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Original poster

any feedback on the following universities?

28 replies

gotogirl · 11/01/2010 21:22

Leeds
Loughborough
Goldsmith's
Bournemouth
Leicester

a friend's son is applying for Comms and Media syudies at the above universities. I said I would find out anything I could (she is American)

any feedback at all?

thx

OP posts:
liamsdaddy · 12/01/2010 08:20

I know a little about Bournemouth, didn't go there but I used to live in the area.

Formally a polytechnic, it's a newish but not particularly pretty campus a few miles north of the town center itself. I seem to recall public transport isn't particularly good or cheap.

The area is known for the high percentage of retired people plus in summer the influx into the many english language schools.

The beach is really nice and there is "life" to be found, but it's important to be mobile to find it.

The campus itself was very compact and I believe most the student accommodation is on site although parking is probably an issue (but that's true of most universities).

I couldn't comment on the course or the quality of student accommodation, but any other general information about the area I'm happy to provide.

OtterInaSkoda · 12/01/2010 11:07

Only contribution I can make is that students at Goldsmith's tend to have to live in fairly rough areas. Having said that I left over 10 years ago so it could have changed since then.

Lilymaid · 12/01/2010 11:19

Loughborough is very highly rated. The only important downside is that it is located in a smallish town though it is easy to reach Nottingham and Leicester by public transport or car.
Leicester is very well established and seems to be becoming more and more popular at the moment
(Both Loughborough and Leicester are members of the 1994 Group of smaller research intensive universities - so are highly regarded academically)
Leeds is a very large and fashionable major university and a member of the Russell Group (larger research intensive universities).
Other posters have commented on Bournemouth (new university - former Poly, so less highly regarded academically) and Goldsmiths (well established but more specialist college of University of London and also a member of the 1994 Group).

Bonsoir · 12/01/2010 11:21

Is your friend's son currently living in the US and coming to the UK for university?

stillbeingstalked · 12/01/2010 11:21

I used to work at Leicester and though I don't know about that particular dept or course, I can tell you about the uni and the city.
Most students who go there end up very fond of both - it is a small city where you can get everywhere quite easily with plenty of cheap rented accommodation. Nothing spectacular, but plenty of good cheap restaurants etc. The location in the Midlands is a bit far from the sea for my taste but has the advantage that as it's in the middle of the UK it's a good base if you want to see the rest of the country as a foreign student.
The university regularly gets very high ratings on the National Student Survey - as an organisation it prioritises student experience and teaching quality. There's a fab new library which opened a couple of years ago. The atmosphere is friendly and informal though some of the lecturers are at the top in their area.
Must stop now as I am starting to sound like a prospectus....

compo · 12/01/2010 11:22

purely for the social side and living I would go for Leeds

compo · 12/01/2010 11:23

but she might want to be closer to an international airport?

FourArms · 12/01/2010 11:32

I went to DeMontfort Uni which is in Leicester. I was essentially a foreign student at the time as my parents were living in Cyprus. It had v.easy links by National Express to Heathrow which was great for travelling home. I really enjoyed the city, it was a great place to live - good night life, good shopping, friendly people, good public transport... There is a massive student population with having two universities. It's a very ethnically diverse town with a large asian population (my course had 94% asian students and 4% white british) but this doesn't cause any problems.

ajandjjmum · 12/01/2010 11:39

Your friend might find it helpful to get the Times University Guide, which gives an insight into all universities. There is also quite a good one by Virgin, which looks at things from a more student-led perspective.

We found them interesting and pretty accurate.

Also the Student Room website is pretty informative.

Floopy21 · 13/01/2010 10:01

My brother's at Leeds & loves it - vibrant city, lots of loevly people & support on his course. I went to a London uni (Kings) & found it lonely due to the lack of a 'campus', not sure if this is the case with Goldsmiths. If he's not very very sociable & independant, London can swallow you up a bit.

lazymumofteenagesons · 13/01/2010 13:36

No real experience of these universities except that Bournemouth is an ex-poly and not as academically highly regarded as the others. Goldsmiths is in a VERY rough area of South London and I would not like my child travelling to and from at night etc.That said I think Princess Eugenie/Beatrice is at Goldsmith!

thirtysomething · 13/01/2010 13:43

Loughborough is a campus and as such can be either homely or isolating depending on how you look at it-some students hardly ever leave campus! It's VERY sporty-loads of Olympic athletes/top-level sports people start out there and some students get siphoned off into elite squads for various sports. Of course not everyone there is sports-mad but it's a hard place to be if you're averagely good at sports and just want to take part for fun...On the plus side it's very highly regarded, teaching generally very good and they are very good at student placement/careers info etc. Halls are quite cheap as is off-campus student accommodation.. Very easy to access Leicester, derby and Nottingham for nightlife etc. It's a small town but is very well situated for east Midlands airport, rail links to London etc.

liamsdaddy · 13/01/2010 14:56

jfi since compo did raise it !

