Imperial or UCL?

[jdr06]

at imperial there is a hardship fund, anyone can apply for money from it and it tends to be international students that do, its not a bursary its just a fund that is there for students to apply for cash if they run out. fair enough if there arent any bursaries for international students.

[gimperial99]

Its a free market, they can charge what they want. No one is forcing you to pay, and when you have the whole world to choose from, I am sure you can find a more competitive deal.

[Mits]

i'm currently at imperial, and i'm not gonna lie; it's bloody expensive! however, i've had the best time ever during my first year (and that's despite the financial burden gizmo ). i AM in a great deal of debt already, but i wouldn't sacrifice it for the world. i've settled very well and have no qualms about the course here, so i definitely wouldn't go elsewhere if given the option to redo this year. but at the end of the day, i'm sure no matter where you go you're likely to enjoy it as much as i have here at imperial. it's all about how well you settle - and providing you do, you'll be happy anywhere.

[gimperial99]

In response to Mits. When you leave medical school there are many well paying jobs you can get with you degree like working in the city, working as an accountant, medical law etc.

[LightElf7]

who cares where you go. You wont be paid more or regarded more highly if you go to one uni and not another. nor do you become a "better doctor" if you go to a high ranking uni on the ranking scale than on a lower ranking one. it all depends on how hard you work for your future, not which uni you graduated from. if you start boasting about rankings and how high ranking uni u graduated from, you become an arrogant fool who's not fit to be a doctor. you automatically start looking down on others.

Dont base your choice on rankings and academic prestige alone, as some stupid people tend to do. Just visit all your unis, and choose the one you like. You must have seen both UCL and Imperial when you went for their interviews didnt you? Which place did you like more? Where do you think you'll be happiest for the next 5/6 years? If money is an issue, then take the financial matters also into consideration. but as both are in London, I dont think prices will be radically different except the tuition fees. search the area. what facilities are close around the uni you might wanna enjoy during your studies?
For example, I hold offers from both Imp and gkt, and whilst gkt was more citycity, the area around imp was less busy and was also next to two large parks which I really liked.
You have to make the choice in the end, its not something that others should solve for you.

Also, you get snobbish and haughty people everywhere. you also cant absolutely say which uni has more such idiots than another. you just gotta deal with them-its part of life. also, you anyway will have to deal with all kinds of people when practicing as a doctor, so things like that shouldnt have much impact on you. I for example had to deal with lots of disrespectful, supercilious patients who thought they were kings and queens during my work experience at a hospital, and well you just gotta put up with it.

Besides, I saw quite a lot of heated up arguments about which uni is better around the forums - cool it guys, just choose the one you like and do your best there. dont become an arrogant fool boasting about rankings. 'nuff said.

[Jimco]

Newdoc, congrats on your offers, lucky you. Which ever one you choose you'll probably still be a great doc

You all how did you do it? I wish I was there

Good Luck to you all!!!

[Mits]

Originally Posted by LightElf7

who cares where you go....

Good post LightElf, glad to hear that people like you are gonna be joining us at Imperial in October!!! Let me know if you need anything, i'm going into second year so i'd be happy to help in any way possible. Got a few typed-up notes and suchlike too.

[LightElf7]

Hey, nice to meet someone from Imperial!
Typed-up notes could certainly be nice.
Are there perhaps any medbooks you recommend? Thing is, I got these local bookstore tokens, and dont know where to spend them, so I thought I'd get myself some medbooks beforehand so I can get rid of them and maybe perhaps do some prereading.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting you!

[gimperial99]

Lightelf unfortunately you are incorrect. You are certainly regarded more highly if you go to certain universities. For instance I do not think anyone would equate a UCL graduate with a Keele graduate.

I had a consultant surgeon tell me that he thought Imperial made better doctors than the rest of London universities, from his OWN experience with his house officers.

The courses are not the same at each uni, so it is wrong to think that at the end of it that all doctors will be the same.

UCL and Imperial both produce good doctors, but if it were a choice between say QMW and Imperial, do not go for QMW.

Having said that with this new rubbish F1 application, you have a better chance of getting a good job if you go to a rubbish university. So think about that too.

[LightElf7]

Originally Posted by gimperial99

Lightelf unfortunately you are incorrect. You are certainly regarded more highly if you go to certain universities. For instance I do not think anyone would equate a UCL graduate with a Keele graduate.

The reason you are regarded "more highly" is because of the image of the university you're in, not cuz you're some kind of a god.
Sure, UCL does rank higher than Keele, but that has no meaning at all. Did you ever wonder about HOW the rankings are done? It is done based on how many nobel prizes the alumni have received, how much research it does, the student-faculty ratio etc etc etc which has NOTHING to do with your medical training. You wont suddenly become the best doctor in the world cuz some professor from your uni got a nobel prize. It is more important HOW WELL you study and put the work in, not which uni you come from. All you get from graduating from a "high-class" uni so to speak are some praising words from others, but thats it. If you're after boasting about which school you're from, that makes you a self-centered arrogant fool not fit to be a doctor. A doctor's purpose is to help those in need of medical help, not showing off to others how "smart" you are based on which uni you're from.

I had a consultant surgeon tell me that he thought Imperial made better doctors than the rest of London universities, from his OWN experience with his house officers.

Well if what you say is true, that you become a better doctor when you graduate from a high-ranking uni, then ALL the doctors from "low-rank" unis would starve to death cuz they'd suck at medicine! Besides, most of those "high-rank" unis are from US and UK, so if what you say is true, then the rest of the world would currently be near extinction cuz the doctors there all suck cuz they didnt graduate from a "high-rank" uni. As I said before, the important thing is how well you do at uni and later become a competent doctor, not the image of the school.

The courses are not the same at each uni, so it is wrong to think that at the end of it that all doctors will be the same.

Sure, the courses certainly are not the same. Some unis go by PBL, some by integrated, and some by traditional, and lots of other variable factors. But the subject called Medicine is the same at all universities. Sure, not all doctors will be the same. Some will be more competent than others, but thats based on how much work they put in for themselves, not the location on earth where they studied in.

UCL and Imperial both produce good doctors, but if it were a choice between say QMW and Imperial, do not go for QMW.

Any uni can produce good doctors. It all depends on the student's motivation to study to help others in need of medical care.

Having said that with this new rubbish F1 application, you have a better chance of getting a good job if you go to a rubbish university. So think about that too.

Gosh...who or what gives you the right to call a uni "rubbish"? If only the few high-ranking unis produce good doctors, and the rest are all rubbish, medical care would suck across most of the entire world.