Why do students do this?

(Coming from the view of a 3rd Year medical student at Leeds):

I met a girl recently who is applying for Medicine this year, and I started discussing the whole UCAS process with her. She said to me: "I'm applying for UCL - not somewhere rubbish like Leeds" and then I got into a big argument with her in order to defend my medical school, at which I am very proud to be studying. My cousin is applying for Cambridge and Imperial despite not even looking into other universities which IMO are better suited to her strengths, because she thinks those are "beneath" her.

Although I have not met any people like that yet, I do agree. Most of my friends who applied to medicine knew the difficulties at every medical school. I my self agree with the humble part, being a re-applicant at the moment I have taken my application more seriously and have learnt a lot, I know for a fact that there is many ignorant applicants and even medical students about many things, so I agree with the humble part the most However I doubt people will change as long as there is league tables around!

I understand where you come from... These people need to understand how competitive medicine is to begin with, and that every university is teaching the same course thus you end up with the same degree no matter where you go =_= I personally, would not apply to med schools outside UK (though I'd get rejected anyway lol) but that's only because a family matter and my mum just refuses to let me move away =_= If I was able to though, let alone get an offer, I would take the chance like heeell! I'm surprised people can look down on others even though you are studying the most competitive course out there... no matter which uni you're going to...

....Snobs these days. Lol

It is just a human tendency, we don't always think rationally, we think upon our emotions. I am more than willing to bet that these are the sort of people who see the course as an ego-boost (family and societal pressures), not because they actually want to help people.

Also with the UK people in general are desperate to be seen as going somewhere, people are always on the make; in a constant state of dissatisfaction and bitterness. The problem I think, is society itself. When even doctors (i.e. people who are meant to be good people in society) act like Hampstead snobs then you know something is wrong. But then again the country in general is a large sinking ship. I applaud those doctors who are actually emotionally mature, like you seem to be, but there seem to be some right wretches shouting their merits around.

I think part of why some turn their nose up at medical schools outside of London / Oxbridge is due to pressure from misinformed teachers etc.

More often than not, those applying to medicine will have stellar grades and would probably meet the entry requirements for most universities.
A term I heard a lot when applying the first time was, "Oh, the University of X? Are they good for Medicine?"
If someone doesn't do their own research and relies on their teachers and / or parents to give then information, often the information they receive will be unreliable.
Their own fault for not doing the research, perhaps, but maybe that's where it comes from. "I have great grades and could get in anywhere and so-and-so says UCL's the best". Or something.

As for thinking my own medical school is better than the rest, if course I do

Well as a medical applicant myself and having a big family who study medicine at 5 different universities (St. Andrews, Cambridge, Sheffield, Kings and Leeds) respectively I do see this snobbery a lot but at the end of the day mate...medicine is medicine. There are so many talented students out there and in my opinion they are all capable and whether they go to Oxbridge or Cardiff etc. the standards are very high. If you want to get really pedantic, then yes I would say medics are Oxbridge may be perhaps slightly more academic hardy than another institution but then again I know many medics who have a perfect application but choose to go to medical schools for many reasons other than prestige, to choose a university purely on prestige is silly imo and makes one seem very egotistical just to say 'My medical school is better than yours'...the real question they should be asking if they are a serious medic: How can I become the best doctor I can be? Medicine should be about individuals, not about stupid labels to a university. What's the point in being in medicine at Oxbridge if you are social reclusive or have difficulty talking/handling people despite being academically gifted. You should be so proud to get into medicine, no one can take that away from you. Drop all of this competitive bull****, it makes no difference to you as a person, when it comes to the real world, who's going to care where you came from as much as compared to whether you can you do your job and if you can survive being a doctor. The government would not allow the university to teach medicine if they did not have a certain level of excellence so for that reason, all the medical schools share a common standard in that respect. Just to prove this point, I myself got an offer to study at Oxford (Human Sciences) last year but I turned it down because medicine is what I really want and the essence of the course is what matters, not the bragging rights in saying I go to this university. From my point of view, a medic = a medic and this goes beyond measuring someone's academic strength, medics should try to be all rounded and just because you are at a popular university does not justify that you are better etc. than another medic at a smaller less favoured university.

