Uni Dilemma

tr3mor

coolsteel wrote: »

Odd? could you say why? my daughter has offers from Manchester, Preston, Liverpool Hope, Chester, Lancaster,

Manchester ( not Met) and Lancaster need the Highest grades, so she chose Manchester, as a second choice she chose Preston from the rest for
1, Geographical,
2, Went to the open day and we were very impressed so much so now she is in a dilemma to switching Preston to her first choice.

Well, obviously she's chosen universities in the north-west.

Most people would apply to lots of universities with similar standards.

The football analogy is a good one, using this I reckon that...

Oxford and Cambridge would be in the Champions League.

The traditional redbricks would be in the chasing pack, with a chance of a UEFA cup place - Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, UCL, etc...

The new universities of the 60s would be yoyo-ing between the premiership and the championship - Lancaster, Keele, UEA, etc...

And many of the ex polys would be in the Conference

tr3mor

studentphil wrote: »

I think you will find room space is a huge issue at many larger universities and it really is an issue and so sometimes departments have to have two lectures and one tutorial rather than one lecture and two tutorials as they just do not have enough tutorial rooms available to offer that many tutorials.
Which does reduce the the perrsonal feel of the place.

Plus, at a larger university given student numbers you may get a tutorial with 15-25 people in compared to a tutorial of 8-12 at a smaller place.

I think we will find that phil is talking crap. Making up an opinion on something he knows nothing about. As per usual.

kittiwoz

Manchester has a better reputation but that doesn't mean it will suit your daughter. I went to UMIST which merged with Manchester part way through my degree but I don't particularly feel able to comment on specifics because there is a lot of variation between departments and because I've never even visited UCLAN.

I am from a village which is basically a dormitory town for London and I chose to come to Manchester because I wanted a change and to go somewhere where there would be a lot going on and I would have more freedom (because there are more places in walking distance and better public transport) and Manchester has been a really good choice for me for those reasons. I like that Manchester is big enough to feel like you are in the middle of things but I find it is not so huge I get lost in it because there are so many opportunities to build your own little communities within it. There are halls, uni societies and sports clubs, pubs and clubs, and in many ways Manchester is still a collection of villages with their own identities, particularly the residential bits like Rusholme, Fallowfield, Didsbury, but also in town there are distinct areas with their own character like the Northern Quarter, Deansgate Locks, Canal St, China-town, etc.

I think it is important to go somewhere you would actually like to live as well as looking at the course. It is the first place you live in that you choose for yourself and the place where you learn to be independent (albeit with the support structures of the uni, union and halls RA as stabilisers). What that means for your daughter might be completely different from what it meant for me but I think that is something that is important for her to think about. Also, this may be controversial, but I think it is actually very hard to get much of a grasp of what the course of uni will be like from open days and the impression you get of the city will probably at least be more accurate as a basis for a decision.

coolsteel

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post, its nice to have a balanced view, Manchester for my daughter would not be a problem as her sister is studying a degree there @ the mo and she has stayed with her on several occasions.
The overriding factor for my daughter is of course which degree would be thought of as a better one, if the consensus on here is that it would be Manchester then no problem she would choose Manchester. But if Preston was somewhere near equal to Manchester then she would choose Preston every time! but she wont choose Preston if its recognised as a lesser degree on reputation of the Uni.
thanks

jrrowleyws

Always remember that entry requirements do not state the quality or reputation of an institute. Most "social sciences" have billions of applicants so they set entry requirements high to reduce the amount of students applying to them.

As for not having enough rooms, thats rubbish. Its more to the point, if you havnt covered the material in a lecture whats the point of a tutorial on it?
Each Uni works differently and comparing them on numbers of lectures doesnt really tell you a lot!

studentphil

tr3mor wrote: »

I think we will find that phil is talking crap. Making up an opinion on something he knows nothing about. As per usual.

Oh well, you just think that it if you want:D

tr3mor

studentphil wrote: »

Oh well, you just think that it if you want:D

Most people do

studentphil

jrrowleyws wrote: »

Always remember that entry requirements do not state the quality or reputation of an institute. Most "social sciences" have billions of applicants so they set entry requirements high to reduce the amount of students applying to them.

As for not having enough rooms, thats rubbish. Its more to the point, if you havnt covered the material in a lecture whats the point of a tutorial on it?
Each Uni works differently and comparing them on numbers of lectures doesnt really tell you a lot!

It depends on the subject but some subjects would perfer to have more tutorials than lectures.

As anyone semi- read in educational theory would know the lecture is not an effective teaching method and is 100s of years out of date.

I do just wonder if you have ever tried to book a room at a university as it is near impossible given the number of classes they have to fit in,

Oldernotwiser

Another point to remember is that Manchester has little need to sell itself to students because of it's popularity and reputation. The new universities often tend to pull all the stops out to recruit students because they need to fill their places. I'm not keen on a consumerist attitude to education but I think that the OP and his/her daughter need to be aware how much hard selling goes on in universities these days.

studentphil

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Another point to remember is that Manchester has little need to sell itself to students because of it's popularity and reputation. The new universities often tend to pull all the stops out to recruit students because they need to fill their places. I'm not keen on a consumerist attitude to education but I think that the OP and his/her daughter need to be aware how much hard selling goes on in universities these days.

But from people i know all the bending over backwards by the university dies away after the 1st year once they have your bum on a seat, so you have to watch for that.