what degree should i do?

Hi guys,

I need some help on choosing a degree. I know most people know what they want but for me it is a bit complicated. I am a resit student (18 M). From year 12 (sep 2021), I've visioned applying to medicine, i did the ucat in summer 2022, but did terribly think i got like 2200 or something on those lines, but to be comfortable you needed 2600+. So when i started yr13 in sep 2022, i was told and advised that if I still wanted to study medicine, i should do a bioscience degree and then do medicine as a postgraduate. I chose biomedical science as it was the most general degree for students aiming to do medicine as a postgrad. I put no thought into it at all, i didn't even no what biomed was about. I got offers from kcl, qmul and Warick. On results day Aug 2023, everything came down because i got bbc, when I predicted AAA. So i decided to retake, i just wasn't satisfied, I worked so hard to get an A but I guess not hard enough.

I just don't know where to go. i would like a stable job through my degree in my early 20s, i need one to fulfil my parent's dream of buying a house. I know it seems far-fetched but that is one of many reasons, I am the only child and we are not financially well-off. And if i were to pursue medicine, it would take me an additional 5 years, so I would graduate with two degrees by the age of 27, that is if all goes to plan and to do this i would need to do a bioscience degree which I am not fond of (e.g.Anatomy, Developmental & Human Biology; Biochemistry; Biomedical Sciences; Medical Physiology; Molecular Genetics; Neuroscience; and Pharmacology). I've always had a desire to do medicine and a lot of people have suggested that it is my parents who are making me do medicine but no it's not them its me, I want to do it. But I'll have to do a degree i don't like in between is what i don't like and on top of that job probably won't offer me a stable job or i won't be able to do a job if I was going to study medicine next. I know some may say to medicine abroad and I've looked into it but I will have to pay for everything upfront and even though the tuition fees do seem cheaper than in the UK and I do work part-time, it is just that my family's money nor my money will be sufficient funding for that.

The next option is to forget the idea of doing medicine and to something i am academically good at and that is chemistry as a degree. But if I were to do this I can't do medicine as a postgrad as it is not a bioscience degree. This makes me sad because the medicine will go but at least i could do something i like. But what jobs can i get with that, is also a question and also what jobs can i get with any bioscience degrees, i settled for biomedical science but I haven't looked into the other bioscience degrees. I'm planning to send my application in mid-January.

Sorry if this sounds confusing, its because I am confused and I thank you for reading.

That's quite depressing, I must say

Hi guys,

I need some help on choosing a degree. I know most people know what they want but for me it is a bit complicated. I am a resit student (18 M). From year 12 (sep 2021), I've visioned applying to medicine, i did the ucat in summer 2022, but did terribly think i got like 2200 or something on those lines, but to be comfortable you needed 2600+. So when i started yr13 in sep 2022, i was told and advised that if I still wanted to study medicine, i should do a bioscience degree and then do medicine as a postgraduate. I chose biomedical science as it was the most general degree for students aiming to do medicine as a postgrad. I put no thought into it at all, i didn't even no what biomed was about. I got offers from kcl, qmul and Warick. On results day Aug 2023, everything came down because i got bbc, when I predicted AAA. So i decided to retake, i just wasn't satisfied, I worked so hard to get an A but I guess not hard enough.

I just don't know where to go. i would like a stable job through my degree in my early 20s, i need one to fulfil my parent's dream of buying a house. I know it seems far-fetched but that is one of many reasons, I am the only child and we are not financially well-off. And if i were to pursue medicine, it would take me an additional 5 years, so I would graduate with two degrees by the age of 27, that is if all goes to plan and to do this i would need to do a bioscience degree which I am not fond of (e.g.Anatomy, Developmental & Human Biology; Biochemistry; Biomedical Sciences; Medical Physiology; Molecular Genetics; Neuroscience; and Pharmacology). I've always had a desire to do medicine and a lot of people have suggested that it is my parents who are making me do medicine but no it's not them its me, I want to do it. But I'll have to do a degree i don't like in between is what i don't like and on top of that job probably won't offer me a stable job or i won't be able to do a job if I was going to study medicine next. I know some may say to medicine abroad and I've looked into it but I will have to pay for everything upfront and even though the tuition fees do seem cheaper than in the UK and I do work part-time, it is just that my family's money nor my money will be sufficient funding for that.

The next option is to forget the idea of doing medicine and to something i am academically good at and that is chemistry as a degree. But if I were to do this I can't do medicine as a postgrad as it is not a bioscience degree. This makes me sad because the medicine will go but at least i could do something i like. But what jobs can i get with that, is also a question and also what jobs can i get with any bioscience degrees, i settled for biomedical science but I haven't looked into the other bioscience degrees. I'm planning to send my application in mid-January.

Sorry if this sounds confusing, its because I am confused and I thank you for reading.

Generally aiming to do medicine as a graduate before you even start a degree is a bad idea. It's much more competitive to get into graduate entry medicine, it costs more out of pocket (you need to pay the first third of the fees first year yourself), and takes longer to qualify. The normal recommendation would be to take a gap year, resit the UCAT (+/- A-levels), and reapply. Which seems to have been your plan but then you didn't do that? It's a bit unclear if you are in a gap year now or not.

Note graduate entry medicine degrees are 4 years long. You can still apply to standard entry medicine degrees (5-6 years) but in that case you have to self fund tuition fees for the first 4 years. For most people that is not practical. Also note that graduate entry medicine courses do not all require bioscience degrees. Many just require a science degree of any kind. A fair number actually accept graduates from any degree subject, including humanities and social sciences subjects.

Something to bear in mind is that being a junior doctor may not be quite as "stable" a job as you think for your mid 20s. It's stable in the sense of a routine paycheque yes, but the rotational style of training for doctors means you'd be based in a different specialty, which may be in a different hospital, and may even be in a different city (which for some regions, might be in a different county!). There's a lot of chop and change in that stage of a medics career I understand.

Also you should realise that not doing medicine doesn't mean you won't have a job. As that would mean most graduates don't get a job, which is demonstrably false. You may need to recognise though that most graduates don't work in a field related to their subject of study and most graduate schemes have no requirements as to what degree subject you did.

You may want to consider taking another year out, retaking the UCAT, and seeing if you still want to reapply to medicine. And in the meantime, actually figuring out how these different options work (as you're making a lot of assumptions about graduate entry medicine which are not true, for example) and what other options there are in life otherwise.

Hi, sorry if I am too clear. I am retaking my A levels as i got bbc and wanted an A. My initial plan was to do the ucat this year, summer 2023 and I was preparing for it but i was told by family and friends, on results day that no sane teacher will predict your A*AA when you got BBC. So i dropped that idea and thought I could go through the postgrad route. I agree it does seem much harder to get into medicine via postgrad as you will need to fund most of it by yourself. I know what you mean by my categorisation of the stable is wrong and by looking at the news it does seem that you are correct. but for me stable is knowing that i can have a job as a doctor no matter where i practise if it is here or abroad, another thing that attracts me is how rewarding it is and how its not the same thing every day and seeing people who work cooperate jobs sitting at a desk 9-5 for the rest of the lives, does not attract me at all. Do you know anything about doing medicine abroad and if student loans will be offered.

Doubt you'll get student loans for doing medicine outside of the UK. SFE is a UK funding body, they fund degrees done in the UK (generally).

Just do the UCAT still and see how your resits go then make a decision.

If you want to apply to something else in the meantime by all means do that too - you aren't obligated to go if you end up getting a good UCAT result and A-level results and decide you want to do another gap year to reapply to medicine.