgery fellow at Columbia on the TV show NY-Med was from UCL.

Now you could say that med students from the top schools are more likely to want to go abroad. Rather than going to those top schools aids you when going abroad but i'm sure that having a prestigious university behind your name has never hurt anyone.

Imagine if you were taking applications for some sort of visiting fellowship from american grads. Would you give the grad from Harvard or Hopkins a second look or the grad from Quinnipiac University? Both are MD grads for sure, but think about it, do you honestly think someone who got into Harvard and Quinnipiac would choose Quinnipiac over Harvard?

Yes, everyone who goes to medical school can be a doctor and that is plenty good enough for most, but if you are the "ambitious type", research type or thinking of going abroad it doesn't hurt to choose the more prestigious school.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

Amy_78

That's probably why the F1 process is blind to the med school you went to so there is no advantage. Down the line when it comes to promotion in the NHS have no idea how it would play out? For some ambitious students the top med schools have their own drawbacks e.g. Oxbridge has no early clinical exposure, UCL and Imperial expensive London living costs and live miles away from campus, and Edinburgh too far away for people from down south. In the Guardian league table this year Plymouth comes above Imperial and Hull-York comes above Birmingham! Bristol is one place from the bottom! How seriously would you believe the Guardian table...not very! But it does give the top four places to Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh and UCL. I presume it is down to excellent teaching, having world class experts in their fields and providing the best opportunities for clinical training in hospitals. I concede the other medical schools can fluctuate from one year to the next but these few are consistently at the top. It would be interesting to know what proportion of consultants are from these unis.

Reply 9

ukmed108

7

Original post by Amy_78

That's probably why the F1 process is blind to the med school you went to so there is no advantage. Down the line when it comes to promotion in the NHS have no idea how it would play out? For some ambitious students the top med schools have their own drawbacks e.g. Oxbridge has no early clinical exposure, UCL and Imperial expensive London living costs and live miles away from campus, and Edinburgh too far away for people from down south. In the Guardian league table this year Plymouth comes above Imperial and Hull-York comes above Birmingham! Bristol is one place from the bottom! How seriously would you believe the Guardian table...not very! But it does give the top four places to Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh and UCL. I presume it is down to excellent teaching, having world class experts in their fields and providing the best opportunities for clinical training in hospitals. I concede the other medical schools can fluctuate from one year to the next but these few are consistently at the top. It would be interesting to know what proportion of consultants are from these unis.

League tables can be baloney, rank the med schools by UCAS entry tariff, then you'll see a more accurate ranking of the med schools rather than the baloney the Guardian produces.

UCL or Bristol

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