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Compare Exeter to Warwick

42 replies

voilets · 22/04/2017 18:25

Just that really. What are the pros and cons of each? Arts/ humanities degree equally matched more or less on league tables.

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MaximumVolume · 22/04/2017 18:40

Warwick Uni is a campus uni, not actually in Warwick. It's between Kenilworth & Coventry. The campus has a fair bit on with an excellent sports centre & Warwick Arts Centre which has loads of cultural stuff including comedians, bands & theatre. I can't comment on the student-life aspect. Many students live in Earlsdon in Coventry or Leamington Spa...buses to both.

I don't know Exeter Uni apart from the Penninsula Medical School campus by the hospital. The town is nice. Seaside a bonus, but not sure if a student would be interested in that?

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toffee1000 · 22/04/2017 18:43

Exeter is also a campus uni, in Exeter. There are a lot of things to do- clubbing, lots of societies, etc. Northcott Theatre on campus. Also a good sports centre. As the uni is in Exeter the students live there.
Seaside is definitely a bonus for students. Obviously people only really go in summer (think post exams) and it's not far from St David's train station.

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RustyBear · 22/04/2017 19:22

DS went to Warwick, and DD to Exeter - though they started there 11 and 9 years ago, so things might have changed a bit.

At Warwick, when DS started there, all the accommodation was very close to campus- the furthest hall was 10 minutes walk, whereas Exeter had student accommodation further away in the town.

In his second and third years, DS moved out to Leamington as there weren't many places to rent nearer, whereas in Exeter there were lots of student lets in the roads around the campus and DD was never more than a short walk from her lectures.

DD tended to socialise in the city rather than on campus, whereas DS's social life was mostly on campus in the first year - not sure about the later years, as I'm not sure how much social life there was in Leamington...

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voilets · 22/04/2017 20:43

how far a journey is Leamington? Is it a pretty spa town?

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RustyBear · 22/04/2017 22:04

It's about 9 miles. DS used to get a bus university mostly, unless the housemate who had a car was going in at the same time.

Leamington has some nice old Georgian houses, but most of the places the students lived in seemed to be Victorian terraces converted to get as many people in as they could - the nicer ones still had a sitting room, in others that was a bedroom too.

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Leeds2 · 22/04/2017 22:18

I know lots of friends' DC who are very happy at both.

Personally, I would perceive Warwick to be the "better" uni than Exeter, but am thinking along maths/physics subjects. Exeter is seen to be a bit of a haven for private school students, if that matters to you. I know this was something they were addressing when they appointed student ambassadors this year.

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voilets · 22/04/2017 22:54

Yes, i hear mixed messages on quality of uni in comparison with each other.
Have heard Exeter is quite posh but thought all top unis will attract plenty of private school pupils.

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errorofjudgement · 23/04/2017 06:37

Which one do you prefer? At the end of the day you're the one spending 3+ years there, so go for the one you like best. They are both very good universities, but they willl have a different feel.
My DS spent a week at Exeter on a physics course in the summer. Beautiful weather, interesting course, great chance to really get to know the university, and really didn't like it there.
Visited Warwick on a hot, noisy and very crowded open day, but absolutely loved it.

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voilets · 23/04/2017 10:39

Don't know yet. Want to hear experiences. Exeter sounds a nice location but has had some bad press reports about extreme pokitics. Warwick isn't so near to pretty environment but sounds quite modern in its outlook. Campus looks nice enough.

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Dunlurking · 23/04/2017 11:34

As the number of students has increased, and they've had to live off campus in 2nd and 3rd years, Leamington Spa has developed more importance for socialising for Warwick students. Ds is in his first year, living on campus, but seems to go to Leamington on the bus pretty much weekly, for society socials. The last bus back is 2am, I believe.

It feels like a pretty safe town for students to live and party, and has the advantage of student jobs in pubs and restaurants, and shops even. Ds loves the multicultural feel to the university. Exeter was his reserve, but I agree it may feel more English middle class/private school, that was our impression from the open day. That slightly concerned me as ds is a down to earth (mixed race) grammar school boy. He made the right choice, for him. He's doing a humanities degree BTW.

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voilets · 23/04/2017 12:56

dunlurking that is a very useful post for us.DD coming from similar position: mixed race, grammar school, very modern in outlook

However, an acquaintance coming from our good local comp felt Exeter had lots more set up for students. Has two DS , one at each uni. Both doing well.

DD has to see unis first but a range of opinions on here would be really helpful. I found reviews of unis when my DS chose turned out to be true for him and he is very happy with his choice.

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EvilTwins · 23/04/2017 13:01

I applied to both but went to Warwick. Even back in the olden days (I was there 1993-96) most 2nd & 3rd years lived in Leamington or Earlsdon. Almost all of my friends were in Leamington (as was I) and there was a lot going on, socially. I used to travel back to campus for extra-curricular stuff (I did a lot of student drama) but other than that, the pubs and clubs of Leamington were full of students, and there were a lot of house parties.

First year halls were great - all within staggering distance of lectures and the student union. Loads going on for arty students.

DH and I went back about a month ago when we were in Stratford for the weekend. It has changed a lot (campus) but seemed really vibrant and exciting.

I loved my time at Warwick. Chose it over Exeter in the end because of the fact that Exeter is just so far from everywhere (at least, it seemed so when I was 18!) but I guess that depends where you're starting from.

