Nottigham, Barts or KCL?

strong application if I may say so (I have same GCSEs), I would personally go to KCL? I notice nottingham 'doesn't really like' public school applicants (if you're one), nobody in our public school ever got in even with top academics.....

could be just a coincidence.

strong application if I may say so (I have same GCSEs), I would personally go to KCL? I notice nottingham 'doesn't really like' public school applicants (if you're one), nobody in our public school ever got in even with top academics.....

could be just a coincidence.

LOL. Nottingham is full of public school kids.

To the OP, I got offers from nottingham and kings if you have any questions. I prefer nottingham and the course is better but you stand an equal chance at both so the choice is yours.

Congrats What about the course is better? Also, what's the area around King's like?

There's probably more dangerous crime in the Southwark area where GKT is, than the Mile End area where Barts is. Stabbings and shootings are pretty common, so Southwark is one of the better areas to work if you're in the police, to put it one way.

I wouldn't worry too much about crime though, unless you're very unfortunate, lack street smarts or decide for whatever reason to join a gang, there isn't too much to worry about with regards to living in a 'bad' area. This goes for GKT, Barts or Shottingham.

Pick a course based on what you think will suit your learning style or a place you think you'd like the most.

Notts grads do better in national exams so the teaching must be better. Plus the student satisfaction for kings is very low and there have been a few recent scandals there. I think the main thing for me is that at nottingham you mix with other students whereas kings is just a med school. The area is great at kings if you like London.

There's probably more dangerous crime in the Southwark area where GKT is, than the Mile End area where Barts is. Stabbings and shootings are pretty common, so Southwark is one of the better areas to work if you're in the police, to put it one way.

I wouldn't worry too much about crime though, unless you're very unfortunate, lack street smarts or decide for whatever reason to join a gang, there isn't too much to worry about with regards to living in a 'bad' area. This goes for GKT, Barts or Shottingham.

Pick a course based on what you think will suit your learning style or a place you think you'd like the most.

Don't be absurd. I was a student at Notts for 3 years and not once did I see a crime anywhere, on campus or in the city. A lot of the gang crime in Nottingham goes on 3-4 miles away from the campus in estates that you wouldn't need to go near for any reason, there is nothing down there.

You shouldn't choose a medical school for anything other than overall prestige of the school, and the university. Both Nottingham and KCL would be very good choices. Perhaps KCL will have more international students due to it being in London, so that could help you settle in better, plus you get the London experience. Nottingham as a city is ''okay''. But in reality you don't need to go in there much either. The campus at Nottingham is amazing, you have to see it to believe it, especially in summer. I didn't like the buildings and scenery for KCL in Southwark, it is quite bland and way behind the Holborn campus for looks.

Do you have a source for the statistics on the national exams? I've been looking for it but can't find it anywhere What do you mean by scandals? What kind of things?



Good to know. But asides from crime - what are the areas like?



I disagree, although of course the medical school and university are very important, since I'm going to be there for 5-6 years, I want to be in an area I like
Yes I love London so KCL is very tempting for that reason, although I visited Nottingham on a very good day and the campus was amazing!

Don't be absurd. I was a student at Notts for 3 years and not once did I see a crime anywhere, on campus or in the city. A lot of the gang crime in Nottingham goes on 3-4 miles away from the campus in estates that you wouldn't need to go near for any reason, there is nothing down there.

Good to know. But asides from crime - what are the areas like?

That was my point. That's why I explicitly said "I wouldn't worry too much about crime though, unless you're very unfortunate, lack street smarts or decide for whatever reason to join a gang, there isn't too much to worry about with regards to living in a 'bad' area."

Prestige is pretty much irrelevant when it comes to medicine, seeing as job applications are blind with regards to alma mater.


They're all fine. London is obviously going to be more expensive, but you will enjoy wherever you go.

Good to know. But asides from crime - what are the areas like?

Do you have a source for the statistics on the national exams? I've been looking for it but can't find it anywhere What do you mean by scandals? What kind of things?

http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g2621

They got really bad student satisfaction because they failed a load of finalists. They had to redo a whole exam because the lecturer had shown some of the questions to some students.
Also don't listen to the prestige person.

Hey everyone
I'm applying for 2015 entry, already decided on applying to Oxford, St Andrews, and UCL but can't decide between these three.
I got 10 A*, 1A at IGCSE, am predicted 44 points in the IB (Bio, Chem and English Lit HL all at 7), and got 792.5 Band 1 in the UKCAT.
I really liked the campus at Nottingham but have heard the city isn't too nice.
Barts is really high rated and I'd love to be in London but I've heard it's not in a very nice area. Also I'm not sure about PBL :/
Kings is not as high as Barts in the ranking (I know, league tables don't mean everything) and student satisfaction seems quite low (any Kings students know why this is?), but the area is nicer.
I didn't get to visit Barts or KCL.

Any opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated

Hey, I got offers from King's and Nottingham and decided to firm King's where I'll be starting this September. I visited both universities and what made me choose King's was the location and, surprisingly, the smaller campus.

At first when I visited Nottingham I really liked the massive campus with greenery everywhere, but then once you're out of the campus it's sort of just like any other city. However at King's the campus itself, Guy's campus, looks amazing even though it is smaller. It's dedicated to students doing medicine and medical related degrees, so it's focused a lot on that! The Gordon museum was another bonus, and the fact that it's in central London is amazing.

Anatomy is also taught by dissection, which I think Nottingham do as well, but that's just to let you know in case you didn't know already .

My stats in case you wanted to know:
GCSE: 7A* 5A and an A in the Additional Mathematics FSMQ
AS: AAA in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, and a Merit 1 in Pre-U Physics (similar to normal Physics)
UKCAT: 740 Band 2

Well done on getting this far already. I hope this helped a bit and good luck with everything!

Thanks a lot! Congrats on getting in

Thanks and one final tip; try to turn your nervousness into excitement before interviews. I got that from the book "The Knowledge" by Dr. Mona Kooner which helped me prepare for interviews a lot. Good luck!