Which course

[Mumsy6216]

YD is currently deciding on which uni course to accept. She has two offers to choose between and cannot decide but must this weekend. One is at the Uni of Chichester at the Bognor campus, so icing in Bognor, and the other course is in Manchester.

She likes the idea of living in Manchester but is slightly swaying towards the course in Bognor but possibly likes the idea of living in Bognor slightly less and really it's hard to know the in-depth benefit of each course from the outside. My own thought is that Manchester is possibly more of a vibrant place for an 18 year old and ideally you want to spend three years in a place with lots of diversity.

Has anyone got kids who are currently in either place, and what are their thoughts? She could do with some opinions! Thank you!

*lving

Sorry! *living

Probably worth doing pros and cons lists for each - for the towns, the course content, how the course is assessed, the facilities, distance/cost of travel from home, external rating of the courses, graduate prospects, cost of living, likelihood of getting university accommodation, etc & work out how important all of these different factors are to your dd.

Manchester would definitely be more vibrant and is a much bigger place with 100,000 other students living in the city, but that might be overwhelming for some. Also think about whether it's a city centre or suburban campus as that will make a big difference to her experience.

There's probably no right decision, she will just need to think carefully about what kind of person she is, what type of lifestyle she wants, what she plans to do after graduating and maybe that will help her to see if one institution seems a better fit for her.

What is the course? Bognor is not exactly young and vibrant!

I think Chichester (Bognor) is probably a course for local young people. I cannot imagine being a student in Bognor and living there. Manchester has everything going for it. Jobs, lots of student entertainment, and choice of accommodation. You won’t meet every student in the city, so a large student population doesn’t really reduce desirability in my view. However, there is a far better chance of making friends and having a great time whilst studying. No contest in my view.

It depends on the type of person she is as well, for me personally I would have struggled in a place as huge as Manchester but Bognor would be better because it’s slightly more personal.
I went to a small university outside of Leeds instead of Leeds University just because i felt the teaching was better (for me, Leeds uni has a V high standard of teaching) and also because there wasn’t a huge feeling of the studenty lifestyle (I suffer from bad anxiety and depression especially around alcohol so the student lifestyle has never appealed to me)
So yeah, definitely list pros and cons about each area and each individual university

Thank you everyone. That helps! It's a musical theatre course btw. I think there are some really good points here. She has done a pros and cons list but I think at the moment it all feels very daunting nevertheless. I would say that she's more of a city girl than a Bognor girl really. And the course in Manchester is quite central, which would mean she has access to most things. Fingers crossed that she makes the right choice. Thank you!