The Student Room Group

Intercalated degree advice please!

Hey,

I'm a third year medic intercalating this Sept.
I've received 2 offers to two very different unis and courses;
One is an iBSc at UCL (amazing uni) and the other is an MRes at Brighton (great course).

I'm finding it SO difficult with deciding which to accept as both have pros and cons. I go to King's so already know London and the social life here well so I know I'd enjoy UCL, and I believe and iBSc is less intense than a Masters.
On the other hand, a Masters will look super impressive for my future and I've never been to Brighton uni so would be nice to try a different city.

Does anyone who's done an MRes have any advice/experience they could share with regards to the difficulty of it? I'm guessing it's a LOT harder than a BSc... will it have an affect on my social life/free time?

Thanks :smile:
Original post by FriendlyMedic
Hey,

I'm a third year medic intercalating this Sept.
I've received 2 offers to two very different unis and courses;
One is an iBSc at UCL (amazing uni) and the other is an MRes at Brighton (great course).

I'm finding it SO difficult with deciding which to accept as both have pros and cons. I go to King's so already know London and the social life here well so I know I'd enjoy UCL, and I believe and iBSc is less intense than a Masters.
On the other hand, a Masters will look super impressive for my future and I've never been to Brighton uni so would be nice to try a different city.

Does anyone who's done an MRes have any advice/experience they could share with regards to the difficulty of it? I'm guessing it's a LOT harder than a BSc... will it have an affect on my social life/free time?

Thanks :smile:

I’ve done an MSc which is different from an MRes as I had taught units whereas you would being doing just the project. Masters is essentially your life, you will have a lot less free time than during a BSc (I graduated with a first class degree and still found masters intense). But you will still have time for clubs/societies and for going out so it is not all isolating yourself away in the library. As you said it will definitely look good on your CV but think about the workload. I had a medic join my year for the masters and they found it extremely intense (think they thought because it was rather medical related they would walk it - it’s really not that easy).
Original post by SweetSummerx
I’ve done an MSc which is different from an MRes as I had taught units whereas you would being doing just the project. Masters is essentially your life, you will have a lot less free time than during a BSc (I graduated with a first class degree and still found masters intense). But you will still have time for clubs/societies and for going out so it is not all isolating yourself away in the library. As you said it will definitely look good on your CV but think about the workload. I had a medic join my year for the masters and they found it extremely intense (think they thought because it was rather medical related they would walk it - it’s really not that easy).

Thanks so much for your reply! Yeah you're right it's a lot to consider. Do you have any idea if an MRes is any easier or harder than a MSc?
Original post by FriendlyMedic
Thanks so much for your reply! Yeah you're right it's a lot to consider. Do you have any idea if an MRes is any easier or harder than a MSc?

I guess it really depends on your work style, if you like doing research projects then you will like the MRes, but if you don’t like the idea of writing a long dissertation then it is probably not for you. As far a difficulty goes having not done an MRes it is hard to make a comparison but I would imagine that as they are both masters degrees they would be of a similar level. So really comes down to whether you want a structure of lectures, essays and exams or whether you want to do your own research
Original post by FriendlyMedic
Hey,

I'm a third year medic intercalating this Sept.
I've received 2 offers to two very different unis and courses;
One is an iBSc at UCL (amazing uni) and the other is an MRes at Brighton (great course).

I'm finding it SO difficult with deciding which to accept as both have pros and cons. I go to King's so already know London and the social life here well so I know I'd enjoy UCL, and I believe and iBSc is less intense than a Masters.
On the other hand, a Masters will look super impressive for my future and I've never been to Brighton uni so would be nice to try a different city.

Does anyone who's done an MRes have any advice/experience they could share with regards to the difficulty of it? I'm guessing it's a LOT harder than a BSc... will it have an affect on my social life/free time?

Thanks :smile:

May I ask what your iBSC at ucl is, and what course your MRes is at BSMS?
Original post by medicdbsahjv
May I ask what your iBSC at ucl is, and what course your MRes is at BSMS?

Sure - UCL is Primary Care Research while Brighton is Stress, Ageing and Chronic Disease.
What're your thoughts?

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