How do I know what course and uni to pick?

So I'm thinking of taking a biomedical sciences degree but I really do not know where to find the information I need to make me 100% sure that's what I want to do. I used to want to do a medical degree but my heart isn't fully there so I don't think it's worth the stress.

As for universities, I literally have no clue on the difference. I visited Oxford recently and I loved the city and the whole way their system works but that's very ambitious and that's basically the only preference I have. I went on the UCAS website to see the league tables but the only one I could find it for was "biological sciences" and I don't think this is the same thing.

Also, the thought of admissions tests kind of scare me but I know that Oxford requires a BMAT. How do I know which ones do which tests, or do most not require an admission test? Would it be stupid if I didn't apply to a university because I'd have to do a UCAT test?

Thanks and sorry for my lack of university knowledge

Firstly, no need to apologise for not knowing these things! Everyone has to start somewhere

For the university aspect, there are some key things to consider, and your preference will depend on you personally:

- city or campus university? City universities (e.g. Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol) are within the city itself, with accommodation and lecture halls spread out. Campus unis (e.g. York, Loughborough, Exeter) have a more central uni area, generally away from the city itself.
- big or small uni? Somewhere like Manchester is a big university with lots of students - would that appeal to you or overwhelm you?
- modern or old? Of course there’s the classic Oxbridge all the way to your more modern universities like Warwick. Do you mind what type of environment you’re studying in?
- collegiate? Oxbridge is collegiate, but other unis are too - Durham, York, Lancaster and Kent off the top of my head, so worth looking into these if you like the college idea.
- distance from home - do you want to get far away from home, or would you like to be able to pop back quite easily?

If you think about those questions (and of course that list isn’t expansive!) that may help angle you towards what you like and hopefully feel less overwhelmed.

Medicine is a career that if you’re not sure you want to do it, you should probably consider something else. In order to explore if you want to do it, why don’t you do simple research? I’m assuming you’re in year 12? Why not try out some free work experiences online to get to see what it’s like in a healthcare setting, maybe this should give you an idea of what you want to do.

As for universities, I don’t think it matter if you go to oxford or Cambridge for a medicine related degree as all medical school is GMC accredited. So if you genuinely want to go to it for other aspects, so maybe have a look at the teaching etc? As for the UCAT, it’s more of an aptitude test that requires some sort of comprehension. It can be prepared for, the most I’d advise is probably 3 weeks max, or maybe even more depending on how familiar you are with the structure. As for the BMAT, i didn’t sit it but I’m pretty sure you’re tested on GCSE knowledge content, for science and maths. If you found GCSE easy, then you sound, ideally, find this a nice way of proving that you’re academic enough.

That’s what I have to say but I’ll tag @ecolier to give a more professional advice since I’m just an applicant of medicine

Thank you so much! I don't exactly have many preferences but I would be nice to be within a few hours drive from home (I live in Bristol) and would prefer a big uni.

What is the point in the collegiate system? I'm still a bit confused on that.

Also, do you know where I can find out which universities require a BMAT/UCAT for biomedicine? I think Oxford does but then I couldn't see anything about it on the Cambridge website so I wasn't sure.

Thanks

So the college aspect will be slightly different at each university - at York, it’s just where you live and they host your freshers week (first introductory week at university) whereas they’re much more involved at somewhere like Oxbridge, so it’ll be worth having a look on each website just to see what they say. Generally, a benefit of a college is that it can make uni feel less overwhelming as you’re part of a smaller community!

Sounds like distance from Bristol may be a good way to start to narrowing down some choices - for example would London be too far? Consider both by car and public transport as chances are you may need to utilise both of these.