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Imperial or UCL for medicine?

So I have offers to do medicine at Imperial and UCL (they are asking for the same grades). Problem is I liked them both so much I have literally no idea which one to firm (didn't expect to get into eiher so wasn't expecting to be in this position haha). UCL has a reputation for being more 'fun' but I have heard people say it doesn't have much of a friendly community atmosphere - I guess this is a problem for all London unis, and I think medics are a pretty friendly bunch anywhere. I did feel as though I was treated more like an individual at my UCL interview and liked the way they preferred medics to offer contrast (non-science) subjects, although the year group there is bigger so I'm not sure if this will continue when I actually get there. I also think the teaching hospitals at UCL are marginally better but Imperial scores more highly on the 2014 REF for its medical research and I think I might be wanting to go into research so I'm not sure, the medical students there said the preclinical teaching is really good too. Seems like everything else like location etc. is just personal preference and I'm not fussed either way. Does anyone have any advice? Which one would you choose?
Original post by medics_r_us
So I have offers to do medicine at Imperial and UCL (they are asking for the same grades). Problem is I liked them both so much I have literally no idea which one to firm (didn't expect to get into eiher so wasn't expecting to be in this position haha). UCL has a reputation for being more 'fun' but I have heard people say it doesn't have much of a friendly community atmosphere - I guess this is a problem for all London unis, and I think medics are a pretty friendly bunch anywhere. I did feel as though I was treated more like an individual at my UCL interview and liked the way they preferred medics to offer contrast (non-science) subjects, although the year group there is bigger so I'm not sure if this will continue when I actually get there. I also think the teaching hospitals at UCL are marginally better but Imperial scores more highly on the 2014 REF for its medical research and I think I might be wanting to go into research so I'm not sure, the medical students there said the preclinical teaching is really good too. Seems like everything else like location etc. is just personal preference and I'm not fussed either way. Does anyone have any advice? Which one would you choose?


Reading your post, I get the impression your gut is telling you to go for UCL - would you say that's fair? If so, I'd say go with it.

Forget about all that REF stuff, it will make very little difference to you as an undergraduate.

I think it's definitely important to consider which part of London you're happier living in. North London will be a bit cheaper to rent in compared to West London, and it definitely is more fun imho. Fulham Broadway over the Roxy and Camden? As if :wink:
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Original post by Democracy
Reading your post, I get the impression your gut is telling you to go for UCL - would you say that's fair? If so, I'd say go with it.

Forget about all that REF stuff, it will make very little difference to you as an undergraduate.

I think it's definitely important to consider which part of London you're happier living in. North London will be a bit cheaper to rent in compared to West London, and it definitely is more fun imho. Fulham Broadway over the Roxy and Camden? As if :wink:


Thanks for that it's really helpful. :smile: When I originally applied I definitely would have said my gut was telling me UCL, due to the whole appreciation of humanities and teaching hospitals but having visited Imperial I'm not sure, the medics there were really nice and dispelled any stereotypes I'd heard about Imperial students :s-smilie:. I was wondering about doing the intercalated PhD programme - do you still think it won't make any difference? Haha, I get what you mean about location but I spoke to a second year at UCL who said they all live in Hounslow now anyway, seems to make little difference when you get kicked out of halls.
@usycool1 care to weigh in on what Imperial is actually like?
Original post by medics_r_us
Thanks for that it's really helpful. :smile:


I shall try to be impartial... :tongue:

When I originally applied I definitely would have said my gut was telling me UCL, due to the whole appreciation of humanities and teaching hospitals but having visited Imperial I'm not sure, the medics there were really nice and dispelled any stereotypes I'd heard about Imperial students :s-smilie:.


The Imperial stereotype is anything but true for the Med Students here tbh. Pretty much everyone here does enjoy having a good time and if you do decide to come here, I'm sure you'll meet people who share similar interests to you (you will at UCL too, if you decide to go there).

I've only been here for a few months and can only really tell things from a pre-clinical perspective. However, here is what I've liked and disliked so far at Imperial. It's subjective though and I can't compare with how things are done at UCL.

Pros:
- Most lecturers actually give pretty decent lectures, and they really do know their stuff. They're also always very willing to answer questions and usually reply to your emails quickly.
- There's early patient contact if that appeals to you. We're not taught any examinations or stuff like that in first year (although there is a practical in the first term where you take blood from each other and analyse it, but that's just on each other) but you're assigned a chronically ill patient who you visit throughout the year.
- Dissection as well if that appeals to you.
- The Medical Student Union's welfare team is actually pretty supportive when you need it.
- This one depends on who you're assigned, but my personal tutor is absolutely amazing in providing support. As I said though, it will vary between each tutor.
- They're constantly asking for feedback on how to improve and they do act on it if you have an issue.
- We get free iPad minis.
- We have Sohag. That is all. :tongue: (He's basically a legend of a tutor/lecturer who we have and everyone loves him).

Cons:
- There's a rather boring part of the course (called society and health) and it's not particularly well taught or organised IMO. For most of it, you do wonder what the point is.
- Epidemiology isn't really well taught either.
- PBL - I've not yet met anyone here who's liked it. We don't have many sessions on it though, thankfully.
- The online learning tool thing is down often and it's very annoying when you're trying to revise.
- South Kensington is expensive! Although I do like the area in general.
- As I'm sure you know, you have to intercalate in 4th year but you start doing some lab reports and stuff that count towards it from Year 1. It is a little annoying.

