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Trying to go to uni after recovering from major depression

For anyone who wants to see just my question/dilemma skip to the end, anyone who wants to read some story and learn a but more behind what influenced my decision read the post in its entirety.

Ps. I tried posting this before I don't know if it went through or not.

I don't know whaf to do with my life at all. I don't know what degree to choose or which pathway to go down. I started A levels in a sixth form in 2021 and was supposed to finish in 2023 but ended up dropping out early 2022. I couldn't keep up with the workload, I don't know how other schools did it but there was always extreme amounts of homework which was terrible when I needed more time to absorb content and tests on basically every sub topic not even topic, no free lessons at all. I also had a hard time making friends as I relocated schools. I did have a few people that I spoke to but it felt very shallow. I felt stressed and like I wasn't good enough and so behind. There was also a lot of turbulence at home which I won't discuss but that contributed majorly so just know that was happening in the background. As someone who really got into A levels on six 9s and one eight in IGCSEs (I did live in another country before returning to the UK but The UK was always my home country and we visited) although it was predicted. I felt so... I don't want to use the word "stupid" but that's how I felt. I was flunking in tests seeing scores I had never seen while everyone else was doing so well. Especially in maths which had been my best subject before.

Earlier that year my youngest brother passed away. He was only eleven. I wasn't home that day and I wondered so many times If I was would I have been able to change anything? It rocked our family. Grief became our household emotion and everyone kept to themselves. My mental health took a terrible toll. I never told anyone. There was genuinely no support from anyone and I didn't speak out so how could there be support. I started faking sick to stay home, then my father started driving me to school. I would cry without any reason as he drove me there. My appetite fell too so I wasn't eating much. By the time year 12 mocks rolled around I was doing terribly. I remember hearing someone got full marks in a paper meanwhile I scored an E. An E. I think that's what really pushed me over the edge and I decided to drop out. At the time I was aiming for medicine and took Math, Bio, Chem for my A levels.

My parents switched me into a private tuition centre. I dropped maths and took sociology instead and prepared for my A levels but the school was terrible. No lessons sometimes, it was damp and dark and again I had no friends in the school itself, everyone else was far away and reaching out felt like becoming a burden. I also didn't put in effort which left me wholly unprepared for my AS exams and so instead of spending money on exams I told my parents not to bother. They were furious with me especially because it was a paid tuition centre. And I also felt useless especially as an eldest daughter and a first born and as someone who had been academically achieving well since childhood, I felt like an imposter.

How was I doing better at life as a fifteen year old compared to myself now at seventeen? It felt like I was walking backwards while my peers were all moving forward. I was so ambitious, I had so many goals I wanted to achieve, nothing really daunted me. It feels strange to have become this almost timid person now. At this point the goal wasn't even to get into medicine or even thinking about University but to at least finish my A levels.

My family ended up moving back to that same country where i did my IGCSEs and now I was to do international A levels. I didn't plan for the future, maybe I avoided it the thought of it completely. My goal was simply to get my A levels, I always enjoyed Sciences and Maths. I always enjoyed learning in general. It suprisingly went well and I ended up retaking maths. I finished my a levels in 2024 with an ABB in Math, Bio, Chem respectively which I am immensley grateful for but I feel I could have done better.

We ended up moving back to the UK again this year, financial problems and my dad had a job here. Just about missing the cut off for Medicine and Dentistry applications... not that I could have done anything while completely unprepared for the UCAT. Now after all this time medicine is coming back to my mind as if I am drawn to it but I am not certain if I want to even do it anymore. I was obsessed before, watching real life medical cases, medical dramas, watching surgery videos, reading journals I followed my curiosity wherever it led me. I wanted to be someone who could make a difference through becoming a doctor and i never doubted my capability or intelligence. I loved it so much before but now I feel as though I lack the resilience required for this, perhaps its just a character flaw or I have terrible unresolved imposter syndrome.

I am trying to move forward with life now that I have gotten over what I realise now was really depression. I don't want to waste any more years. and that starts with uni especially becuase applications for all other courses for 2026 will close in january. I just don't know what to do anymore its like all ambition flowed out of me in that tough period of my life. Either ways before it had always been either medicine or Dentistry before but now I don't know what to do or pick. I clearly don't have the grades for dentistry or medicine. I still love learning and I lean much towards the sciences and maths and that is where I got my interest for medicine and dentistry. From the topics I learn in A levels, to stories I read, to shows i watched, I even watched medical cases on youtube, and watched real surgery videos, I read journals. I loved anything clinical that had human biology (Chemistry is not a fav of mine. Math has always been my favourite especially pure and mechanics, and biology at a very close second) Medicine was my genuine obsession and Dentistry an amazing second choice.
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To summarise a very long story short, I don't know what to pursue or do. Should I wait until next year and apply for med and dentistry for 2027 or should I settle down find a course and attend uni 2026? I don't want to disappoint myself or my family anymore. I want to get a good degree and a job that will always exist and of course finacial stability is a key factor especially having known what it feels like to be on the edge of instability. I still love medicine, I just don't know if its for me anymore.

