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Tricky decision about med school

Hi all,

I have what feels like a v.difficult decision to make about medical school, and I'd appreciate any input/considerations that I may not have thought of.

My situation: I have an offer from Exeter's A100 course, which is great. I applied to some GEM courses too this year, with Swansea being my preferred choice as it's is local to my family/a good school/a 4yr course - but didn't get any offers for the GEM options.

I am a mature applicant, late 30s, currently living in Cardiff. My original plan was to buy a house/flat near to the university for my wife and I to live in while studying. But covid has made that essentially impossible to do before the course starts in September. My wife has some health issues that make working not possible for her, so any mortgage would be based on my salary while I still working.

If I go to Exeter this year, my wife and I will end up renting for the duration of the 5 years, which is something we really don't want to do. Our circumstances mean that going back to renting will have a big impact on us financially and may making funding the degree not possible.

So, I see us having two options:
1. Ask Exeter about deferring till next year and look to buy a place when the covid situation settles down.
2. Turn down Exeter's offer and apply again next year to the GEM courses, with Swansea being our ideal one.

Turning down Exeter's offer feels like a horrible thing to do given how hard it is to get any place on a med degree, but going to Swansea would be so much better for my wife and I from a financial POV, plus having family close to support my wife with her health issues.
BUT there is obviously no guarantee I would get onto the GEM courses, which are even more competitive, so turning down Exeter could be turning down my only chance of doing medicine.

I'm trying to decide what is best for my family and me. Ask Exeter to defer for a year and accept that going there will likely be difficult for us for 5 years. Or take a huge gamble and try to get into Swansea, which would make our lives significantly easier, but could never happen.

Sorry for the long ramble! Writing this out has actually been quite helpful to get my thoughts straighter. But I would really appreciate any thoughts or things I may not have considered. Thanks.
Original post by Cambrian80
Hi all,

I have what feels like a v.difficult decision to make about medical school, and I'd appreciate any input/considerations that I may not have thought of.

My situation: I have an offer from Exeter's A100 course, which is great. I applied to some GEM courses too this year, with Swansea being my preferred choice as it's is local to my family/a good school/a 4yr course - but didn't get any offers for the GEM options.

I am a mature applicant, late 30s, currently living in Cardiff. My original plan was to buy a house/flat near to the university for my wife and I to live in while studying. But covid has made that essentially impossible to do before the course starts in September. My wife has some health issues that make working not possible for her, so any mortgage would be based on my salary while I still working.

If I go to Exeter this year, my wife and I will end up renting for the duration of the 5 years, which is something we really don't want to do. Our circumstances mean that going back to renting will have a big impact on us financially and may making funding the degree not possible.

So, I see us having two options:
1. Ask Exeter about deferring till next year and look to buy a place when the covid situation settles down.
2. Turn down Exeter's offer and apply again next year to the GEM courses, with Swansea being our ideal one.

Turning down Exeter's offer feels like a horrible thing to do given how hard it is to get any place on a med degree, but going to Swansea would be so much better for my wife and I from a financial POV, plus having family close to support my wife with her health issues.
BUT there is obviously no guarantee I would get onto the GEM courses, which are even more competitive, so turning down Exeter could be turning down my only chance of doing medicine.

I'm trying to decide what is best for my family and me. Ask Exeter to defer for a year and accept that going there will likely be difficult for us for 5 years. Or take a huge gamble and try to get into Swansea, which would make our lives significantly easier, but could never happen.

Sorry for the long ramble! Writing this out has actually been quite helpful to get my thoughts straighter. But I would really appreciate any thoughts or things I may not have considered. Thanks.

Hi Hope you are well.

Firstly, congrats on your offer, this is a huge achievement in itself.

I have recently heard about getting student finance as an independent individual. Check this website and maybe a google search for more info. https://www.ucas.com/finance/student-finance-england/finance-independent-students
I think it would be good to look at your current finance options such as what money you have available from your job, savings accounts and any other sources such as (student finance and maybe scholarships or bursaries the uni may offer).

Next, you could consider whether buying a home or becoming a doctor is your priority amongst other personal things. Buying a home is overall more expensive and with the current circumstances, prices may go down which would be a plus point for you. (I'm not too sure but these are some things you can look into and think about. Maybe get a house that is a commute away from the uni if that helps.

Also due to the current circumstances, many universities are doing online lectures, especially for the first semester. (I suggest checking with your university). If this is the case you would save money on rent for at least 3 months and would give you extra time to looking into properties etc. So what i'm saying is you actually have 3 options, the third being you go to university this year.

Sorry if I've said anything wrong, I'm new to adulting so this is the best advice I could think of.

