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I need to make a decision like right now and I need somebody to make me confident in

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Reply 20
[QUOTE="kmedicine2016;66318072"]
Original post by sami2k16
Sure, but why not in Scotland?

Or do a BSc in Scotland for free as a EU student, doesn't really matter. I was just trying to get across that it would probably be cheaper and easier to do an undergrad degree here followed by going straight into grad medicine here.




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Yes it's cheaper though money is not the only factor I am considering. Thank you :smile:.
Reply 21
Another, cheaper option would be to attend a community college first and then transfer to a university. Then I would be able to be in California for 2 years at least.

Is Abertay University reputable? I heard many different things.
Original post by sami2k16
Another, cheaper option would be to attend a community college first and then transfer to a university. Then I would be able to be in California for 2 years at least.

Is Abertay University reputable? I heard many different things.


I'm not familiar with the exact Abertay course, but I imagine that it's quite vocational, with the focus on preparing you to work as a biomedical scientist in the NHS (versus at somewhere like Dundee where there's more of a focus on preparing you for a PhD and research/academia). Abertay offer a clinical placement in third year which gets you automatic HCPC qualification after you've graduated, for example, which is great if you want to be a biomedical scientist but not relevant if you want to do medicine.

Dundee is a great student city and lots of fun (so I hear ... I'm heading there next year so I hope this is the case!). The cost if living is very cheap by UK standards.

In terms of Abertay's reputation, it's a modern and vocational university, which means that it's poorly regarded in the UK. We tend to look down on universities that provide useful and practical skills for the workplace, and elevate universities that teach exclusively academic subjects without any focus on vocational skills ('proper' universities teach Latin, not videogame design). To put it bluntly, nobody in the UK will be impressed that you went to Abertay, in the way that they'd be impressed if you went to Oxford/Cambridge, London, or even a Russell Group.

But if you're applying to graduate medical courses in the UK or Ireland, getting a First or a 2.1 is far more important than where studied. And although name recognition might matter more overseas, this may be as simple as 'Oxbridge vs non-Oxbridge' - I'm fairly sure that US medical school application boards won't have the faintest idea of how Abertay compares with Dundee or Durham or Manchester.
Reply 23
Original post by prospectivemed56
I'm not familiar with the exact Abertay course, but I imagine that it's quite vocational, with the focus on preparing you to work as a biomedical scientist in the NHS (versus at somewhere like Dundee where there's more of a focus on preparing you for a PhD and research/academia). Abertay offer a clinical placement in third year which gets you automatic HCPC qualification after you've graduated, for example, which is great if you want to be a biomedical scientist but not relevant if you want to do medicine.

Dundee is a great student city and lots of fun (so I hear ... I'm heading there next year so I hope this is the case!). The cost if living is very cheap by UK standards.

In terms of Abertay's reputation, it's a modern and vocational university, which means that it's poorly regarded in the UK. We tend to look down on universities that provide useful and practical skills for the workplace, and elevate universities that teach exclusively academic subjects without any focus on vocational skills ('proper' universities teach Latin, not videogame design). To put it bluntly, nobody in the UK will be impressed that you went to Abertay, in the way that they'd be impressed if you went to Oxford/Cambridge, London, or even a Russell Group.

But if you're applying to graduate medical courses in the UK or Ireland, getting a First or a 2.1 is far more important than where studied. And although name recognition might matter more overseas, this may be as simple as 'Oxbridge vs non-Oxbridge' - I'm fairly sure that US medical school application boards won't have the faintest idea of how Abertay compares with Dundee or Durham or Manchester.


Thank you! The placement is offered in the applied route only. I'm choosing the standard route which is relevant to medicine (that's what's written on their website). However, I would intend to change to the University of Dundee in Year 2 if I chose Scotland.

Compared to Robert Gordon University, is Abertay better or worse?
Reply 24
If just anybody could comment on that. Robert Gordon have a 3 year course in Biomedical Science that is available in Clearing and I think I'd be able to get into if I wanted. Are they better or worse than Abertay?
Original post by sami2k16
If just anybody could comment on that. Robert Gordon have a 3 year course in Biomedical Science that is available in Clearing and I think I'd be able to get into if I wanted. Are they better or worse than Abertay?


Try on the Scotland forum; neither has a medical school so you're unlikely to get much information from us folks on this thread...
Original post by sami2k16
If just anybody could comment on that. Robert Gordon have a 3 year course in Biomedical Science that is available in Clearing and I think I'd be able to get into if I wanted. Are they better or worse than Abertay?


Neither of them are considered very highly tbh. The Scottish unis most people will be moderately impressed by are Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and then maybe Dundee and Aberdeen. AFAIK the rest are all newish and there's not much to differentiate them.

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Reply 27
Original post by prospectivemed56
Try on the Scotland forum; neither has a medical school so you're unlikely to get much information from us folks on this thread...


Original post by Helenia
Neither of them are considered very highly tbh. The Scottish unis most people will be moderately impressed by are Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and then maybe Dundee and Aberdeen. AFAIK the rest are all newish and there's not much to differentiate them.

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Thanks to both of you :smile:.
My favorite is the US, then the UK. I'll look forward to make a decision in the next few days.
Reply 28
Sounds to me like part of you has already decided

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Reply 29
Original post by Andy98
Sounds to me like part of you has already decided

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Would this be a bad thing? Yes, somehow I know what I want but I'll need to check because of the finances.
Reply 30
Original post by sami2k16
Would this be a bad thing? Yes, somehow I know what I want but I'll need to check because of the finances.


Well I don't know how the finances work in other countries so I can't really advise in that respect other than tell you to make sure it's affordable. But honestly, if you don't follow your heart you'll regret it.

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