Need help deciding Medicine from Uni of Glasgow or Birmingham or Sheffield

Hi all, I am an international student and have got offers for medicine from Glasgow, Birmingham and Sheffield. And I am super confused about deciding among the three, which I should make as firm/ insurance. And now I have to finalise soon. I will briefly give below what I have found about them.

Birmingham: Teaching is traditional, a mix of lectures, CBL, PBL, etc. I understand it is closer to London. I have a a couple of relatives in London, and I can stay with them whenever I want.

Glasgow: The ranking in UK is consistently high for the last many years (in top 10), which makes me want to choose this. Its reputation internationally is high. But the tuition fees is much much higher as compared to the other two, international students will be able to relate to this. Also, I read somewhere that Glasgow's placements are far away many times, which can be very tiring. I understand that the weather here is colder than in Birmingham.

Sheffield is ranked consistently good by the Students’ union. Teaching is traditional, smaller place with a lot of greenery.

I am not a person who is interested in too much nightlife. I have always lived in big cities till now. So both Glasgow and Birmingham should be ok with me.

I understand from various posts that Glasgow focuses more on PBL, whereas Sheffield and Birmingham are more traditional and integrated. I don’t know, but assuming if I can cope with both styles, can someone please provide me advice and knowledge about these schools, any pros and cons of each, for medicine specifically and the university as a whole i.e. the atmosphere etc., which can help me in deciding from all these.

1. I am more concerned about the quality and style of teaching, the exposure I get, and the quality of the training and the placements during the course. Any current medical students at any of those schools, if you could explain your reasons for choosing it.

2. I have not found any specific reasons for Glasgow’s higher rankings from my research. If anyone can explain, it will be greatly appreciated. And will Glasgow’s higher rankings help me in any way in future, say if I decide to pursue research or move to USA or any other country for specialisation or work.

My offer conditions for all 3 universities are, I believe, achievable.

Thanks.

Reply 1

charlotteutd

i'm also applying to sheffield as my top choice - not for medicine, but i've visited the uni and city a couple of times with people that know it well, everyone seems really friendly and the city is perfectly sized for students, with lots of places that are nice but not too intense if you don't like nightlife as much.
i'm also from birmingham, but not applying to the uni - the city is safe as long as you avoid the really dodgy bits, but i've found as a young person that there isn't as much to do as other cities i've been to, but that might just be because i've lived here my whole life and am a bit bored of it!! it also is good, as you said, for getting to most other parts of the country.
sorry i can't help with course stuff, but please do let me know if you want to know any more :smile: