The Student Room Group

Birmingham/Newcastle/Leeds - incredibly hard decision

Hi student room :smile:
I'm in the fortunate but difficult position of having offers from these med schools, but choosing between them is incredibly difficult - in a way I'm glad I got rejected from my 4th choice to make things easier!

Anyway if anyone, anyone at all could give me some constructive advice I'll love you forever! :biggrin: here are my thoughts on each uni:

Birmingham - big city (good thing)
strong focus on scientific foundation at the start with mix of lectures/small groups
gp visits from year 1 (clinical context)
quite near to home
great hospitals
heard anatomy teaching isn't that great but only hearsay

Leeds - quite a big city
very very organised med school
early clinical contact
slightly less science focus than bham
dissection
associated hospitals not as famous as Bhai but still good

Newcastle - amazing city, great student life
case based approach in pre clinical year, great for clinical context but will I understand everything with a lower focus on basic science
far from home
clinical placements are mostly quite far from campus, wide variety of patients will be seen however
once again, apparently incredible student life but that's just one factor

Any help at all would be much appreciated, sorry for the long post!!
I would go on the visit days and see which medical school you prefer. To be honest it is all down to personal preference. You are in a very lucky position my 3 favourite medical schools. Personally would go for Leeds. A nice city good nightlife and a good well balance medical school. However I am from Leeds so I am probably a bit biased.
Original post by Htrain250
I would go on the visit days and see which medical school you prefer. To be honest it is all down to personal preference. You are in a very lucky position my 3 favourite medical schools. Personally would go for Leeds. A nice city good nightlife and a good well balance medical school. However I am from Leeds so I am probably a bit biased.


Yeah I'm visiting them all before my decision, and I know I'm very lucky and I'm grateful for it :smile: what I'm struggling to decide is what factor(s) should be the most important in my decision
Leeds all the way! Newcastle is so overrated anyways.
Original post by TheBigJosh
Leeds all the way! Newcastle is so overrated anyways.


What about Birmingham though? :tongue:
Original post by Medicine Boy
What about Birmingham though? :tongue:


I've never been to that university, so I can't comment, all I can say you will have a fabulous time at Leeds.
Original post by Medicine Boy
Hi student room :smile:
I'm in the fortunate but difficult position of having offers from these med schools, but choosing between them is incredibly difficult - in a way I'm glad I got rejected from my 4th choice to make things easier!

Anyway if anyone, anyone at all could give me some constructive advice I'll love you forever! :biggrin: here are my thoughts on each uni:

Birmingham - big city (good thing)
strong focus on scientific foundation at the start with mix of lectures/small groups
gp visits from year 1 (clinical context)
quite near to home
great hospitals
heard anatomy teaching isn't that great but only hearsay

Leeds - quite a big city
very very organised med school
early clinical contact
slightly less science focus than bham
dissection
associated hospitals not as famous as Bhai but still good

Newcastle - amazing city, great student life
case based approach in pre clinical year, great for clinical context but will I understand everything with a lower focus on basic science
far from home
clinical placements are mostly quite far from campus, wide variety of patients will be seen however
once again, apparently incredible student life but that's just one factor

Any help at all would be much appreciated, sorry for the long post!!

nEWCASTLE IS GOOD IF YOU WANT TO PARTY ,HOWEVER THAT IS ALL AND IF YOU WANT TO STUDY ,FORGET IT, NEXT TERM THERE IS NO SECURITY ,I HEAR OR REDUCED, WHICH MEANS CHAOS, FOR THOSE WISHING TO GET ON IN LIFE!!!
No way Newcastle ,I had a younger brother who said it was hell!
I really can't say in terms of medicine schools, but I visited both Birmingham and Newcastle, and, to be honest, I preferred Birmingham :smile: I was a little disappointed with the campus, found it really wasn't that great; whereas I got quite a lot of help in Birmingham... The accomodation wasn't great in Newcastle either I found. Just personal preference though, and everybody has different tastes! Any chance you can visit the unis?
Original post by FlyingUnicorn
I really can't say in terms of medicine schools, but I visited both Birmingham and Newcastle, and, to be honest, I preferred Birmingham :smile: I was a little disappointed with the campus, found it really wasn't that great; whereas I got quite a lot of help in Birmingham... The accomodation wasn't great in Newcastle either I found. Just personal preference though, and everybody has different tastes! Any chance you can visit the unis?


I thought the same when I visited them for interviews, I'm going to see them both in the next couple of weeks, which do you think is better in terms of the city as a whole?
Reply 10
Birmingham all the way.

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