Kings Vs Barts

**Will S** · 26-04-2007, 06:15 AM

Has anybody had an offer from Kings and Barts? I am unable to go to any post offer open days as I am currently living in Melbourne.. Trying to weigh up which one as we speak. Any thoughts etc on this!
Will

**ankit.kumar1** · 26-04-2007, 09:38 AM

lol, cant believe ur asking that question

im going to barts and i still know that kings wins every time. (not sure about GEP though)

thats why they get 5000 applications a year

**Miss Monkey** · 27-04-2007, 01:00 AM

I've got both, and I've picked King's as my firm and Barts as my insurance. I love Barts and everything, but there's just something about King's which has made me put it as my firm!

**shalene** · 27-04-2007, 02:43 AM

I got Kings and Barts, put down Kings as firm though. As much as I loved the atmosphere at Barts, I thought it was just a tad too laid back... I need discipline!

I also managed to find a few survey tables online, ranking the different universities in terms of student satisfaction, job employability afterward etc. Who knows how reliable those things really are, but consistantly Kings came out higher every time.

Add to that the wide-eyed 'ooooh Kings is a good one' response I get everytime I mention my choices to nursing colleagues

. I also asked a bunch of med students/docs around work, and although none of them had anything bad to say about Barts, they all said they'd choose Kings over it.

Last but not least, I'm not great at PBL. Its ok, but I certainly don't want it to be the meat and bones of my learning experience. Kings strikes me as a little more traditional (ie. lectures & seminars)... at least moreso than Barts.

Anyway, those were my reasonings... looking at it typed out, it looks like a lot *chuckles*. Still found it seriously hard to press 'decline' on UCAS for Barts offer.

**hash118118** · 27-04-2007, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by shalene

I got Kings and Barts, put down Kings as firm though. As much as I loved the atmosphere at Barts, I thought it was just a tad too laid back... I need discipline!

I also managed to find a few survey tables online, ranking the different universities in terms of student satisfaction, job employability afterward etc. Who knows how reliable those things really are, but consistantly Kings came out higher every time.

Add to that the wide-eyed 'ooooh Kings is a good one' response I get everytime I mention my choices to nursing colleagues

. I also asked a bunch of med students/docs around work, and although none of them had anything bad to say about Barts, they all said they'd choose Kings over it.

Last but not least, I'm not great at PBL. Its ok, but I certainly don't want it to be the meat and bones of my learning experience. Kings strikes me as a little more traditional (ie. lectures & seminars)... at least moreso than Barts.

Anyway, those were my reasonings... looking at it typed out, it looks like a lot *chuckles*. Still found it seriously hard to press 'decline' on UCAS for Barts offer.

Why not put Barts as your insurnace? Cos from what you've written in your signature, it suggests you didn't get any other offers.

**hash118118** · 27-04-2007, 08:04 PM

Or is it that you have unconditional offers?

**shalene** · 27-04-2007, 08:07 PM

Ah I only applied to Kings and Barts, no other unis (lack of eligibility & fear of GAMSAT). Was unconditional as well (degree already finished), so figured I'd just decline and free up the offer for somebody else.
I really wish I could have spent some time at Barts, the atmosphere really was wonderful there, and the people were so friendly. I just think Kings might be a bit harder on me, and I need that. The extra year will come in handy too as I'm not confident when it comes to underlying sciences.

**bennett** · 27-04-2007, 08:11 PM

You turned down GEP?! Someone out there is going to be very happy!

**shalene** · 27-04-2007, 08:21 PM

Hehe, I hope so. Believe you me, it wasn't an easy decision. Apart from all the reasons listed above, there was also -

Distance: Kings is a fair bit closer to me, less time travelling on the tube as I'll be commuting every day.

Money: GEP offers more financial support, but with the 5-year I can work as a nurse doing bank shifts over summer holiday and whenever desperate need strikes! This will also allow me to retain my nurse registration throughout training (just in case), as well as the extra clinical experience.

Time: Couldn't figure out at first whether or not an extra year would be a good thing or a bad thing. Decided in the end that I'd rather have it. I've got a fair clinical foundation of knowledge (from nursing), but really could use some extra time to get my head around science-y bits.. biochemistry etc.

Everything else.. as in which school is better etc etc. I'm pretty certain its all hearsay and bias

, and not sure it makes much difference in the end anyway. I personally know nothing much about either school, only that Barts is more involved with PBL, which depending on your preference can be a plus or a minus.

**Miss Monkey** · 28-04-2007, 08:20 PM

I'd agree with shalene that I think King's more traditional teaching suits me. I think PBL is a really good concept (hence me applying to both Barts and Manchester) but current students I've spoken to (even ones actually at Barts) said in retrospect they may have gone for more traditional courses because PBL is a lot more work. Obviously I'm not scared of hard work, but I'd rather not make life harder for myself!