Because a fair few applicants don't reeeeeally want to study medicine. They just want prestige.

Posted from TSR Mobile

It's all rooted in competition and perception of success.

That's what I don't understand. Do these ignorant applicants genuinely believe that someone studying anything at Oxbridge/London is more successful than someone studying Medicine at another UK university?

That's what I don't understand. Do these ignorant applicants genuinely believe that someone studying anything at Oxbridge/London is more successful than someone studying Medicine at another UK university?

I think in some cases yeah because employers have that same perception. I think that perception is rooted in peoples experiences.

If someone's studying medicine at oxbridge chances are they're gonna be pretty successful lol.

I read that as him trying to point out, which I entirely agree with, that people assume doing well at A-Level is some indication of being academically superior. Someone thinks "Well, I've got/predicted A*A*A - I'm a borderline genius" when the reality is getting those grades doesn't imply someone's really that intelligent. It also promotes thinking along the lines of "I've got top grades, surely I need to be applying to the top universities in the UK?" - when in reality all medical schools ask for top grades and there's very little difference between them given the external moderation.

I think in some cases yeah because employers have that same perception. I think that perception is rooted in peoples experiences.

If someone's studying medicine at oxbridge chances are they're gonna be pretty successful lol.

People always give my uni (St George's) slack because we're regarded as one of the "lesser" London unis for medicine, but you know what, I'm kinda happy the way things have turned out because it means all the people who are full of themselves end up applying for Kings and UCL and stuff and all the humble ones come to SGUL. And I love it

That's the most ridiculous thing anyone could say about SGUL. Any medical school in London is a huge honour to be part of, if you ask me. That view probably comes from the elitist students who study at/applying for places like Imperial, UCL, King's etc. I suppose you will get stubborn and arrogant people at any medical school in the country because they let success get to their heads, but I'm glad you've found most people to be more humble. That's the whole point of us joining the medical profession - to develop good relationships with patients, we must be humble of the responsibility they've entrusted us with to look after their health, families, personal problems etc. Medicine is a privilege to be part of, so anyone who speaks badly of a medical school (especially in the UK, where the training has such a good reputation) doesn't deserve to get in.

While it is good at any medical school, there's no denying that you're not going to be in the same boat when you graduate. Some universities are better than others -- that's just something you're going to have to accept!

Maybe that's also what convinces some medical applicants that they must only apply for the top universities,

a lot of those kind of students do it for the prestige for than anything.

This is wrong, for medicine every degree is treated the same. A girl from Cambridge came to my school to talk about medicine and she told us how upset she was that her scores would be treated as the same as everyone else's despite the fact (she says) the Cambridge med exams are harder.

I don't study medicine, but comparing the level of my subject - engineering, economics and management - I find that in all areas I have done work both more work in general, and work that is far more challenging. Studying either engineering or E&M at most other universities seems like a piss-take compared to those parts of my course - I am yet to see a course outside the top 5 universities where the workload reaches anything close to what is expected of EEM students here. Whilst I do agree that there are excellent students in universities far and wide, I do not think they are being pushed anywhere near far enough to reach the excellent that is the standard here. One would have to be both extremely intelligent and motivated to succeed in a university that doesn't push him all that much, whilst here intelligence by itself is sufficient, as the motivation comes in the form of daily ass-kicking from tutors.

I do know the kinds of people you're talking about, don't get me wrong. However, i feel i should point out that Oxford and Cambridge or the London unis don't attract especially many applicants - these hoards of prestige-hunters... simply don't exist. I think its a handful of vocal people you're getting your impressions from.

Tbh, I'd say prestige is a major motivating factor in people applying to Oxbridge. I don't think they look down on others etc, but I think the reputation of those universities is a major attraction for the top-performers in school.

As for the posts that say you have more focused/motivated colleagues at Oxbridge/better unis, I couldn't think of anything worse as a doctor who has been in the job for 20 years :P. The best doctors are the ones who have empathy and you don't get that being stuck in a room full of medics. You get that by learning about people from various walks of life and different classes in society. My best advice at university would be to go out there and live with non medics. You're going to be in an atmosphere where medicine dictates a large part of your life in the coming years. Enjoy being free of it for as long as you can!