Cardiff vs Liverpool for medicine

Hi,

I have received an offer to study medicine at cardiff and liverpool; liverpool's offer is for deferred entry in 2024. I did really like liverpool but given how long the course already is, i dont rlly want to take a year out if i dont rlly have to. Which is better in terms of cost of living, course structure, city life etc.; would appreciate any personal experiences at either uni

why exactly are you not sure about taking a year out

my Asian parents let me take a year out - mainly because I got good grades and had no offers because I had bad predicted grades. I think its gonna have to depend on your own opinion at the end of the day because if you do take a gap year you have a guaranteed place and could do driving and a job without having to worry about UCAS and the ucat .

Hi,

I have received an offer to study medicine at cardiff and liverpool; liverpool's offer is for deferred entry in 2024. I did really like liverpool but given how long the course already is, i dont rlly want to take a year out if i dont rlly have to. Which is better in terms of cost of living, course structure, city life etc.; would appreciate any personal experiences at either uni

That’s a different situation though, you didn’t actually have any offers so it was warranted. If you already have a place at a university and you still want to take a year out then some parents will be a bit concerned with that decision because it seems a bit risky. You kind of had to take a year out.

I'm currently a first year at Cardiff so here's my take on things:
Cost of living on the whole is not too bad, despite it being a capital city it's relatively cheap. Compared to some of my friends at other unis I seem to have much lower rent than them.
Course structure is case based learning for the first 2 years. Essentially each case lasts 2 weeks and we do some self directed stuff supported by lectures and tutorials in order to learn things related to each case. We also have placement once a week from January of year 1. CBL starts in January and in the first semester we do something called PCS (platform for clinical sciences) which is essentially a level but with a bit extra in a very short space of time! This is most people's least favourite part of the course but honestly I didn't find it too bad and it gave us a really good baseline knowledge for starting CBL. I have found the course to be a good fit for me so far as it is a good ratio between self directed learning and actual teaching.
City life is amazing, one of the best parts of Cardiff! The SU holds club nights twice a week (and more in freshers!) and they are probs the most popular nights out, particularly on a Wednesday night. There are also many other popular club places such as PRYZM and live lounge amongst many others. If you're not into clubbing the shopping is also really good too, they have pretty much every shop you could think of (apart from pull and bear lol). There are also lots of really nice cafes, bars and restaurants and nearby places such as Barry, Penarth and Newport which are good to visit.

I honestly can't compare it to Liverpool as they rejected me last year lol but if you do come to Cardiff you will love it! Everyone is so friendly and the staff are really supportive. It's a massive cohort so you will be sure to find your people

At the end of the day you have to make the decision that is best for you. If you think you'd be happier at Liverpool, I wouldn't be worried about taking a year out. A large proportion of the people in my year took gap years and there is honestly not a divide at all. A year is a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things so what I would do is make a list of pros and cons for each place so you can fairly assess your options. Good luck and if you have any questions about Cardiff I would be happy to answer!

Omg thank you so much for taking the time to write all this…it’s greatly appreciated and very helpful!!