Reply 1

Original post
by Anonymous
For anyone who wants to see just my question/dilemma skip to the end, anyone who wants to read some story and learn a but more behind what influenced my decision read the post in its entirety.
Ps. I tried posting this before I don't know if it went through or not.
I don't know whaf to do with my life at all. I don't know what degree to choose or which pathway to go down. I started A levels in a sixth form in 2021 and was supposed to finish in 2023 but ended up dropping out early 2022. I couldn't keep up with the workload, I don't know how other schools did it but there was always extreme amounts of homework which was terrible when I needed more time to absorb content and tests on basically every sub topic not even topic, no free lessons at all. I also had a hard time making friends as I relocated schools. I did have a few people that I spoke to but it felt very shallow. I felt stressed and like I wasn't good enough and so behind. There was also a lot of turbulence at home which I won't discuss but that contributed majorly so just know that was happening in the background. As someone who really got into A levels on six 9s and one eight in IGCSEs (I did live in another country before returning to the UK but The UK was always my home country and we visited) although it was predicted. I felt so... I don't want to use the word "stupid" but that's how I felt. I was flunking in tests seeing scores I had never seen while everyone else was doing so well. Especially in maths which had been my best subject before.
Earlier that year my youngest brother passed away. He was only eleven. I wasn't home that day and I wondered so many times If I was would I have been able to change anything? It rocked our family. Grief became our household emotion and everyone kept to themselves. My mental health took a terrible toll. I never told anyone. There was genuinely no support from anyone and I didn't speak out so how could there be support. I started faking sick to stay home, then my father started driving me to school. I would cry without any reason as he drove me there. My appetite fell too so I wasn't eating much. By the time year 12 mocks rolled around I was doing terribly. I remember hearing someone got full marks in a paper meanwhile I scored an E. An E. I think that's what really pushed me over the edge and I decided to drop out. At the time I was aiming for medicine and took Math, Bio, Chem for my A levels.
My parents switched me into a private tuition centre. I dropped maths and took sociology instead and prepared for my A levels but the school was terrible. No lessons sometimes, it was damp and dark and again I had no friends in the school itself, everyone else was far away and reaching out felt like becoming a burden. I also didn't put in effort which left me wholly unprepared for my AS exams and so instead of spending money on exams I told my parents not to bother. They were furious with me especially because it was a paid tuition centre. And I also felt useless especially as an eldest daughter and a first born and as someone who had been academically achieving well since childhood, I felt like an imposter.
How was I doing better at life as a fifteen year old compared to myself now at seventeen? It felt like I was walking backwards while my peers were all moving forward. I was so ambitious, I had so many goals I wanted to achieve, nothing really daunted me. It feels strange to have become this almost timid person now. At this point the goal wasn't even to get into medicine or even thinking about University but to at least finish my A levels.
My family ended up moving back to that same country where i did my IGCSEs and now I was to do international A levels. I didn't plan for the future, maybe I avoided it the thought of it completely. My goal was simply to get my A levels, I always enjoyed Sciences and Maths. I always enjoyed learning in general. It suprisingly went well and I ended up retaking maths. I finished my a levels in 2024 with an ABB in Math, Bio, Chem respectively which I am immensley grateful for but I feel I could have done better.
We ended up moving back to the UK again this year, financial problems and my dad had a job here. Just about missing the cut off for Medicine and Dentistry applications... not that I could have done anything while completely unprepared for the UCAT. Now after all this time medicine is coming back to my mind as if I am drawn to it but I am not certain if I want to even do it anymore. I was obsessed before, watching real life medical cases, medical dramas, watching surgery videos, reading journals I followed my curiosity wherever it led me. I wanted to be someone who could make a difference through becoming a doctor and i never doubted my capability or intelligence. I loved it so much before but now I feel as though I lack the resilience required for this, perhaps its just a character flaw or I have terrible unresolved imposter syndrome.
I am trying to move forward with life now that I have gotten over what I realise now was really depression. I don't want to waste any more years. and that starts with uni especially becuase applications for all other courses for 2026 will close in january. I just don't know what to do anymore its like all ambition flowed out of me in that tough period of my life. Either ways before it had always been either medicine or Dentistry before but now I don't know what to do or pick. I clearly don't have the grades for dentistry or medicine. I still love learning and I lean much towards the sciences and maths and that is where I got my interest for medicine and dentistry. From the topics I learn in A levels, to stories I read, to shows i watched, I even watched medical cases on youtube, and watched real surgery videos, I read journals. I loved anything clinical that had human biology (Chemistry is not a fav of mine. Math has always been my favourite especially pure and mechanics, and biology at a very close second) Medicine was my genuine obsession and Dentistry an amazing second choice.
.
.
.
.
To summarise a very long story short, I don't know what to pursue or do. Should I wait until next year and apply for med and dentistry for 2027 or should I settle down find a course and attend uni 2026? I don't want to disappoint myself or my family anymore. I want to get a good degree and a job that will always exist and of course finacial stability is a key factor especially having known what it feels like to be on the edge of instability. I still love medicine, I just don't know if its for me anymore.

I am so sorry to hear that you have been through so much, things sound really hard right now. There's not much advice I can give you but I saw something recently: there is no correct step, there is only the step you take. Any path you go on automatically becomes the right path because its what you chose. I hope that makes sense. Anyway you seem like an intelligent person with many fantastic interests, so whatever you decide I'm sure you will make the most of it and things will work out fine. Best of luck.

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