Landscape architecture - Sheffield or Edinburgh?

[freshmint]

DD applied to 3 unis - has got identical (ABB) offers from Sheffield and Edinburgh and an unconditional offer after interview from Greenwich. She doesn't really want to go to Greenwich.
She is predicted AAA.
She feels she ought to keep Greenwich as her back up, which means firming either E or S. She likes them both - prefers Edinburgh as a city but feels the Sheffield course may be better.
Is this the wrong approach - should she chuck away Greenwich and keep the other two?

Does anyone have any insight or advice they could offer? She is my eldest so the first time I've gone through this!!

The idea of the insurance offer is that it is a lower offer so if things don't work out she still has a place so not understanding the point of having Edinburgh and Sheffield as a both choices.

Can't advise on which uni to go to though

If she doesn't want to go to Greenwich then I'd consider firming and insuring the other two. I know it's not the correct thing to do to have both firm and insurance with the same grades but it's very common. Have you looked at what typical UCAS points students on the courses at Sheffield and Edinburgh have on UNISTATS

If she is predicted AAA then she has a lot of wriggle room with her results.

I know think both Sheffield or Edinburgh would be brilliant places to be students. Sheffield is very cheap.

UNISTATS LINK HERE

Has she been to the post offer open days?

I guess its the BA (Hons) at Sheffield and the MA (Hons) at Edinburgh.

Student satisfaction is 100% at Sheffield and 67% at Edinburgh. Employment prospects are better for Sheffield but you spend more time in lectures at Edinburgh.

That's a great site thanks very much beepity beep!!
Well there is no contest really between 100% student satisfaction and 67% student satisfaction, is there? That's pretty stark even before you add in the improved employability.
Lecture time not so important - what is important is studio time. In fact I would say that if your students are sitting in a lecture theatre for two long rather than designing, they are doing it wrong... Which points to Sheffield again...

If anyone has personal knowledge of either course that would be great to hear.

It's best not to take unistats too literally but rather as something that might prompt further investigation IYSWIM
There could have been a specific reason for the less good satisfaction at Edinburgh that's now been resolved. Edinburgh is usually thought of as a better ranked Uni.

Unistats wasn't showing the % of students who obtained a first class degree and Sheffield was quite low. I don't know if you DD thinks that's important.

I know kids at Sheffield who love it. It's not a campus Uni but it sort of feels like it. Accommodation is cheap and plentiful. I don't know students at Edinburgh but I absolutely love the city.

Has your DD been on offer days?

She has an offer day coming up at Sheffield in a couple of weeks which will be crucial. She only got the offer from Edinburgh 2 days ago so I hope they invite her to an offer day...
She is v keen on living in Edinburgh as a city though

AFAIK the course structure , style and options are very different . Has your Dd been on visits and doesn't she has a preference for which course would suit her better ?

I would be very sceptical about some of those stats. Edinburgh is considered a better uni than Sheffield so I would be particularly sceptical about employment stats being higher at Sheffield.

I can't comment on Edinburgh, but I have worked with several Sheffield graduate LAs and Planners, and all are very competent and confident in their fields (I work in an associated field and have 20 years experience with large consultancies and local authorities). I have largely worked in Leeds and Sheffuekd though, so will have had a higher exposure to S graduates than E, but my feeling is that S would not be a bad choice.

As for a place to live.... I love Sheffield. It was the first city I lived in after I graduated (Newcastle). Great place to be young, lots and lots going on. All sorts of festivals. Lots of graduates stay on a settle there. I imagine the cost of living will be less than Edinburgh too.

Seeing that she is able then I would recommend aiming high. Choose Sheffield and Edinburgh and forget Greenwich. If S&E are asking for ABB they might drop to BBB; that is a long way from her predicted AAA and provides enough wriggle room.

What/why is the difference in the length of the course? Is it because of the scottish four year system or because it's a masters? Whatever it is, is it worth an extra £9,000 of tuition fee debt?

I wouldn't base to too much on student satisfaction. Its a bit dodgy how some uni's are doing things to push this area up. There's instances where some uni's have bribed their final year students to give a favourable review, such as giving voucher's and saying that if they don't write a good review and push the university up, it would effect their employability. The reaults can't really be trusted too much. Plus I don't know if you have noticed there's solid uni's such as LSE, UCL, Edindburgh, bristol, Kings college, they all have poor student satisfaction.