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Mymothersdaughter · 23/04/2017 13:06

Buses from leamington to Warwick campus are really easy to use. Leamington is a great place to live as a student, a few main bars/clubs to go out in but otherwise safe and quiet. Easy to get a house for second year. Near the motorway for easy access and good train links. The only thing I'd say is if a person going to Warwick (living in leamington) had grown up in a big city then leam would seem boring as hell, but if they're a small town kid like me then leamington is a really good fit. Otherwise i would say Exeter as the town centre has so much there and would be more buzzing for a student. So for student life it kind of depends on how much of a party animal they are. Academics wise I have no idea of the difference!

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Dunlurking · 23/04/2017 13:21

I'm glad that was helpful voilets Good luck to your dd in her decision making. BTW applications for Open Days, especially Exeter, are a military operation. The spaces fill very fast, so make sure you know when the applications open and get in there quick. I think Bristol was the other one that filled quickly.

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Orthanc · 23/04/2017 13:49

Have you visited them both? That's probably the best thing to do if possible.

I went to Warwick and it was great, a safe bubble sort of environment, a bit dull maybe but I liked that, and you got to know so many people more because it was a bit insular. Huge students union.

Forgetting all that though, the syllabuses and outcomes are the main thing and can differ hugely from uni to uni, which one do you like the most course-wise? Which could you tolerate studying for years on end and enjoy? So much depends on who you are and what you like.

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voilets · 25/04/2017 20:50

Anyone else know these unis. Info would be most interesting.

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KatherinaMinola · 25/04/2017 20:52

Exeter is posher, Warwick is cleverer (basically).

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Crumbs1 · 25/04/2017 21:46

My youngest is at Exeter - better by far for languages. She loved it from outset and hasn't looked back. Her friends are also lovely. They don't really use union but socialise in the city - which is lovely.
In terms of whether it suits -
Lots of very affluent students with large percentage from top public schools. Only one in my daughter's hall is state educated. My daughter 'needed' ball gowns and lots of black tie events.
Sports and leisure clubs very, very competitive. Trials for hockey etc take place before freshers. Clubs include lacrosse, rowing, golf etc
Very friendly and open atmosphere, lots of meeting up in holidays.
Expensive accommodation in halls and in city.
Lovely outdoor pool and short trip to beach.
Pret on site says it all really.
Good pastoral support and nice healthcentre.

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errorofjudgement · 26/04/2017 15:22

Grin @ KatherinaMinola

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voilets · 26/04/2017 18:03

Really helpful posts must say league tables say warwick languages higher at moment. However, buzzy town, friendly, social sounds good. As does sea.

So hard to tell which will offer best education. Warwick online - so virtual perception seems more modern but would leamington feel boring. She would like historical, oldey worldy aspect.

We will go this summet

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Crumbs1 · 26/04/2017 18:56

Not sure league tables are all - depends on KPIs used. Ours turned down Oxford as she realised course wasn't linguistic - she wanted fluency in two languages as primary outcome. I,think it's about what's best for her. Ours is hoping for placement in Milan with Armani for Erasmus- but then so are several others...

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Leeds2 · 26/04/2017 19:41

Good Luck to her Crumbs, sounds like a fabulous placement if it comes off.

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GoatsFeet · 27/04/2017 16:21

Just that really. What are the pros and cons of each? Arts/ humanities degree equally matched more or less on league tables.

You know, it's not a very productive question really - the pros and cons are not "objective." What might be a pro for some (isolated campus university ie Warwick) might be a con for others & they might prefer Exeter's location only 5 minutes walk from the City centre.

What you've got in this thread are simply other people's preferences. Or what they noticed. Or what they've heard (rumour & hearsay).

Far better to collect your own information via league tables - which you've done. But you know that league tables are not objectiove measures either? They're made up from publicly available statistics by newspapers & other commercial entities. And not all league tables are the same? (The Guardian doesn't include REF/research scores which is just silly). If you do use league tables, you know you can sort them (online) by the different criteria. So you can make comparisons of, say, staff-student ratio, or REF scores, or value-added scores, etc etc.

Your question asks an unanswerable question: you need to think about what are the things you're interested in in a degree course, and a university, and then research those.

Take what people say here as simply personal preference - but I'd be sceptical of all but first-hand experience. Sometimes this forum has as much hearsay & bad information as The Student Room!

For example, the "needing" formal dress at Exeter - well, when I taught there, I don't think my students did many formals - most of them seemed too busy doing musical theatre. So you need to take things with a pinch of salt.

The other thing most people don't realise is that if you dig into university websites you can find out a lot about current teaching, and on the student union website you can generally dig into student life - online editions of the campus student newspaper for example. At my place, you have to get past the UCAS selling pages for degree courses, and go to the Departmental website. (Although at post-92s, that's hard as they seem to want to hide the actual day to day stuff).

Have a look at the biographies & publications & other activities of the academic staff in fields you're interested in. See whether they are the people writing the work at the cutting edge - at a research-led university in the Humanities they will be teaching it as well.

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Crumbs1 · 27/04/2017 17:37

Goats feet - my reference to needing formal dress should have the need in inverted commas, perhaps. It is my little princess who 'needed' ball gowns rather than an actual requirement. That said definitely more richer students at Exeter than Keele.

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voilets · 27/04/2017 18:35

We will do a lot of delving into courses but anecdotal opinions are useful. Surprisingly, student room reviews of my Ds's course were surprisingly accurate. Luckily, the course is mostly really good but it felt a minefield to choose between his final two. Admissions officers for each course were quite enlightening.

I would thank more opinions, i think they offer a valid insight. Flowers

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