<p>Hey guys.</p>
<p>So, I was wondering a little bit about UK universities. Yes, of course there's Oxbridge, but I was wondering about the others. I've heard of some, such as Imperial College London, University College London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Essex, Warwick, and the University of St. Andrews....</p>
<p>Any comments on the strength of these universities/what a Brit thinks of these unis?</p>
<p>P.S. I want to go for medical, so keep in mind the strength of the medical program.</p>
<p>P.P.S. I also realize some of these are very hard to get into, but stating that fact negatively won't do much. Imagine you're telling me about Harvard without being all "You'll never get in anyways, sorry."</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The first thing you ought to know is that there is no best med school and every medical degree is equal. The General Medical Council (GMC) sets a nationwide standard. So basically it doesn’t matter where you go, you get the same training. With this in mind its difficult to answer your second question. In terms of general prestige, Oxbridge, Imperial and UCL are at the top i would say. The rest (minus Essex which is a dump and doesn’t even offer medicine) are all prestigious and very well respected universities.</p>
<p>Look at The Student Rooms medical forum for more (and much better informed) information. Here is a list of all the places that do medicine:</p>
<p>University of Aberdeen
University of Birmingham
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
Cardiff University
University of Dundee
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
Hull York Medical School
Imperial College London
Keele University
King’s College London
University of Leeds
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
University of Manchester
Newcastle University
University of Nottingham
Oxford University
Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen’s University Belfast
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University of St Andrews
St George’s, University of London</p>
<p>As Dionysus said, the medical curriculum will be the same. You should look at individual university websites, and see which ones have a structure that appeals to you. Also noted that some universities require the BMAT, while some require the UKCAT. You’ll have to figure out how to take one/both of those tests in the US.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys. But wait, does UCL not have a med program? I don’t see it on the list, and I thought it did…</p>
<p>Hi Metallika, the first place I think you should look is the Guardian’s list of top schools/ medical programs - [University</a> guide 2010: Medicine | Education | guardian.co.uk](<a href=“http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2009/may/12/university-guide-medicine]University”>University guide 2010: Medicine | Education | theguardian.com) . Seeing as it’s Britain’s most popular media outlet, I would say its a pretty reliable source.</p>
<p>I’m currently at St. Andrews, and while Im not in the Medical program, I know the Bute Medical School at St. Andrews is very well respected and highly regarded. An interesting note - students in the Bute Medical School graduate after 3 years with a BSc Honours degree in Medicine (Phase 1) before moving on to a partner medical school for a further 3 years training and completion of an MB ChB (Phase 2) either at the University of Manchester Medical School or at a Scottish Medical School. Not to mention the University is building a new $70 million School of Medicine and the Sciences set to be fully open in the fall of 2010.</p>
<p>Nate
[Study</a> Abroad Blog](<a href=“The Study Abroad Blog - Nate Nault”>http://thestudyabroadblog.com/)</p>
<p>Oops. I’m sure i said UCL. Anyway, yes it does do medicine!</p>
<p>For reasons already mentioned i would ignore the above comment regarding the Guardian and their rankings. And everybody knows the Guardian’s rankings are not to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys! Haha, would The Guardian be the Brit equivalent of US News and World Report education rankings? ;p</p>
<p>Nate, I also clicked the link to your blog. This will definitely give me some good insight on what school is like over there, so yay.</p>
<p>Do either of you have any idea on what way I could possibly get into contact with a med student at any of the above mentioned schools? Would I maybe find some in the Student Room boards, or will you find mostly only high school aged kids on those?</p>
<p>TSR definitely has a lot of med students and applicants; there’s a dedicated med forum there.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the Medecine deadline application has passed</p>
<p>Metallika, I didn’t mean to mislead you with the comment about the guardian. It’s rankings closely resemble both the Times Online University Guide and The Independent University Guide, but for all I know, they may not be accurate either.</p>
<p>Dionysus58, for my own future reference, which university ranking site did you use when you applied for school in the UK or which do you recommend now?</p>
<p>[Study</a> Abroad Blog](<a href=“The Study Abroad Blog - Nate Nault”>http://thestudyabroadblog.com/)</p>
<p>None. The Times’ departmental ones can be useful but rankings are not something you should consider when choosing a university in the UK IMHO. For those (fools) that do care, they already know that Oxbridge, UCL, LSE and Imperial are perceived to be the best and so have no need to consult rankings.</p>
<p>Outside of the golden triangle (Oxford, Cambridge and London), Birmingham and Bristol are very popular (Birmingham has a new super-hospital and Bristol was voted the nicest city in the country) but in terms of average grades they are at least as difficult as UCL to get into and probably second only to Oxbridge. I would agree with the other posts though that all medicine courses are very good (99% of graduates get a job within three months) so pick with your heart. ;)</p>