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average age of first year med students/should i take a gap year

i’m in year 12 right now and i want to study pharmacology/pharmacy, as my grades are not where i want them to be to start applying for universities, many of my teachers are suggesting taking a gap year after year 13, i do have a slight worry that i will be older than everyone, i will be a 19 yr old female and i wanna know if that’s unusual for first years as preferably i do not want to be older than my friends
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Heya

I personally took a gap year and I promise you it's not unusual. in my uni there are more people that have taken a gap year than those who left year 13. no one even talks about age after the first few weeks of starting so if you wanna go for a gap year, do it!

hope this helps :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by sxraphina.
Heya

I personally took a gap year and I promise you it's not unusual. in my uni there are more people that have taken a gap year than those who left year 13. no one even talks about age after the first few weeks of starting so if you wanna go for a gap year, do it!

hope this helps :smile:


yess thank you it did!!, if you don’t mind me asking what university do you go to?
Original post by anon.47
yess thank you it did!!, if you don’t mind me asking what university do you go to?

I'll dm you :smile:
Reply 5
Nobody will care. Just don't be a Gap Yah bore.

(Took a gap year before uni a million years ago, was 19 when I started and literally made no difference).
Original post by anon.47
i’m in year 12 right now and i want to study pharmacology/pharmacy, as my grades are not where i want them to be to start applying for universities, many of my teachers are suggesting taking a gap year after year 13, i do have a slight worry that i will be older than everyone, i will be a 19 yr old female and i wanna know if that’s unusual for first years as preferably i do not want to be older than my friends


I feel u, I was worrying about that too as i would be in the same situation as u but honestly one year isnt that much , just make sure u put urself out there the first few weeks, even if it is out of ur comfort zone, as afterwards ull have a solid friend group and wont need to socialize as heavily and ofcourse it isnt the normal but we wont be the only ones, i am sure other people will be in similar situations and its not like it is a generational gap. I felt the same way about the friends but i feel like ur group can be a mix of both.
Reply 7
Original post by anon.47
i’m in year 12 right now and i want to study pharmacology/pharmacy, as my grades are not where i want them to be to start applying for universities, many of my teachers are suggesting taking a gap year after year 13, i do have a slight worry that i will be older than everyone, i will be a 19 yr old female and i wanna know if that’s unusual for first years as preferably i do not want to be older than my friends


This is really, really not a big deal at all. The difference between starting at 19 vs 18 is just non-existent.

(I was 22 when I started).
Reply 8
Original post by anon.47
i’m in year 12 right now and i want to study pharmacology/pharmacy, as my grades are not where i want them to be to start applying for universities, many of my teachers are suggesting taking a gap year after year 13, i do have a slight worry that i will be older than everyone, i will be a 19 yr old female and i wanna know if that’s unusual for first years as preferably i do not want to be older than my friends


It wouldn’t matter at all if you’re 18 or 19.

In fact, even if I don’t take a gap year I’ll be 19 from the very start of my first year because I was born in early September so it doesn’t matter! Good luck with everything :smile:

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