Manchester Uni for medicine - don’t want her to take a gap year!

[Cluelessatthisstuff]

DD didn’t get into her first choice - Oxford. Insurance was Manchester which is a very good RG university and I believe has the biggest medical department in UK. Daughter wants to resit a subject in the hope of getting an A* but I’m really uneasy about this, namely because all of her friends are going away for uni so she’ll be at home, alone and working part time in Costa coffee. I just don’t think she’ll be happy.

Does anyone have any experience with Manchester uni? Doesn’t have to be medicine specifically but anything that could help my DD? Thanks

I hope she is feeling better about things. Honestly, I think she will have a better experience at Manchester than Oxford and if she actually wants to work as a doctor, as others have said, no one really cares which uni you went to.

So many people on this thread who really have no understanding of just how different medical courses are. Medical schools very rarely accept transfers after the first year of the course and you need a pretty compelling case to manage it.

There is no guarantee she will obtain a place next year.

There are no poor medical schools, the courses are highly regulated and inspected regularly. All medical schools have a lot of students who got excellent A level results. Any ratings people are quoting are utterly unimportant, as any qualified doctor would tell her.

If she is so set on an Oxford experience get her to look at whether she might intercalate there or go there for her final year elective. Most elective students go abroad but it is possible to do it in this country. She could also apply for her first junior post in Oxford - although it is not the most popular location for junior doctors. I'd also repeat that a remark and deferred offer just might be possible.

My friends DS did not get into the college for medicine she wanted so turned her nose up. Went for pharmacy, after a long long uni. course she hated, she did get her degree, went to work hated it so has gone into NHS buying which she also hates but has met a doctor, married bought a house and is planning a family, so is gritting her teeth until maternity leave.

She should take her place at Manchester.

There would be no guarantee that she would get another offer if she reapplied next year.

I also wanted to add that hopefully in time she will see her achievements as excellent, and not see her A or "failure" to get into Oxford as a reflection on her.

She will have access to some excellent experience in Manchester, including Salford Royal, which is a fantastic hospital.

@justasking111 how utterly depressing.

@justasking111 as if pharmacy is a really rubbish career (it's not). If she really wanted to be a doctor let's hope she doesn't grow jealous and resentful of her DH. Also if she hates NHS buying just one more cog in the machine making it horrendously ineffective.

What has she decided @Cluelessatthisstuff?

My lovely husband studied medicine at Manchester... He's been just fine... Awesome in fact.. Definitely she should go, its a long enough road without an extra year

I don't honestly think the uni she goes to matters all that much - once you graduate and leave, nobody cares where you went. I have a friend who has just finished her medial degree and she chose to study in Bulgaria to save money! She's just got a job back here in the UK now so it clearly made no odds to her career that she chose to save money and study abroad.

Manchester is a great University. I went there many years ago & DS graduated from there in 2017 & has stayed there, we live on the South Coast. When DS was at school, I was chatting with the Professor of Medicine at the University in this City & he said that people who go to Oxford to do medicine usually want to go to Oxford more, whereas those who do Medicine in other good institution, want to do Medicine more.

I haven't read the whole thread, but have read most of it.

Are you sure she really wants to study medicine, as this seems to be splitting hairs. Does she want to be a doctor or an Oxbridge doctor? Would she rather be an Oxford Biomedical Sciences student or a Manchester medical student?

My BIL and now SIL both turned down Oxbridge to go to Manchester for medicine because they specifically wanted to use practice based learning which Manchester is more used to. Both loved it. He did a gap year before. She also did a concurreny French year and worked in a hospital in Paris for a year. If she wants to resit, fine, but Manchester is great and has produced a number of brilliant young doctors that I have met.

There's an old and relevant joke here: "Do you know what they called the person who graduates last in the class from the worst medical school? Doctor."

Great point @BobbyPuck - I studied Biochemistry instead of medicine and even though I got a PhD I always regret not pursuing medicine.

But it's important to remember that it's entirely normal she would be gutted about Oxford right now. People are talking as though her desire to have another run at it is evidence she's more interested in academia than medicine, whereas anyone in her shoes would be feeling a bit desperate too. But she'll get over it. I know, or knew, many, many people who have missed out on an Oxbridge place in their time (including me) and literally no one who still feels marked by it, whereas plenty go on to see it as a blessing in disguise.

How did it go yesterday @Cluelessatthisstuff and is your DD feeling better about things?

How is DD doing @Cluelessatthisstuff?

Hope she is feeling more positive since results day, she should be really proud of herself for the grades she did get!

Is it true Oxford don’t like resits? I’m curious because my daughter wants to apply but one of her grades was disappointing and she plans to resit in her gap year. If they ace the pretest wouldn’t that be a major factor?

Sorry - not a medical related comment.

On a more relevant note my eldest daughter has friends studying at Manchester university and they love it.

@GaribaldiGirl - posters are talking about UK medical schools. Your DD needs to check the entrance requirements for the course she’s interested in. If its not clear, she can email ( not phone ) the admissions department.

I got rejected from Oxford medical school when I already had all my A levels (all top grades). I got into the other 3 schools I applied to (Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool) chose one of them and it’s not made one bit of difference to my medical career.

She should go to Manchester.

Olga - yes I know this is medicine but I’m assuming they have a consistent policy on resits across whole university. Maybe not.

Does a resit really make a difference? Because for medicine they take your first result.

There is plenty of access to research opportunities at every medical school. If she wants to be a doctor in any form, she should take the place.

I smiled at the PP who said “vanity retake” because that’s exactly what this scenario is - and I say that kindly. It’s a crushing blow when you’re used to academic excellence

And going to university is interesting for these people because suddenly you are not the best, or the cleverest or the star. You are one of many. It's a horrible shock

I suspect this will be even more the case at Oxford.

Are you sure she really wants to study medicine, as this seems to be splitting hairs

I thought his as well. Does she want to do medicine or does she want to go to Oxford? Or is it that she prefers the way that Oxford does its medical course? When DD was looking at medicine she ruled out Oxford from the start (not that she is Oxford material) because there was no patient contact for the first two years. Manchester gets on to the clinical stuff much earlier in the course and, if I remember correctly do problem based learning, which Oxford doesn’t.

It is absolutely OK to feel disappointed, but she needs to be realistic and take on board the excellent advice on this thread,

Cant help thinking about this one! Hope she was able to come to a decision.

As a doctor and a Cambridge graduate I can say:

No one cares about your A levels.

No one cares what medical school you went to.

No one cares whether you were top or bottom of the year at medical school.

The one thing I will say is snap that place up at Manchester while she still can. There's no chance Oxford will take into account a second sitting. Getting into any medical school is a massive achievement- she should be really proud of a place at Manchester and once she's there she'll find her place and love it.