Things like the area and a being a rigourous course can attribute a student giving negative feed back, but that wouldn't be reflective of the course itself being crap. You never know it could be that Edinburgh course could be harder than Sheffield's, it doesnt do much spoonfeeding, hence low student satisfaction.

My DC found offer days very useful so I'm sure once your DD has visited she will have a better idea. I agree that you should take the stats with a pinch of salt but there are some odd low ones in Edinburgh. If I was your DD id ask about it and speak to existing students. It could be as simple as one dull lecturer or something.

I would ask about internships and industry links.

If money is a big issue then Sheffield accom. Is cheap. DD is paying less than 60 a week next year - although I think that's unusually cheap.

Let us know how she gets on

This is all v helpful in focussing the mind, thank you. She needs to work out whether the 4th year has value. To become a chartered landscape arch you need to do a BA, have time in industry, do an MA and then sit professional exams once in industry again.
Sheffield do it by 3yr BA/BSc, year in industry, back to Sheffield (or elsewhere) for 1 year MA - I.e. 5 years before can sit for charter exams.

Edinburgh do 4 year MA, of which the second semester 3rd year is in industry. I don't know if at the end of the 4 years you are considered ready to sit charter exams (I.e. 1 year faster but with less industry experience) or if at the end of it your undergrad MA isn't worth anything and you still need more time in industry before going back to do a proper 1 year MA somewhere (I.e. 1 year slower and more expensive).

That needs to be her next step of investigation I think...

I thought lots of degrees at Edunburgh were 4 years. You need to look at the Institution that conveys Chartered status to see where the courses sit, but my guess would be equal. Normally Chartered status after a standard degree requires continuous professional development at a recognised employer. Usually it is not something you get straight away. I would check this out with the Institution though. Engineers do not get chartered immediately and Architects take about 7 years.

I can see that Edinburgh offers a study abroad option in the 3rd year. I would grab this opportunity. I would choose Edinburgh for lots of other reasons but if you need cheap, go to Sheffield. Firm/insure these two. Even if your DD insures Greenwich, she won't want to go there. I know loads who insured places they refused to go to when push came to shove. They reapplied to where they did like a year later after a gap year.

When my sister was at Sheffield we spent a lot of time helping her catch mice in her cheap house! Also, I did mean to say that employment rates are far more useful than student satisfaction. Less able to be manipulated.

Thanks v much bojo, I really appreciate your posts. Sorry for silence - have been in hospital with dc3 who now has no appendix! Blimey what a weekend...

So sorry to hear that freshmint! I do hope your DC3 is feeling much better now. Such a worry.

The mice coment was flippant - I know! A very great friend of ours runs a Landscape Architecture Practice. She says they would happily look at graduates from Sheffield or Edinburgh. Therefore choose the course and city that your DD really likes the most. I am biased about study aborad because one of my DDs is a linguist. There are great opportunities out there for expanding your knowledge and understanding of the world (and landscape architecture). No experience such as this is ever a waaste of time.

Hope you have a better week. Best wishes.

Oh that is so kind of you to ask your friend! That is exactly the sort of info that is so valuable. Great to know thanks.
Yes study abroad is a lovely option.
Ds3 is now back home, feeling better but still rather sore, has wolfed some chicken for lunch and just said "thank you for looking after me so well" - sob! What a sweetie. I don't think I will let him go to university

Wishing DC3 a speedy recovery.

If after further research the decision is still a difficult one is it also worth looking at the practicalities of distance from home? How expensive is it and how long the journey will take?

I don't know your circumstances but what bursaries are on offer? Could this make a difference?

Hi Freshmint, my girl is now in the same situation as your DD 3 years ago. She is having difficulty deciding between Sheffield and Edinburgh. May I know what was DD’s choice and how is she doing now? Anything to share to help us make a decision. Thanks!

I was accepted to the Department of landscape architecture at the university of Edinburgh and the university of Sheffield.
Both universities are good, so it’s hard to choose. I also wonder what her choice was:) Thanks