Accept offer at UCL or re-apply??

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 1

Skill Twix

Original post by anastasiasays

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's really up to you!
If I were you,I would have gone with the UCL offer(2nd in the country according to the CUG rankings)

Reply 2

ForestCat

Original post by anastasiasays

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Take the UCL offer! You have done well to get a UCL offer, celebrate that!! Remember there is no guarantee you would get any offers next year, let alone an Oxford one and what would you do then?

Reply 3

anastasiasays

Original post by ForestCat

Take the UCL offer! You have done well to get a UCL offer, celebrate that!! Remember there is no guarantee you would get any offers next year, let alone an Oxford one and what would you do then?

Original post by Skill Twix

It's really up to you!
If I were you,I would have gone with the UCL offer(2nd in the country according to the CUG rankings)

Thank you for your replies! :smile:

I still have a few more interviews coming up but I really know next to nothing about the uni (!)

Plus the stress of medicine applications is horrible :frown:

Reply 4

Brachioradialis

You've got an offer to study one of the most competitive courses around, so go with it! When you're applying for your Foundation jobs, your university is blinded so it goes solely off your academic achievements. I'd take the offer :smile:

UCL is a fantastic university.

Reply 5

anonlad

Somebody in the year above me got into Oxford medicine and is really not enjoying it, besides, UCL is a top medical school and will set you up for a great career in medicine

Reply 6

TazzyBoo

I'd understand if it was a subject like French or Law, where it really does make a difference which university you go to in terms of graduate prospects. For Medicine, it really doesn't matter!!

Besides, you got into UCL!! Which is a really prestigious university with an awesome social life. My friends go there and they love it. I'm jealous of the number of clubbing photographs they post :smile:

I wouldn't take the risk of reapplying next year, seeing that Medicine is so competitive! But if you think that it's right for you, then go for it. Just remember, people end up loving whichever university they go to :smile:

Reply 7

TazzyBoo

Original post by anonlad

Somebody in the year above me got into Oxford medicine and is really not enjoying it, besides, UCL is a top medical school and will set you up for a great career in medicine

They're not enjoying it? That worries me a bit :s-smilie:

why not?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 8

acireric

I got rejected by Oxford (not for Medicine) too. Know it feels awful but why not take UCL's offer? It's really hard to get into Medicine so well done on that. It's UCL!

Reply 9

anonlad

Original post by TazzyBoo

They're not enjoying it? That worries me a bit :s-smilie:

why not?

I don't know her too well and haven't asked her directly. But I know she finds the workload really heavy and isn't satisfied with the nightlife & other social aspects of Oxford. I think she would have been better off in a bigger city

Reply 10

theresheglows

Original post by anastasiasays

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think you need to think about which is more important to you - studying medicine and becoming a doctor or going to Oxford. The standard of medical education is going to be high whichever university you go to, and UCL is an excellent uni anyway that a lot of med applicants would die to go to.

I was in a similar position 2 years ago. It's difficult to let go of the oxbridge dream, but I eventually realised that it would be foolish of me to turn down the offer I received from a very good med school on the off chance that I would get into my preferred uni the year after.

It's a huge risk to turn down a place for such a competitive course with no guarantee that you would get any offers the following application cycle, let alone from Oxford.

Incidentally, anonlad's comment about his friend at Oxford is not an uncommon thing to hear from oxford students, particularly medics. Oxford terms are short so the workload is especially intense and highly essay-based (one of my friends was writing 2-3 essays a week last term), another of my friends at oxford begged me not to apply there or to cambridge as it was making her so depressed.

