what university provides nice and high quality living experience

[tropicalfish]

Following on from the interesting St Andrews thread, Which universities/towns provide the nicest/easiest accommodation for their students. I am looking for a university for dd that provides good overall experience in the time that they are there also taking into account whether they are able to meet friends through their place of residence. Am very interested in hearing of peoples experience good or bad.
TF

Well then Grindelwald surely even more important to get the four choices on the UCAS form right - all medicine applicants have control over that. Also, GCSE performance and A2 performance do correlate on the whole - a 9A GCSE candidate is likely to go on to get pretty good A2s. A lack of correlation is more likely at the lower end, with some students coming into their own for A2. I think the OP is absolutely right to want to get a feel for which places her DD might like, and with 9A her DD is in a good position - yes, even for medicine - not a weak one, provided she ticks all the other mandatory boxes.

I think they all do these days if you are prepared to pay. And if the uni accommodation isn't what you want then there are private "luxury" options close to all the city-based universities. Obviously campus based choices might be different. Agree with others, id make choices and then worry about the accommodation side, unless finances are an issue for the more expensive London based uni's.

I beg to differ on the GCSE A2 correlation . I have seen several straight a at GCSE not make a single a at a2. GCSEs are only about work ethic and obviously reasonable intelligence. at a2 you need to have a flair for the subject. hard work often is not enough

There's a 60% correlation grindelwald.

Being a bit dumb, but what does '60% correlation' actually mean Titchy?
I can see that there might be a correlation between a subject at GCSE and a similar subject at A level, but why woul an A* RE and Food tech for example has any bearing on a2 Physics , for example?

The correlation is between the total performance at GCSE level and the total performance at A Level actually, not individual subject performance.

So a straight A GCSE student is likely to get the top (A or A) grades at A level overall.

A statistician will explain what 60% means far better than - but a correlation of 100% means it always happens (so boys always grow up to be men - yes I am simplifying this cos it won't be 100%, probably 95+% though), 0% means the two are completely random (no correlation between year of birth and hair colour), and -100% means a total inverse correlation (-100% of boys grow up to be women).

Grindelwald then you take it up with the top flight unis incl Oxford who set store on GCSEs rather then ASs as their main predictor of future academic success at university level. I don't expect your observation of 'several' students probably trumps their educational research. It's to do with long strings of A*s, as titchy says. It bodes well, usually.

I am ony phone so don't know how to link but the Cambridge website explicitly says GCSE is a poor predictor of post 16 performance. I really wish mners would not know something about one course at one uni and extrapolate of to be a universal truth!

Grindelwald if you read my first sentence you'll see that I'm absolutely precise in my choice of language. I specifically did not say all top flight unis. I'm fairly well informed about the nuances in admissions and well aware that Cambridge has invested so much in the AS-as-predictor fandango that they're now pretty desperate to hang on to ASs, even though lots of state schools won't be able to afford to run ASs any more due to funding, and even though the two exams aren't co-teachable. So perhaps Cambridge will have to suck it up and use GCSEs too :) Depending on the election :)

And for my part I really wish mners would not link endlessly to bits of info here and there as though they were producing rabbits out of a hat, because there's usually a counter rabbit somewhere.

Not wanting to be rude OP, but why are you looking for a university for your daughter? She should be looking herself and then discussing options with you. It's not a great idea for parents to get too involved in this as it could result in your child making the wrong decision for her. Support her and give her guidance, but don't try to control this important life choice.

Grindelwald Cambridge doesn't exactly say that - they say this:

Our research shows that post-16 examination performance is a much better predictor of degree success at Cambridge. While GCSE results are looked at as a performance indicator, this is within the context of the school/college performance and strong performance in Years 12 and 13 can make up for a less stellar performance at GCSE.

I don't see anything there that states GCSE results are a poor predictor of A Level results (because they aren't).

Lucky there is nothing wrong with the OP asking for advice for her DD. im sure she isn't trying to 'control' her DD .

I've done uni research for all my DC. They have made each and every decision but there is nothing wrong with getting information for them as long as they want you too.

Disagree with the logic that you end up living where you study. FY1 students are asked to list geographical preference and that determines where you wiill do your "apprenticeship" two years. DD about to graduate in scotland but they can request English hospitals for training (or not). Doubt if they will ever return to the original university location unless they really want to.

