Brighton Uni - Falmer Campus: anyone with knowledge/experience?

[amumthatcares]

I have posted on here previously about DDs preference for this Uni, for what DH and I feel are the wrong reasons. We have now been and looked at here and still feel the same. I know one of the main reasons DD is so adamant about going there is the bright lights of Brighton. However, the campus is quite isolated and there are no students bars, so consequently, she would have to travel for any kind of clubbing/drinking etc. We have tried to explain to her that as a student this is going to be very difficult to sustain financially. We also feel that she will not get the whole student experience you get when there are student bars and social events. I just wondered if anyones DD or DS or indeed themselves, have been here and can give some opinions. I would also point out that DD is very much a social butterfly and would not be content sitting in bedrooms or shared lounges with the same 5 people for at least 5 or 6 nights a week.

[TheWoollybacksWife]

I have no experience of Brighton but just wanted to say that my DD1 looked at lots of Unis during her sixth form and a fair few of them were situated away from the bright lights of their nearest town or city.

She looked at Nottingham Trent where freshers accommodation was on campus but a bus ride away from the city. The same with Liverpool Hope.

She also looked round Liverpool Uni where there was some on-campus flats but the majority of students lived in the suburbs and bussed it in to the city. There was a thriving student community near these halls, though.

She is currently studying at Leicester where the freshers mostly live a 40 minute walk / 20 minute bus ride away from the Uni which is based in the city. She has a bus pass that gives her unlimited travel for the year. It was a fairly steep one off cost but works out far cheaper than £2.50 per journey (one way). I don't know whether it is Uni policy to do this but she is sharing a flat with 4 other lovely girls who are all pretty much the same type of person as DD. This means that they go out together (and share taxi costs) but are also happy enough to socialise in their flat, watching films and scoffing biscuits.

Does Brighton offer a course that she will enjoy and do well at? Is it a realistic choice in terms of her projected grades? What are your objections to this being her top choice?

[madeupstuff]

I studied at the Uni of Sussex ('96-'00), on the other side of the road to the Falmer campus of Brighton Uni.

There are cheap-enough very frequent train and bus services to the centre of Brighton (really not far away) and I don't think that the location of the campus hindered anyone from enjoying themselves.

Anyway, isn't there at least one bar up there? If not there's always the many many bars of the Sussex campus over the road.

[amumthatcares]

Woolly - Thank you for your response. The halls for Falmer are on campus, so she will be away from any social activity. It is nowehere near the best Uni for her course but she is not taking that into account. The best Uni is indeed Leicester!! Her words when we left there were 'I love it and the course is exactly what I want to do' but she met some lads from Brighton on holiday and the place is now the be all and end all of civilisation . She needs higher grades for Leicester but is well within achieving them...we just cannot make her see sense. Even though the halls are away from campus, I thought the student bars, activities and the O2 at Leicester were great (as did DD at the time!). She has some impression that Leicester City itself doesn't have much to offer in the way of nightlife. How does your DD find it?

[amumthatcares]

madeupstuff - thank you. Yes we did find the train easy enough. It's just the cost involved with having to use them for both socialising and work. Falmer is so small, it's more than likely she would have to work in Brighton. There are no bars on Falmer but it's interesting to know there are lots on Sussex. Do Falmer have access to them? Did you find Brighton expensive to drink in?

[TheWoollybacksWife]

She loves it. It wasn't her first choice - she went through Clearing - after a bit of disappointment that "it wasn't Liverpool"

She has settled in amazingly. As a parent I cannot praise the pastoral care enough. The Uni put her in touch with people on her course and in her halls via Twitter and FB before she started, so she had already begun to establish relationships. The Uni also advise students to use a particular cab service which send them a text with the cab reg number, description and fare when they book it From what she says about the lecturers they seem approachable and friendly although she is having an issue with calling them by their first names!

I took my younger children over to visit her on Monday and we had a lovely time strolling through the city enjoying the Autumn sunshine before getting the bus back to halls and meeting her friends.

She's in catered halls at Oadby - the food is OK she says, but she will give most things except green vegetables a go.

[madeupstuff]

The bus is probably cheaper and will drop you closer to the centre of the city (weekly/season tickets probably still available). The Sussex campus used (my god, it was twelve years ago) to be an 'open' campus - so I can't imagine that it wouldn't be open to Brighton students.

I have no idea about the cost of drinking in Brighton itself these days, although I can't imagine it would be much worse/better than anywhere else.

She should do it, Brighton is an amazing place - quite unlike anywhere else in the Country. (I'm clearly biased, aren't I?)

[amumthatcares]

Woolly - Thank you. DD will go catered too and if she went to Leicester, Oadby would be her halls. What ones are your DD in? I found the pastoral side of things quite encouraging and also the fact that they can guarantee accomodation.

madeupstuff - Thank you too. Handy to know that about the buses. I will do some research on whether Sussex is still an open campus. I have been told that Brighton is known as 'London by the sea' because of the high cost of things etc there but I do agree, it is an amazing place. I just hope the Uni can deliver (if it were Sussex, I wouldn't have any reservations at all )

[TheWoollybacksWife]

She is at John Foster but has friends at Beaumont and GMS. Her room is en-suite and is a 30 week contract. It is as expensive as it would have been for a 42 week self-catering room in Liverpool but then she doesn't have to find money for food and be bothered cooking when she gets in. She is now spending about £25 a week on entertainment, lunch when at Uni and various Smart Price food. She will hopefully have a job through an agency soon.