Hope things work out for you.
I see your dilemma. Here are my thoughts in no particular structure:

1) Are you underestimating how much it costs to buy a house. Lawyers fees (you can self-conveyance but its not that easy), taxes, estate agent fees, mortgage set up fees, movers fees/truck rental etc.
2) Are you underestimating how much it costs to maintain a house. For example our boiler broke soon after we bought our house - £4.5k straight down the drain, all savings versus renting for ~2 years gone. That is far from the only example - anything needs improving from plumbing electrics etc is expensive.
3) I think the house move market is still open, not sure covid is your barrier any more. The speed with which a house purchase moves i.e. astoundingly slowly, might be. I think the mortgage company wanted to see 2 years on my job contract too (which is a problem as doctor's contracts are written by the local hospital so only written for 1 year but that's another issue) - I'm not sure how they'd feel if it became clear you were planning to just leave your job. Not an expert.
4) Are kids going to happen? Might be more reason to be near family.
Original post by Cambrian80
Hi all,

I have what feels like a v.difficult decision to make about medical school, and I'd appreciate any input/considerations that I may not have thought of.

My situation: I have an offer from Exeter's A100 course, which is great. I applied to some GEM courses too this year, with Swansea being my preferred choice as it's is local to my family/a good school/a 4yr course - but didn't get any offers for the GEM options.

I am a mature applicant, late 30s, currently living in Cardiff. My original plan was to buy a house/flat near to the university for my wife and I to live in while studying. But covid has made that essentially impossible to do before the course starts in September. My wife has some health issues that make working not possible for her, so any mortgage would be based on my salary while I still working.

If I go to Exeter this year, my wife and I will end up renting for the duration of the 5 years, which is something we really don't want to do. Our circumstances mean that going back to renting will have a big impact on us financially and may making funding the degree not possible.

So, I see us having two options:
1. Ask Exeter about deferring till next year and look to buy a place when the covid situation settles down.
2. Turn down Exeter's offer and apply again next year to the GEM courses, with Swansea being our ideal one.

Turning down Exeter's offer feels like a horrible thing to do given how hard it is to get any place on a med degree, but going to Swansea would be so much better for my wife and I from a financial POV, plus having family close to support my wife with her health issues.
BUT there is obviously no guarantee I would get onto the GEM courses, which are even more competitive, so turning down Exeter could be turning down my only chance of doing medicine.

I'm trying to decide what is best for my family and me. Ask Exeter to defer for a year and accept that going there will likely be difficult for us for 5 years. Or take a huge gamble and try to get into Swansea, which would make our lives significantly easier, but could never happen.

Sorry for the long ramble! Writing this out has actually been quite helpful to get my thoughts straighter. But I would really appreciate any thoughts or things I may not have considered. Thanks.


Do you have an idea why you didn't get into the GEM courses this year? Did you get interviews? If not, and it was down to not scoring highly enough in the GAMSAT, then you could work on improving this. Getting a place at Exeter suggests that you have the capability to do well at interview. If you reapply and get interviews next year, then having had the experience this year will help - this is all assuming that this was your first time applying. So in other words, if you can identify where you went wrong, I'd be inclined to reapply in your position.

However if this is not your first time applying, you are probably fed up of the application process - if it was me, I'd take the offer in that situation.

You should get extra funding from SFE due to your wife being a dependent, but it could still be a pretty miserable 5 years trying to live off nearly nothing.
Original post by Cambrian80
Hi all,

I have what feels like a v.difficult decision to make about medical school, and I'd appreciate any input/considerations that I may not have thought of.

My situation: I have an offer from Exeter's A100 course, which is great. I applied to some GEM courses too this year, with Swansea being my preferred choice as it's is local to my family/a good school/a 4yr course - but didn't get any offers for the GEM options.

I am a mature applicant, late 30s, currently living in Cardiff. My original plan was to buy a house/flat near to the university for my wife and I to live in while studying. But covid has made that essentially impossible to do before the course starts in September. My wife has some health issues that make working not possible for her, so any mortgage would be based on my salary while I still working.

If I go to Exeter this year, my wife and I will end up renting for the duration of the 5 years, which is something we really don't want to do. Our circumstances mean that going back to renting will have a big impact on us financially and may making funding the degree not possible.

So, I see us having two options:
1. Ask Exeter about deferring till next year and look to buy a place when the covid situation settles down.
2. Turn down Exeter's offer and apply again next year to the GEM courses, with Swansea being our ideal one.

Turning down Exeter's offer feels like a horrible thing to do given how hard it is to get any place on a med degree, but going to Swansea would be so much better for my wife and I from a financial POV, plus having family close to support my wife with her health issues.
BUT there is obviously no guarantee I would get onto the GEM courses, which are even more competitive, so turning down Exeter could be turning down my only chance of doing medicine.

