Where to firm???

I know that it's probably got to the point now where most people will have received their offers for medical school. For those of you lucky enough to receive more than one offer, I thought I'd offer you some tips for deciding which to firm. Choosing between Nottingham and Newcastle was actually one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, because I absolutely loved both universities.

1. Where are they ranked? I know that you shouldn't always base you choice of university on their rankings, but sometimes it's important to look at, because different ranks of university attract different types of students. If you don't want students that do a lot of work and don't want to socialise too much, then it's obviously better not to go for the top ranked Oxbridge, because in general most students will have a LOT of work to do.
2. How is the course structured? Universities vary a lot in the structure of their courses. Even if you're deciding between two PBL, or two integrated universities there will probably be differences in the way that they are structured. For example, between Nottingham and Newcastle: in Newcastle you are in a hospital in third and fifth years for all of your time, and fourth year is spent doing your elective and lots of student selected modules. However, at Nottingham you have to do a compulsory BMedSci dissertation, and then you go into hospitals constantly from halfway through third year. These are things to consider, because you may not want to do a BMedSci! (like me).
3. Can you intercalate? This wasn't important for me, but my friend really wants to intercalate, and therefore Nottingham wasn't a good choice for her because she couldn't actually do a full integrate year, so you make want to look into this.
4. How far from home? Nothing to do with medicine, but I have found being so far from home can be annoying as trains are expensive and my parents are unwilling to drive the 7 hours to come and pick me up from uni.
5. City/city campus/campus? You may love being in a little tiny bubble of a campus (Nottingham), or you may really want to be in the middle of the buzz of a city. Or, you may want the best of both worlds with a bubble campus right in the middle of the city (Newcastle!!!).
6. Nightlife? Obviously shouldn't be the sole reason for choosing a uni, but still an important factor in deciding where to go!
7. People? Personally, I'm from London, and I didn't want to go to a uni where there were only mainly southerners, and where hundreds of people from my school went. However, you may enjoy the comfort of having friends at your university, so this is a factor to consider. I can't stress enough though how important it is to choose for yourself and not let anybody influence your decision by their choice of university.
8. Costs? The North is renowned for being cheap: cheap housing, alcohol, food. However, London is less student-y and therefore there are fewer student deals etc. This is definitely something to think about.
9. After uni? A lot of doctors stay at least for their foundation years, and live where they studied at medical school. You may want to consider whether you would be willing to live in the place where you are thinking of studying in the long run.
10. Societies/facilities? If you're really into a particular sport, you may want to check that the uni does that sport and has facilities for it. You might want a swimming pool etc. In terms of societies, just take a look and see if there are a wide range for you to join - you can't only study for 5/6 years!

Obviously there are sooo many other factors in choosing a uni, but these are just some of the things that I considered when deciding where to go! Sometimes it really does seem impossible but whichever decision you make will be the right one. I still wonder what would have happened if I chose Nottingham, but I can't change my decision and I've made some amazing friends so I definitely wouldn't go back and change it. Firming is so stressful and you always are going to hesitate over the confirm button, so don't worry!!!

Good luck in choosing and good luck in your exams!

Nicole xxx