HELP - Imperial or UCL Medicine?

Hi guys,

I am currently in the process of making my firm and insurance choices but I am incredibly stuck between imperial and UCL, so was wondering if anyone in the same position has any advice/ if any current students could offer their own experiences. I have a list of pros and cons, but this doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere LOL

Imperial:
Pros:
General prestige is higher
Prefer course structure of intercalating in year 4 (not really a deal breaker)
Actual faculty and teaching seems a lot more invested and engaging
More links to research + networking
All accommodation options are pretty decent
Allegedly exam formats are slightly ‘easier’ (short word answers)
Bursary scheme is VERY good

Cons:
Allegedly very poor social life
Did not really feel a vibe from the potential students during the offer holder day, could see where Imperial stereotypes stem from
Not a central location + South Kensington is an expensive area
STEM focused so overall meet a smaller ‘type’ of person and less interactions with people from other types of courses
Less interactions with other unis (balls, meetups)

UCL:
Pros:
Nicer campus + really nice study areas
Really felt the vibe during the offer holder day from other potential students who I could genuinely speak to and be friends with
Student community is much more present from what i felt
Offers a lot more courses than Imperial, meeting more people
Extremely central location

Cons:
Accomodation is quite expensive
Prestige in general is lower
Personally felt that the faculty + teaching was of a slightly lower quality based on organisation and the talks
Central London is also quite expensive

Another key factor is that my Imperial offer is AAA, but UCL gave me AAB, and based on these grades if all goes well, I hopefully wouldn’t have to worry about my insurance choice in comparison to my firm, but it does make more sense to firm imperial and insure UCL.

I also know prestige technically should not matter as medicine is such a heavily regulated course, but I think it still plays a role (minor one) in my overall decision.

Please someone help as this decision is weighing so heavily on my mind to the point where I am finding it hard to focus!!

Reply 1

Jjjjjjjjjjjjaed

Same problem - I was at the offer holder day yesterday for both. I would also ask yourself this:

What kind of doctor do you want to be?

If you are driven by medical innovation and tech Imperial is suited.

If you are focusing on clinical and being a rounded Dr - UCL may be a better fit.

But even with this I’m still unsure - my friends are going to UCL but generally they are not as academic as me and didn’t get an offer from Imperial.

What are you leaning towards?

Reply 2

feminist physics

Hi! Can't offer much as a non-med student but I know any info is helpful at this stage! I'm nearly through my degree at Imperial and know plenty of medics! I think Imperial gets a valid rep for the 'average' intense/awkward student, but I think it's social rep isn't entirely fair. Your social life will absolutely be what you make of it. Most (esp. home) students end up living in accommodation off campus (which is cheaper!) but in areas near other students. If you make an effort to be social, you will find the kind of people you're looking for. You're still in London - you'll go clubbing (hypothetically, idk what you're into) and spend time with others when you should really be doing work - all as should be the case at uni! Don't worry massively about the vibes of students you met at offer holder days either - that's a vast minority of students you're actually meeting. I'd completely respect if you go with UCL, but just want to reassure that wherever you go, you'll make the friends you want and be stressed out by your degree <3