The prestige of going to oxbridge is nice, but UCL is a prestigious uni as well, and at least they don't kick out around half their students after 3rd year. It might be a good idea to learn more about UCL, maybe visit them as well, you may well find that you like it there and like the look of their course as well :smile:

Reply 11

SiminaM

OMG if you decline UCL(UCL!!!!!!) for medicine because you only want to go to Oxford you are the ultimate posh bitch/jerk or extremely stupid and ungrateful. It's UCL!!!! I'm in shock that you are even thinking about that! Or you are a troll or in desperate need of attention...
Didn't mean to be rude sorry :smile:

CONGRATS IT'S ****ING UCL!!!! It's both amazing with academics and amazing with social life! Plus, you're in London think of how many career posobilities you have!
I myself would reject Oxford for UCL tbh... :colondollar:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 12

em.d_4

Original post by anastasiasays

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I nearly rejected a medical offer myself on the basis of where i'd prefer to go but think of it like this.
1) You may apply next year and get no offers who knows what happens, what if your interviews went pear shaped or your entry tests were a mess. You'd kick yourself forever.
2) Which is more important to you medicine or Oxford? If it's medicine you know what the answer to your question is. Consider whether it's the uni or the course you need perspective on. Perhaps it's worth a visit to UCL to remind yourself why you liked it and applied in the first place.
3) Everyone i know who's gone to uni loves it, and many aren't at their first choice of uni. Where you go may change your experience but you aren't going to regret going to UCL once you're there.
4) If you didn't get in this year there's a good chance you still won't get in to Oxford next year, in which case you will have essentially wasted a whole year and i have heard UCL do not like people who reject their offers then reapply so you wouldn't be able to go there.
5)

Reply 13

Ronove

Original post by SiminaM

Unless you have a problem whereby your hands type things you don't actually mean to say, then actually yes, I think you did mean to be rude...

How is being in London for university going to impact the OP's career as a doctor at all?

Reply 14

Brachioradialis

Original post by Ronove

How is being in London for university going to impact the OP's career as a doctor at all?

You might see some rarer cases but:

1) It's not guaranteed.
2) You get the same in any large city to an extent e.g. Manchester/Birmingham.
3) It's arguably not what's important anyway. Aims of a medical student are to master the basics well. Rare cases should come with further specialist training.

Reply 15

Zorg

Original post by MJK91

Even if you see rare cases it doesn't make a difference to your FPAS. London does have a research intensive environment which is nice, but again it makes no real difference later on as those opportunities can be accessed by students outside London if they really want them.
In essence, it really doesn't matter if it's in London.
The key thing is it's a medicine offer, that's 1 more than anything Oxford were willing to give. So OP snap it up and well done :wink:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

Hydromancer

Original post by Zorg

I would argue that these opportunities may be easier to come by if you are outside of London. Anecdotally, I understand that the rat-race for research and publications is particularly bad in London. I admit that some of the research in London/Oxbridge may be of outstanding quality but there really is no guarrantee you'd be able to access it.

To the OP, honestly if you didn't get into Oxbridge this year, why would you get in next year? Take your medicine offer and be glad you have one...many outstanding candidates do not even end up with one and, as others have pointed out, there's no guarantee you'd even get one offer next year. Your choice of university will have negligible impact on your medical career within the UK.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 17

Helenia

Original post by anastasiasays

Thank you for your replies! :smile:

I still have a few more interviews coming up but I really know next to nothing about the uni (!)

Plus the stress of medicine applications is horrible :frown:

Why have you applied to universities you don't know anything about? Use the time before your interviews to find out a bit more about the universities and courses, so that you have a better feel for whether you might like to go to those instead of UCL.

In general, I think if you've got an offer you should take it. If there's a reason you don't want to go to UCL specifically (though I have to wonder why you would apply there if that was the case?) and you get an offer for one of your other choices, take that one instead. If you just want another shot at Oxford, then think long and hard before pulling out this year and reapplying. Do you know why you didn't get in? Is it something you can fix by next year? What can you do to improve your application next time so that you not only get into Oxford, but still get offers elsewhere just in case Oxford turn you down again? It would be a very risky game.

Most people end up happy with whichever med school they go to. ALL of them will become doctors at the end if they pass, regardless of the "prestige" of their university.

Reply 18

iwishiwasclever

Original post by anastasiasays

So, (yet another medicine applications mishap) :s-smilie:

I am feeling awful (thanks Oxford for shattering my dreams. Hooray) :frown:

Would it be terrible to decline my offer from UCL & re-apply to Oxford next year for Medicine?? I really need some perspective. Bleh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

what was your bmat score if you don't mind me asking?