UEA or Exeter for History?

[boatashore]

My DD is torturing me herself trying to decide between UEA (History) and Exeter (History and International Relations). Does anyone have any words of wisdom? We live abroad, so visiting isn't possible. She likes the look of both courses equally. The added wrinkle is that the UEA offer is unconditional if she firms, and DD suffers from an anxiety disorder that sometimes leaves her paralyzed in exams. Taking the pressure off exams is hugely appealing, though the Exeter offer should be well within her reach. All thoughts very welcome!

Exeter is possibly deemed a more prestigious university. If that is a consideration.

Exeter has the better department IMO.

Exeter is a lovely place to live/study. Has beautiful countryside and coastal areas nearby. Has a thriving student community. Bit biased though as I am an Exonian, born and bred.

UEA is a nicer campus :).
Has she seen the league tables?
Is there are a particular area of history that matters most to her & one of them has better staff with related interests?

Thanks for all the responses! Exeter is higher in the various tables (4th vs 11th in the Guardian, 8th vs 23rd in the Complete University Guide) but I think some of that may be linked to graduate employment, where UEA lags badly in the first year but has caught up after two years. My understanding is that a disproportionate number of UEA students hang out in Norwich after graduation, so perhaps that accounts for the low employment numbers. For the departments, I think they both have some excellent faculty members, but I'm not a historian so can't really judge.

I did history at uea, it has a fab history department.

Yes to lots of uea grads staying in the area after, dp and I have, it's a lovely place to raise a family but job prospects are not great.

Exeter as first choice, UAE as second - limited pressure as she knows her insurance choice is unconditional

Exeter, it's a no-brainer

I think the UEA's unconditional is prob only unconditional if taken as firm now.

Their fees for international students are about the same, so that's no help.

UEA graduates used to have the highest rate in the nation for staying on in the area, yes Norwich really is a nice city.

Do you know about TSR? It's a good place to get hear some RL experiences of each Uni.

Thanks all. It sounds like people who went to Exeter loved it, and the same for UEA, which a comfort. Glad to hear from 5madthings that the history department at UEA is good. Siriouslyffs is right -- the UEA unconditional only applies if it is dd's first choice. If she puts UEA second, the grade requirements are pretty much the same as Exeter's. It shouldn't be a problem, except this is a kid who once froze so badly in an oral exam that she literally could not remember her middle name. Once she gets going, she usually does well, but it's a bit of a gamble. Thanks ragged for the suggestion about TSR. DD has been on it in the past but will suggest she looks again. Does anyone have any thoughts on the pros and cons of a History/IR degree vs plain History?

UEA had clearing vacancies for History (V100) in 2014 2013 and 2012. Exeter haven't had anything except at their Cornwall campus.

I would go for Exeter and take the chance that if your dd drops a grade, UEA will come up in clearing and take her. That is of course not a given.

It shouldn't be a problem, except this is a kid who once froze so badly in an oral exam that she literally could not remember her middle name. Once she gets going, she usually does well, but it's a bit of a gamble.

What are the methods of assessment at the different Universities. If one was mainly coursework and the other all-exam, would that sway her choice?

These two places have quite a different feel, frankly Exeter is going to have richer, better connected students. UEA will feel quite different. Where will she feel more at home?

I don't think it will make much difference doing history v history with international relations as there is usually some flexibility to swop after the first year and enough flexibility in modules to lean towards individual preference anyway.

The modules each offer are quite different, which appeal to her more? Exeter's list is more traditional, both are good.

Where is she likely tob e heading afterwards? If she is thinking of any city type role I would head to Exeter.

DD1 chose UEA over a higher ranking uni for a number of reasons.
She was a bit nervous about whether she wanted to go to university at all so wanted somewhere that felt friendly and easy to fit in and she had some issues with anxiety she needed somewhere with an obvious system of pastoral care. I would say that she made the right choice for her particularly in her final year when the stress ramped up and she needed the help from her personal tutor. She has stayed in Norwich after graduating and has a job she loves (and a boyfriend who is a UEA graduate as well). I agree with petalunicorn though if your DD has designs on the city then Exeter may be a better choice.

Some offers for History at Exeter will be AAA but with International Relations it reduces to AAA indicating there is less high class competition for this degree. These are the higher end of the offers but I suspect History at UEA would not require the A and in fact has given an unconditional offer to try and get a good student. Exeter is the best option but it depends what you want to do afterwards and what aspects of the courses are attractive. Exeter is pretty Middle class - a bit like continuation of boarding school, so I have heard.