She threw herself into the Freshers events but 5 weeks in she goes to one specific club night a week as they play her kind of music and there is usually a bar crawl each week - tonight is fancy dress for Halloween but she has been on ones for the societies that she has joined.

What does your DD want to study?

[amumthatcares]

Woolly - I think for the extra, it is well worth catered and at least I will know DD will get SOME food, left to her I can't imagine what she would eat! At Brighton it is the same cost as Leicester, except they only get food Mon-Fri so she would still have the expense of food at weekends.

I am taking her shopping in Leicester for her birthday (it's only 1 hour from us) just so she can get a feel of the city and see that it's not the desolate, tumbleweed rolling place she thinks it is

She wants to (and has since she was 13 - but have no idea how/why) study Criminology. She does Sociology and Psychology A level and LOVES them, so I have no doubts it is the thing for her. What about your DD?

[TheWoollybacksWife]

Sorry I do seem to have derailed this thread into a "Why Leicester is Good" thread

DD is studying History.

There are loads of bars and clubs and they do seem to cater very well to the student population. From what I gather from DD there are regular themed nights at the clubs so she goes to one in particular and REALLY enjoyed the opening and closing parties at Freshers.

We live an hour away too and one of the reasons she wasn't keen on Leicester initially was that she thought we would be on her doorstep every other day. Her fears are unfounded!

[TheCollieDog]

amum would your daughter be interested in the University of Sussex? Very highly rated, which would stand her in better stead than a post-1992 (ex-poly) university < dons tin hat and retreats behind the sofa >

[amumthatcares]

woolly - Not at all. I totally agree that Leicester is an excellent Uni, that is why I am so frustrated I think DD has the same worry...she has put our local Uni as a choice but has NO intention of going there!

amum - Oh, how I wish Sussex did the course she wants to do ...all my worries would be quelled. It is another excellent Uni by comparison.

Brighton are very new to Criminology and 2013 will be the first year they offer it as a stand alone degree. This in itself worries me. Also, the possibility that future employers will not look so favourably at this over someone that has studied at a better performing Uni that is well established and leading in that field

[amumthatcares]

sorry...that last paragraph should have been to collie not me!

[outtolunchagain]

I think it is best not to focus too much on one place , after all it is the University that chooses you and not the other way around sadly. All this angst may be for nothing if she doesn't get an offer .

She has to apply to five in no particular preference so let her include Brighton and maybe Leicester and three others and by the time she visits fit post offer days in the Spring the memories of the Summer may have faded.

[amumthatcares]

outtolunch - very good points, thank you. Could you just clarify, does she get the opportunity of a post offer visit to all offering Unis?

[outtolunchagain]

All of the ones that offered ds a place invited him to a post offer day . It is interesting that the one he liked the best prior to offers ( which incidentally was the lowest ranked ) he was much less keen on when he went to the offer holders day . I think he saw the other offer holders and thought " this is great but I could do better then this" especially having seen the other higher ranked places.

So I would go with the flow , it could all change by the Spring . Does she know what she wants to do after University, may be get her to speak to some people who are doing the job or who recruit to find out which courses would give her the best chance .

I would also try a bit of reverse psychology because the more against Brighton you seem the more pro she may become .Perhaps just try to be as neutral as possible , after all this is not school and University is ultimately her decision and her responsibility , it's an expensive business and not a holiday jaunt .We have just visited ds for the first time and whilst he is having a very sociable time I was struck by how focused on work they are as well , more so than I was at this stage and I went to one of the so called top Universities. He is also at a wellregarded RG institution, and it's very much work hard play hard .

[creamteas]

It is not unusual for feelings to change between application and the need to make firm/insurance offers.

My friend's DS saw a really unusual degree and was really keen to study it initially (it was one of a kind, so his other choices where a more traditional option). But come the spring, he worked out that it would really limit his options and dropped the idea.

[derekthehamster]

I'm a ex Brighton poly and Sussex uni Grad. Brighton is fab - beware, I came here 21 years ago and am still here! Dh and I celebrate 20 years of being together on Monday :D

It is very studenty, and there are loads of clubs which do student nights etc. I actually stayed in rented accomodation right from the start as there was no room in halls.

Sussex is great, and the bars are open to both Brighton and Sussex students. There are loads of cabs, so she might find that she'll share one of these instead of bus/train.

Also the bars on the beach are great.

It's likely that she'll make friends with some of the locals as well (I did),

I'm not suprised she prefers it over Leicester There is a great vibe around and is a very tolerant city.

[WeAreSix]

Brighton uni graduate here too :) I was there 1997 - 2000. I didn't live in Brighton but nearer one of the satellite sites and had study days at Falmer

We always went out in Brighton despite living 8 miles away. We always blagged cheap taxis home 'poor student nurses... You might need us one day'

I never went home either!

[amumthatcares]

Thank you all for your comments. They have been very useful. Between you, you havel given pros and cons for both sides which has given me plenty of things to consider. I think the thing now is for me to take a step back and wind down a bit. Ultimately it will be DD's decision and as has been said, there is plenty of time between now and then. I will have to trust that whatever decision she makes will be for the right reasons. I will support no matter what ....think I need a large one of these