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Reply 1
at oxbridge i think medicine is just a slightly harder to get into but law is also extremely competetive!
Reply 2
My twin sister had an offer from Penisula Med School of AB at A Level, one of which had to be Biology I think, and a few points. I had an offer for Law from Cardiff, not that high up in the tables for Law, of AAB at A Level. So I had a harder offer! However you can get on a Law course with much lower grades than this, while with Medicine that is about as easy an offer as you can get.
erm, difficult if not impossible question. Depends if you're sciency or not really. (stating the obvious). In terms of workload medicine here at Oxford has much more timetabled work so that means very little free time in the day out of labs. This does mean evenings are free so you get a social life. Law on the other hand has much less structured work and far more independent reading. Law has a greater emphasis on essay writing. Be prepared to work hard for either tho!
Reply 4
phil1988
Generally, which is the more difficult degree to a) get into and b) do, law or medicine?

*when all are one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll*



Medicine is harder to get into generally However if u look at most unis Economics is the probably one of the hardest courses to get into e.g. @ oxford Economics and Management is the hardest course to get into...
i'm off to read law but would probably say medicine would be overall more demanding. I think if i wanted to i could handle medicine though.

With medicine you would need to put in the work throughout the year whilst with law i think you could swat up near the exams.
Reply 6
i thought law(a) is harder to get into than medicine? :confused:
phil1988
Generally, which is the more difficult degree to a) get into and b) do, law or medicine?

*when all are one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll*


I'd say law for both. You don't need to be particularly academic for medicine, you just need to be hard-working and have the right personality. Just look at the sample paper on the BMAT website. It's pretty simple stuff.

HamaL
Medicine is harder to get into generally However if u look at most unis Economics is the probably one of the hardest courses to get into e.g. @ oxford Economics and Management is the hardest course to get into...


Simple application to place ratios aren't very good indicators of difficulty. I'd say maths (at Cambridge) and english are probably the most difficult to get into because the standard of applicants is so high.
phil1988
Generally, which is the more difficult degree to a) get into and b) do, law or medicine?

*when all are one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll*


For a), I am not really sure. But in my country, medicine is definitely more popular and harder to get into.

As for b), both are great courses. But I would think it's pretty unfair to pick either choices. They are both 2 different aspects of studying. It's really down to the individual in whether does he/she has the interest and passion to study.

Every discipline is hard if you don't put your heart into studying it.
Reply 9
they are completely different disciplines so it isnt really comparable.
Reply 10
viviki
they are completely different disciplines so it isnt really comparable.


Yeah it depends if you are an arts/essay type person or science and practical type of person, yes i know you do write essays in medicine too!

Law seems to be more oversubscribed, there are so many wannabe solicitors and barristers out there! (myself not really included!)

You dont get medicine offered at lower tier unis, its a subject only those with true ability can do, you wont find a DDE med offer at former poly's. But Law is now avaliable throughout the spectrum of unis, so if you dont care where you go and write a decent enough PS im sure you could blag your way into some law course.
Ladyluck
Yeah it depends if you are an arts/essay type person or science and practical type of person, yes i know you do write essays in medicine too!

Law seems to be more oversubscribed, there are so many wannabe solicitors and barristers out there! (myself not really included!)

You dont get medicine offered at lower tier unis, its a subject only those with true ability can do, you wont find a DDE med offer at former poly's. But Law is now avaliable throughout the spectrum of unis, so if you dont care where you go and write a decent enough PS im sure you could blag your way into some law course.


thats true, there is no room for blaggers in medicine, but loadsa room in law! (well perhaps a bit anyway!)
Missmoneypenny
thats true, there is no room for blaggers in medicine, but loadsa room in law! (well perhaps a bit anyway!)


True, there's lots of room.. but the quality of the discipline is being compromised, sad to say.
it's definately a lot easier to get on a law degree than medicine. medicine is also a much longer degree and requires a more dedication (although to do well in law you obviously need to be really hardworking too).
Reply 14
I have a feeling that there may be more law schools than med schools, and as someone has already said you can get into law with lower the ABB(the min grades for med). I would say that medicine is harder overall as you are not just assessed on your ability in exams and essays, but with people and manual skills and other such things. It is also 5/6 years and so the determination and commitment levels would need to be higher for such a sustained and long period of learning.
Reply 15
I have a feeling that there may be more law schools than med schools, and as someone has already said you can get into law with lower the ABB(the min grades for med). Your choice is also restricted to 4 options with medicine and you can apply for 6 law schools so the chance of being made an offer is much higher. I would say that medicine is harder overall as you are not just assessed on your ability in exams and essays, but with people and manual skills and other such things. It is also 5/6 years and so the determination and commitment levels would need to be higher for such a sustained and long period of learning.
Reply 16
I'm applying to study law, and my girlfriend is applying to study medicine, so I thought I'd offer my opinion.

Law is studied at so many more institutions, so I'm only really going to count the top Law schools to give a fair comparison.

I'm predicted 4As, my girlfriend 5As - so very similar grades. She had a lot more work experience than I had as well.

I've come out with 4 offers from 5 so far, whereas she has got 1 from 4... The typical offers for my courses are higher than hers, either AAA or AAB compared to normally ABB, but it seems so difficult to get a medicine offer.

Don't know about the comparitive difficulty of doing the degrees, but I'd say medicine is a more difficult course to get on.
hi, thank you everyone

i actually have no personal interest in medicine, but my brother is studying it at the moment, leading to endless comparisons from my parents who seem to view Law as the more difficult. I mean in terms of top universities, as well. Probably a hard, if not impossible comparison on reflection. :confused:

I think by asking which is harder between the two I might have sounded a bit of an idiot because they are so different, but i am far from a science-orientated person.

still quite interesting though, isn't it? :smile:
I bet it requires a lot of discipline to study something as boring as law for 3 years :wink:.
Harry Potter
I bet it requires a lot of discipline to study something as boring as law for 3 years :wink:.


Law isn't boring! If it's something you want to do and are committed its very interesting.

Another point, yes there are lots of law schools in the country and few medical schools. This is because you need a lot more resources to open a medical school. However there is no hard and fast comparison between top law+medicine departments. As I hinted at in my last message. If you're good at sciences medicine will be a lot easier for you. I'm not amazing at science so I would find medicine very hard but I'm good at law. It's all about what individuals are best at. A general comparison is impossible.