I'm not really sure as to how things work at UCL but some of my friends who are there also seem to like it. You may also want to look into intercalation options at both and when we intercalate. We do it in 4th year and I *think* UCL do it in third year in case that sways you in any way. :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Please don't let the REF influence your decision. Both UCL and Imperial are perfectly good launchpads into any clinical specialty and/or a research career. There will be a different arbitrary metric for measuring research quality by the time you qualify and it won't influence your undergraduate experience or opportunities anyway.

To a certain extent your decision doesn't really "matter" - you will almost certainly enjoy whichever course you choose and will be convinced that it was the right choice. The year groups are big enough that you will find like minded students at either medical school.

My experience of Imperial is that it does produce a higher proportion of "competitive" graduates than other medical schools. This might be an unpopular view and I accept entirely that it is based only on my own anecdotal experience. I have no doubt that the vast majority of Imperial students are grounded and friendly team players. I always found the UCL students to be very balanced and more relaxed.

DOI: Worked as a doctor for two years in London and briefly as a teaching fellow at UCL.
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My best friend is a medic at UCL and was in your position a year ago. He's loving every minute and never looked back. I do Economics at UCL and I'm so jel of the medics and their social life and close friend groups
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Thank you so much that really helps.

You may also want to look into intercalation options at both and when we intercalate. We do it in 4th year and I *think* UCL do it in third year in case that sways you in any way. :smile:


Yeah I like the way Imperial intercalate in 4th year so you have a year of clinical experience behind you first - you have more idea of which specialty you might want to go into, so can choose an intercalated degree relevnt to it. :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
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Original post by MonteCristo

DOI: Worked as a doctor for two years in London and briefly as a teaching fellow at UCL.


Thank you so much for your insight. By 'competitive' do you mean more able to compete effectively for jobs etc or just more competitively minded?
Original post by medics_r_us
Thank you so much for your insight. By 'competitive' do you mean more able to compete effectively for jobs etc or just more competitively minded?


Definitely not the former - Imperial and UCL will provide exactly the same range of opportunities for their students. You will find that some students at medical school are very competitively minded (not wanting to share notes, always wanting to be top scorer, etc) and others are more cooperative (studying together, trying to get everyone through). I don't want to parody Imperial students as all being in the competitive camp (both schools will include the full range of personalities!) but my impression is that the culture there is subtly more competitive than at UCL.

Your medical school doesn't matter very much in terms of competing for jobs but, if it did, I don't think anyone would distinguish between Imperial and UCL. They are both excellent medical schools.

Well done on finding yourself in this position by the way!
Original post by medics_r_us
x

Hi, I'm a first year at UCL and would definitely recommend - I'm having a really good time!
Having read usycool1's list of pros and cons I can tell you a lot of them are quite similar. Most of the lecturers are good, we do dissection which is fun and they're also really keen on feedback. We don't have much patient contact early on (two one-morning-long placements in first year and two discussions where people have come in to talk to us) but we have learnt some clinical skills - taking blood pressure manually and simplified chest and abdominal examinations. I would also say that the medic community is really supportive - all the older years are really friendly and more than happy to give advice. I think its probably fair that UCL medics have a reputation for being quite chilled.
For cons we also have an annoying and poorly taught part of the course (CPP) which is about wider health issues. For this the timetabling is bad and its not structured well at all. Others would be that there could definitely be more communication from the medical school itself and sometimes it does feel a bit like you're left on your own to work out what's going on.
We intercalate in third year but have no work to do towards that now, and you're right that the mbphd programme is something quite unique and the people who get on to it are pretty highly respected (at least by us freshers(!)).
Original post by violin101
Hi, I'm a first year at UCL and would definitely recommend - I'm having a really good time!
Having read usycool1's list of pros and cons I can tell you a lot of them are quite similar. Most of the lecturers are good, we do dissection which is fun and they're also really keen on feedback. We don't have much patient contact early on (two one-morning-long placements in first year and two discussions where people have come in to talk to us) but we have learnt some clinical skills - taking blood pressure manually and simplified chest and abdominal examinations. I would also say that the medic community is really supportive - all the older years are really friendly and more than happy to give advice. I think its probably fair that UCL medics have a reputation for being quite chilled.
For cons we also have an annoying and poorly taught part of the course (CPP) which is about wider health issues. For this the timetabling is bad and its not structured well at all. Others would be that there could definitely be more communication from the medical school itself and sometimes it does feel a bit like you're left on your own to work out what's going on.
We intercalate in third year but have no work to do towards that now, and you're right that the mbphd programme is something quite unique and the people who get on to it are pretty highly respected (at least by us freshers(!)).


Thank you so much for your reply. Done a lot of thinking and am currently leaning towards UCL - so I may hopefully see you around next year!
Original post by medics_r_us
So I have offers to do medicine at Imperial and UCL (they are asking for the same grades). Problem is I liked them both so much I have literally no idea which one to firm (didn't expect to get into eiher so wasn't expecting to be in this position haha). UCL has a reputation for being more 'fun' but I have heard people say it doesn't have much of a friendly community atmosphere - I guess this is a problem for all London unis, and I think medics are a pretty friendly bunch anywhere. I did feel as though I was treated more like an individual at my UCL interview and liked the way they preferred medics to offer contrast (non-science) subjects, although the year group there is bigger so I'm not sure if this will continue when I actually get there. I also think the teaching hospitals at UCL are marginally better but Imperial scores more highly on the 2014 REF for its medical research and I think I might be wanting to go into research so I'm not sure, the medical students there said the preclinical teaching is really good too. Seems like everything else like location etc. is just personal preference and I'm not fussed either way. Does anyone have any advice? Which one would you choose?


hi, i know this is late but i really wanna know, im applying for med at imperial and UCL but my predicted is AAA in maths bio chem, i got AAAB in AS, B in bio but im resitting to hopefully i can get an A, do i have a chance of getting an offer?

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