"Bournemouth International Airport" essentially does holiday destinations only.

Useful if you want to jet off somewhere and don't fancy traveling into London, but not really that good for flights to and from the USA.

mathanxiety · 13/01/2010 18:13

Where is the American student coming from in America -- urban or small town, nice neighbourhood or otherwise? Might be useful to know what he's expecting in Britain or what expectations she has about British college life. Clearly something is attracting him or he'd be doing a course like communications/ media studies in the US, but do you have any idea what it is he hoping for? Any plans to visit the universities? Most college-bound American students try to visit the places they apply to.

WilfSell · 13/01/2010 18:18

In the subject chosen, I'd say Goldsmith's and Loughborough probably have the highest research status (but you can check properly on the RAE website or university league tables). Goldsmith's will be the most 'happening' which is sometimes important to Media students, especially if they want to work in the industry.

Bournemouth is a 'new' university and therefore will probably have different teaching approach, resources etc. Not necessarily in the 'wrong' direction, though, especially in this subject: ex-polys often have better media courses as they've been doing it longer and have more industry contacts.

Horses for courses.

monkeyfeathers · 13/01/2010 18:20

The media and communications department at goldsmiths is very good, among the best in the country. There are some extremely good people there.

This sounds like odd advice, but your friend's son should look at the academic staff in each department and particularly at their research interests as well as the kinds of upper-level classes they offer. Specialudm vary wildly between departments and he doesn't want to end up in a department of film scholars specialising in race studies when he's more interested in new media or journslism or something.

MillyR · 13/01/2010 19:06

The areas around Goldsmiths (Deptford, Lewisham, NewCross) have the highest levels of reported rapes in the UK. It is not a safe area to walk around at night.

Floopy21 · 15/01/2010 09:47

Plus, that area has generally crap transport & is a bit grim. Didn't realise Goldsmiths was there - it's really not a nice area (OK if you're living somewhere else & travelling in/back during the day or with a group of friends I guess - & a load of pound shops to pick up student bargins as well as cheap calls to Guyana!)

legalalien · 15/01/2010 10:39

Let's not get too carried away with the dreadfulness of the area around Goldsmiths. I used to live in Brockley until a couple of years ago and always felt pretty safe. Telegraph Hill is a nice area (anniemac, if you're out there somewhere come and back me up!)

MissAnneElk · 15/01/2010 10:47

Although Bournemouth is a former poly and is probably not great for many courses the media school does have a very good reputation. My (American) nephew considered it but in the end chose Vancouver. I think it's important not to overly generalise on the reputation of a university, but to look at their individual facilities and reputations for specific courses.

fanjolinaballerina · 16/01/2010 22:28

Agree with legalalien. Oy! lazymum I live and teach in the Goldsmith's area. It is not in a VERY rough area. I feel safe enough to bring my two darling daughters up here.

To the OP I went to Leeds and would highly recommend both academically and socially. Lovely city!

daisyj · 16/01/2010 22:37

Agree with legalalien - I've lived in Lewisham for the past 8 years, and always felt pretty safe (no less safe than I did growing up in a nice bit of North London). I would say that the same rules apply as they would anywhere else in terms of keeping safe. It's a really vibrant area with excellent transport links to central London, so I wouldn't be put off by its alleged 'roughness'.

I studied at Leeds 15 years ago, and still have close connections to the city, and it's a great place to study and live - I and everyone else I knew had a wonderful time there, although I don't know about the particular courses.

daisyj · 16/01/2010 22:39

lol - x-post - fanjolina - are you me?! Am also happy to bring up darling dd round here.l

lazymumofteenagesons · 16/01/2010 22:50

Apologies to fango and daisy! Totally based on hearsay and driving through on the way back from cross channel ferry trips. I live in a very mixed area of north london and I suppose its what you get used to.

sugarcandymountain · 17/01/2010 15:30

I spent a short time at Goldsmiths before transferring. Agree that it is very 'happening' and it would be worth checking out the course in more detail, as they tend to take a different approach to some subjects than other universities. It's a relatively small institution, with halls of residence close to the academic buildings, so more of a community feel than other London universities. The area can be a bit rough, but I didn't have any problems. The East London line should re-open this year, so it would be easier to live elsewhere and commute in as well.