I did History at Exeter and loved it, but that was nearly 49 years ago, so can't give any advice about current courses. But on the rich/well-connected/middle-class/boarding school thing, I can say both from my experience and DD's (she did Psychology there a few years ago) it's a bit of a myth; there are plenty of perfectly ordinary, full-loan people there, the types that were called 'green wellies' in my day and 'rahs' in DD's are there but are easy to avoid if you don't have tastes in common- I hardly ever came across them, personally. Just don't live in Holland Hall...

It's so helpful to get so many responses. Thank you!

eatyourveg, that's interesting about clearing. I hadn't realised it was possible to get info from previous years. I had actually liked the look of Exeter Cornwall because it seems such a supportive environment and the students get such amazing contact time with faculty, but DD likes the Streatham and UEA courses more.
The requirements for Exeter and UEA are close enough that I think she needs to figure out which uni and course she likes most. As you said, if she puts UEA second there's no guarantee they'll take her if she doesn't get the grades, even if they do have places in clearing, so she'd have to be prepared to go elsewhere.

Senua, thanks for pointing out assessment. It's a big issue. I've just checked on Unistats and both place significantly more weight on coursework than exams (roughly the same at both). I wish they did the same for admissions!

Calico3, it's good to know your DS was impressed by the UEA history department. Will he be doing a joint degree with history? I think the reason DD decided against the joint degree at UEA is that IR is only combined with modern history there. She's been doing modern history for four years and wants to dig further into the past.

Petalunicorn, it's so hard to know where she'll feel most at home. She left the UK when she was a baby, so even in this hyper-connected age and with annual visits home she will still be a foreigner and won't read all the social cues. I don't know if that's easier among the richer and better connected or among the less so! I'm hoping that all the unis are big enough and that the student outlook today is international enough that she will find her niche at either.

I have no idea what she'll do after. Probably another more practical qualification. I think she's more likely to look at law or a medicine conversion course than the City.

NiceCardigan it sounds like your DD has done so well! When was she at UEA and what did she study? I hadn't realised UEA was known for its pastoral care. That's definitely important for my worrywart. It's good to know that your DD got through despite periods of anxiety (which I really think should be renamed to something more descriptive; we all get anxious at times but we don't all suffer from episodes of extreme, mind-numbing panic).

I'm hoping that all the unis are big enough and that the student outlook today is international enough that she will find her niche at either.

Boat - this is so true. It always irritates me when people make sweeping generalisations about the type of people at a particular university. I went from a working class background to what is generally considered a very posh uni but even in the dark ages there was such a broad mix of students it was always easy to make good friends (even some of the posh/rich kids were, believe it or not, very nice!) And after all, part of the uni experience is the opportunity to broaden your horizons and mix with 'different' people.

Thanks Millymollymama. My impression is that Exeter is very solid and has high entry requirements, but that UEA is moving up. It's been amazingly popular with DD's schoolmates this year, even among those who comfortably have the grades for their bigger name offers.

RustyBear it's encouraging to hear that you and your DD both enjoyed Exeter and that there is a good mix of students (apart from in Holland Hall!). Do you recall if there was much in the way of pastoral care? Were the profs supportive and approachable? Thinking again about NiceCardigan's message, it's probably something dd should weigh as much as the course itself.

Stonecircle your message popped up as I was posting. Good to know that even in the dark ages a working class kid could be happy at a posh uni. The world's a more complicated place then it when we were growing up, but I'm hoping one improvement is that our offspring are less likely to choose their friends or judge a person's worth based on class, accent, skin colour, sexual orientation, or size of their trust fund!

boatashore DD1 graduated in 2013 and studied Biological Sciences. I don't think UEA has a particular reputation for good pastoral care it was just the way the department presented itself at the post offer day. It wasn't really mentioned at all by her other potential choice and as DD1 was a bit wobbly about a few things she needed somewhere with a good tutor system.

I went to UEA (admittedly a long time ago) and the campus & halls used to empty at weekends as so many students hopped on trains to go home to London. Pretty sure I got a lower offer as they wanted token northerners! As you are overseas, I would suggest check out if that is still the case.

My DD who has a significant need for pastoral care has just chosen Exeter over UEA despite the offer from UEA being unconditional. We already had the feeling that the pastoral care at Exeter was probably better but the clincher for DD was that, on the offer holders' day, she discovered that the degree she has applied to do isn't actually accredited. This is a very mainstream scientific course and this fact had not been apparent up until this point. If your DD decides to go to UEA, you need to make sure she will end up with a degree at the end of it.