Which City to be a student in?

[hellsbells99]

Noticed there is a current thread on Nottingham in chat and wondered what thoughts people had on other cities - but in this case relating to being a student? We are looking at Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. Any thoughts or experiences?

Newcastle is great.

this with added awesomeness.

Just to say about Dev in Leeds - it has a reputation as being full of public school types, but DD (from state comp) found it much more mixed than its reputation implied. She's We're paying £350 pm now for a room in a 10-people house

Loving reading all these positive posts about all the different cities that your DCs are at

Manchester is a great city for culture ( both popular and classical). It also has great transport links and housing.

But fuck me, the weather! I'm a northerner and it still depresses me. We used to joke about the clouds gathering over Saddleworth moor!

Bristol is also great in terms of things going on but it is expensive ( compared to the other cities).
And pretty 'posh' in terms of students.
Birmingham? I just don't love it. Sorry.

Liverpool ? We visit a lot ( DH is a scouser and a Red so...) great city but I don't think the university is as good as the above mentioned. And since it's gonna cost 9k a year you need a good rep for your buck.

So glad to see Newcastle getting good reviews - its 300+ miles away so good to know ds is likely to enjoy living up there especially as there is no chance of being able to spontaneously pop home for the odd weekend.

Ds is in Newcastle and loving it. The nightlife is great, if you want to partake, the people are lovely and the uni is fab too. There is loads of student accommodation at varying prices and the city is small enough to enjoy without being overwhelmed. And there is great shopping for visiting mums!

DSs friend's loving Newcastle.

Anyone got a DC in Exeter or Bath?

Bristol can be cheap, but transport shocking so loads of students drive (another expense).

Also it rains here all the time! I am not exaggerating, permanent drizzle.

One of mine is in Exeter. Lovely city, happy student population, near the sea and walkable everywhere. Pricey accommodation though.

My eldest is at Plymouth, totally loving it. DD1 is going to Reading in September.

Any more thoughts on Liverpool as a uni city? TIA

I know a couple of DD1's friends at Liverpool. They love the city and it is cheap to live there. The university is lovely. Some of the student accommodation is on the main campus but some is in the student villages a couple of miles away (which is similar to quite a lot of universities).

Agree that you should be open minded. I have always hated Birmingham as a city but knew students love it and I realised why on our uni visit. All on a really lovely campus with everything on hand, even a railway station and in an area of lovely old houses perfect for big lively student houses. Go and look and focus on the course, they almost always end up happy socially wherever they go, but the wrong course can wreck the experience. DD ended up in a quaint old town with campus uni that I would have expected a city girl to find a bit "small town" but not a bit of it, the quaint old town has attracted in the hipsters and the night life is great and quite quirky if not the industrial clubbing of the big cities.

Loughborough compared to Brighton? These are the two choices so far.

I had a great time at Leeds Uni. Now live in Manchester and it's not so good for students IMO as pretty spread out.
Sheffield is a friendly place but the hills really put me off when I considered it.

I think DD will be choosing between Leeds and Manchester.

EachandEveryone - I would think Brighton is better for partying but more expensive, Loughborough a nice campus uni with a good reputation. Quite a distance between the two.

I'd like to put in a huge vote for Liverpool as a fab place to live! I didn't actually study here, but moved here after graduation and have been here ever since. I spend a fair bit of time working with/mentoring some of the medical students at Liverpool and they seem to be having an amazing student experience. Student housing is cheap and plentiful, and there's so much to do here - lots of bars, clubs and restaurants, not to mention museums and art galleries and other cultural stuff. There is also an awesome music scene if that's your thing. I wish I'd studied here, to be honest.

Loughborough is very campus based. Sporty of course. Brighton, as a city, is more edgy, a lot bigger with way more going on. Arty types love Brighton and it is very very different to Loughborough as a place to live. No idea about quality of courses but Loughborough is possibly a tad above Brighton in prestige.

Hellsbells I've pmed you

Thanks Mrs!

I preferred Bristol to Nottingham (the two my daughters went to) but the nottingham one loved the campus university and had a really good time there so I am not saying students don't like Nottingham.

I would go by which one employers prefer though nothing to do with architecture in the town although most (all?) of those are good of:

Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool

I went to Birmingham (it was 30 years ago mind) and loved it - lived on campus at The Vale for the first year and could walk to my department, and then lived out in grotty student houses in Bearwood and Kings Heath with a 25 minute bike ride in to uni. Selly Oak was lively but expensive to rent in, lots of memories of cheap curries on Stoney Lane.

Brighton!