Titchy have you got a link to that source about the 60% correlation thing ?
I would be quite interested to know more.Just for my own curiosity, particularly whether there is a difference between boys and girls.I have noticed that there are always way more girls than boys with 10As at my DCs school, yet at A level the best achievers 4+ As, Arkwright Scholars etc are mostly boys ( or i guess they are men by then! )

I think that selecting a university to study medicine does depend on where you might be sent for training and how you will fit in with other students. Medics often like catered for first year when they have a heavy study schedule. They all miss a few meals and go out but often Saturday night is not catered anyway so students do something else. Very few penny pinch to the extent they eat every single meal in the hall as Billy no mates! Also OP your DD will need to get a feel of the university cities she might like to consider. Go to open days and get a feel for the courses and the university life. Medics tend to group together eventually but some will have to live near their placements in the end so this may not be their university city. I think it is important to be happy with the university choice you might be making rather than thinking you won't get in, so it does not matter.

I would also look at the student medical societies (they should have one, Facebook pages and all). That could be your support system for 5 yrs. Do they get sweatshirts printed, play hockey, run charity bake sales, whatever else you're into.

thanks for your continued advice.
I think medics do have a heavy schedule and therefore catered meals in halls would be very welcome which is why I dont think that doing medicine in London would be such a good place to study. But does anyone here have a dc that went to Imperial or UCL, what did they think of their quality of life studying in London doing medicine?
Many thanks

As I said before DS is at a well respected london uni, in intercollegiate catered halls. One of his closest friends that he made since he started in September is studying medicine at a different central London uni and by all accounts is having a fine time. Work hard play hard. I spoke with Ds yesterday and he says that his friend manages meals most days.
The accommodation is ok, the staff are lovely and very helpful. It is more than both ds and I could have hoped for given the very unforgiving normally presented for said uni.

thankyou Isthiscorrect.

My dd would be not be eligible for a room in halls as we live in London so if she lived away from home would be in a rented room with shared kitchen which quite frankly I think is too big a leap for first step living away from home especially coping with workload from medicine. I am wondering if anyone else has been in same position as this and has managed ok and how they have found accommodation.

Why would you not be eligible for halls? We live within walking distance of DS' London University yet he is in Halls. Financially a mad decision, but we would have paid similar had he studied elsewhere, and to get away from home seemed an important part of the University experience. He says he feels he is living in a very different City from that of his childhood and so does not feel restricted. Advantages have been that rather than phone he has been coming home every other week for a family meal, which means a lot to his sister, and he has kept in better touch with friends either studying in London, coming back to visit or taking a gap year. He also went back to his school to give a presentation.

I think Imperial, UCL and LSE guarantee first year accomodation to ALL students. KCL does not. However you should check. We heard very late but DS has found himself in an intercollegiate hall within a short walk of his college.

I would add that next year he has the advantage of finding a flat or coming home. His friendship groups are mainly centred around societies, lectures and football, not hall, so he is already used to meeting at college or elsewhere. This means he has a good fall back and does not need to take something in panic. He has his eye on an established flat which includes a couple of third year who may want to move out when they finish their degrees. Coming home after a year away will be fine. I suspect he would stay on in the library and would only come home for the occassional meal and to sleep. I also suspect that he would then find something mid-year as rooms in flats are bound to come up. Some of his friends live at home. It is not a big issue.

In short he is lucky as he has choices, and London is a great place to be a student. My guess is that medics spend a lot of time together so being in hall is not so important. And London hospitals include some international centres of excellence so interesting places to study. DD also wants to apply for medicine. She is likely to select those Universites most likely to offer her a place and then which courses will be most suitable for a dyslexic (ideas anyone?) but she likes the idea of London as it means she could continue some of her existing Extra Curricular, and thus a chance to spend some time away from medics.

UCL doesnt guarantee accommodation for first years when they already live in London.
Imperial does.

Unless they gave changed their policy very recently UCL guarantees all first year students accomodation. I also know london families with kids in halls at kings.
Take into account that a medic spends 5 years in their university rather than 3.

thats odd. I spoke to an admissions officer from UCL and thats what they told me, probably in Nov 2014.