I'm trying to decide what is best for my family and me. Ask Exeter to defer for a year and accept that going there will likely be difficult for us for 5 years. Or take a huge gamble and try to get into Swansea, which would make our lives significantly easier, but could never happen.

Sorry for the long ramble! Writing this out has actually been quite helpful to get my thoughts straighter. But I would really appreciate any thoughts or things I may not have considered. Thanks.


There are some tricky problems in there, but I think you've got to weigh them up very carefully as to those that are on the critical path and those that are just less than perfect but doable.

First of all, can you do anything in the next year you make your GEM Application stronger (and start in the next few months so there's something to say abou tit come application time)? and almost certainly the answer is no - so the GEM option quite possibly represents the no career change option.

What equity do you have in your current property and can that be used to help fund.?

Could you rent your Cardiff property and ease finances that way? THat might support renting in Exeter, especially if family will watch the property and resolve landlord issues for you.

Could you live in Halls/Monday-Friday accommodation and your wife live in Cardiff and you commute for a few years?

You can still do something temporary in Exeter accommodation wise, while house hunting through the autumn, just because it isn't settled by the start of term doesn't mean it can't be settled by Christmas for example.
Reply 5
Thanks everyone for your input. Some really useful things to consider in all of your answers.

Just to answer a couple of points raised above:

- I had 3 interviews this year, 2 for GEM courses (including Swansea) and one for Exeter undergrad. Only had an offer from Exeter. My GAMSAT was good enough to get interviews at my chosen GEM unis, so I should be able to carry that result forward to next year if I chose to apply again. I had some feedback from Swansea about why I was unsuccessful - I didn't do well enough in the demonstrate the 'coping with pressure' aspect of their requirements. They said that I was a good candidate otherwise, so hopefully I can work on that area for any future interviews.

- This is my first year of applying for med school. While I am getting older(!) I don't yet feel it's too late to apply again.

- Starting a family is a definite possibility, so being close to relatives may become really important.

On reflection, I'm feeling like applying again next year is the best thing for my wife and me for a whole swathe of reasons. The prospect of turning down Exeter and a guaranteed place does feel really bad though. It's a big gamble, but hopefully will pay off.
Original post by Cambrian80
Thanks everyone for your input. Some really useful things to consider in all of your answers.

Just to answer a couple of points raised above:

- I had 3 interviews this year, 2 for GEM courses (including Swansea) and one for Exeter undergrad. Only had an offer from Exeter. My GAMSAT was good enough to get interviews at my chosen GEM unis, so I should be able to carry that result forward to next year if I chose to apply again. I had some feedback from Swansea about why I was unsuccessful - I didn't do well enough in the demonstrate the 'coping with pressure' aspect of their requirements. They said that I was a good candidate otherwise, so hopefully I can work on that area for any future interviews.

- This is my first year of applying for med school. While I am getting older(!) I don't yet feel it's too late to apply again.

- Starting a family is a definite possibility, so being close to relatives may become really important.

On reflection, I'm feeling like applying again next year is the best thing for my wife and me for a whole swathe of reasons. The prospect of turning down Exeter and a guaranteed place does feel really bad though. It's a big gamble, but hopefully will pay off.

I think this is the right decision. I always warn grads on 5 year courses be very very sure that you can afford it before saying yes. Medical schools will kick people out if you can't pay and it isn't worth jeopardising you and your wife's finances.

Good luck for your next application cycle!
Original post by Cambrian80
Thanks everyone for your input. Some really useful things to consider in all of your answers.

Just to answer a couple of points raised above:

- I had 3 interviews this year, 2 for GEM courses (including Swansea) and one for Exeter undergrad. Only had an offer from Exeter. My GAMSAT was good enough to get interviews at my chosen GEM unis, so I should be able to carry that result forward to next year if I chose to apply again. I had some feedback from Swansea about why I was unsuccessful - I didn't do well enough in the demonstrate the 'coping with pressure' aspect of their requirements. They said that I was a good candidate otherwise, so hopefully I can work on that area for any future interviews.

- This is my first year of applying for med school. While I am getting older(!) I don't yet feel it's too late to apply again.

- Starting a family is a definite possibility, so being close to relatives may become really important.

On reflection, I'm feeling like applying again next year is the best thing for my wife and me for a whole swathe of reasons. The prospect of turning down Exeter and a guaranteed place does feel really bad though. It's a big gamble, but hopefully will pay off.

I think this is right. Another year to earn funds. I do wonder whether you will actually be able to buy as you plan.

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