DS university first choice

[Enyap]

DS torn between 2 choices for firm, choices are Bristol for sociology and social policy and Hull for British politics and legislative studies.

Hull's course has a one year internship in Westminster which really appeals to DS , but Bristol is obviously a Russell group uni. Also Hull's position in league table has plummeted recently.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Excuse typos....

Yes piggy. I do know that. I don’t think it’s just Hull. Definitely Londoners stay in the city. I do think students are wrong to just stay local irrespective of quality of university and course and it doesn’t matter where you live! However I do think southerners are very likely to like Newcastle, Manchester, Durham etc but are less likely to look at Hull. Clearly the course the OP is talking about has a USP but other courses are probably run of the mill. The city doesn’t sing out as being exciting plus it’s a pain to get to!

I work in political consulting, and employ lots of junior staff with political experience.

There are loads of ways to get this experience - volunteering with his local party is great, he can join in party activity at uni, and look at W4MP for political entry level jobs and internships.

A year's work in Westminster is great, but there are so many other ways to get this experience that it doesn't need to be the sole basis of his decision.

bubbles you are so metropolitan elite! Think what would happen if mroe young southerners DID broaden their horizons? maybe Westminster etc would become better places?

And Hull isn't 'local' to the OP. In fact, Bristol is...ironically.

Southerners are no more likely to like, say, Newcastle than any other Northern city. I am not sure what you mean : clever ones apply becuase of the reputation of the university itself, no doubt.

The city is a pain to get to from some areas but so is Cambridge! So Is Exeter and Lancaster!

And Hull was City of Culture.

... oh, and (it is a bit shit for trainlines to be fair), Hull is less than 2 hours by road from where I live... in the South!

It is within easy travelling distance from a range of Northern cities. I actually don't think it is particularly parochial as a university : its students come from all over. I actually teach with two people who went there (its English department is very highly regarded, due largely to the uni's links with Larkin) and they are both from Cambridgeshire.

I am not a Hull apologist : I am not set on my own DS going there, but I am not sure reasons for selecting it should be about whether people form the south (East) find it desirable or not.

Honestly, I'd go for Bristol as it will open more doors later on. The internship offered by Hull is good, but he can still get that experience by interning over the

Oops sorry hit send too quick..

He can still get good political experience either interning over the summer or applying for an internship after uni. The key thing - if being a researcher etc is what he wants to do - is to be politically active at uni.

If you have any more questions, let me know as I've worked in parliament etc.

Hi , I think he will probably go with Bristol , the offer he has is really quite good with other incentives also.

Thanks for all replies , hopefully he won't regret the decision, now to hope he gets the halls really wants.

I'd say Bristol, I find Hull to be quite a depressing city. I wouldn't want to move from Bristol to Hull no matter what the course if I'd got a choice of going to a more attractive city with a degree that appealed.

So even the metropolitan elite from Bristol
don’t want to go to Hull!

Piggy: as you don’t actually appear to know anyone in the south I can help you understand why Newcastle is a favourite over Hull. Nightlife and fun maybe? It’s where their friends go. RG maybe? On a direct train from London for getting home? Of course Londoners go to northern universities, it’s just that there are favourites. They do widen their horizons. It’s northerners who won’t come south that’s the problem. That was my point. People from the south do go north but just not to Hull!

I know the op comes from Bristol. My comments were not directed at her.

By the way, I find use of the term
“Metropolitan elite” to be offensive. I have no position in society that gives me any preferred status. I am not metropolitan and I am not elite. I would not call you names so I would be grateful if you could refrain from labelling me. I might think you are a XXXX but I wouldn’t say so!

bubbles read my PP : I LIVE in the South!!

bubbles your rhetoric about the RG and your apparent sneering at large amounts of the north are elitist attitudes. People from the North (whatever you mean by that) do migrate south. It is actually part fo the socio economic problems that some areas face.

I know their friends go to Newcastle,and that Newcastle is RG : I said so upthread. I really don't think metropolitan elite is much of an insult compared to what your XXXX is supposed to imply. Of course I know Newcastle and Manchester are better univerisites, all told, than Hull.

I am sure the university students see only the nicer parts of Newcastle where fellow students gather.

If I could be bothered I'd find the geographical stats of students at Hull. As a well established campus university , it is not one of those that only attracts locals. Hey ho. Bubbles whatever you might say, you do obviously think anyone middle class and academic from the south will feel like a fish out of water anywhere in the North, apart from where others like them gather. I do find that quite depressing.

Aplogies for appearing to start WW3 OP.

No problem :) Its actually quite interesting to hear all views .

Bubbles there are direct trains from Hull to London! As a PP pointed out, Cambridge is a bloody pain to get to being out in the fens.

Hull is a flat city, so easy to cycle around. It's also cheap and friendly. You can get to the coast within half an hour for an afternoon out. Cottingham, where the halls of residence are, is great.

Hull may be falling down the league tables because it is giving a lot of unconditional offers ATM.

That's interesting mrs because I haven't heard of a single one! Neither the OPs DS , my DS , nor a girl I teach has got an UC feeling aggrieved In fact, it is the highest of all my DS's offers and is the only one with no strings/ bribes attached. Which rather warms me to them!

Beverly is lovely, too, and proper posh!

It's one of the higher offers for DS also .

mrs,I once came across a road accident in the Fens. I got lost, kept coming across water and when I found the diversion, it took an hour and a half to get me to where I wanted to be. The shut bit of road I came across was less than half a mile from my destination. Got to love the Fens!

Piggy, yes, Beverley is proper posh! Next stop up on the train from Cottingham, too.

I know both personally and professionally that Hull is making lots of unconditional offers of the 'put us as first choice and you can come here whatever' kind. I'm therefore surprised to hear that's not the experience of you or Enlap.

Interesting you should say that about the Fens. There was a possibility some years ago that I would move to the Norwich area, and as far as I could tell there is only one dual carriageway in the whole of Norfolk and speed cameras everywhere. It was impossible to get anywhere quickly. Yet nobody ever criticises the UEA for being 'remote'

XXXX meant whatever you want it to. You have the all the objectionable terms at your disposal, Piggy. You fill in the blanks.

The road to Norwich has been much improved recently : but, yes, want to go anywhere else in Norfolk and things will be very very slow.

I am inferring the fact that DS and OP's DS didn't get UiFs is because the politics dept there is still in good health perhaps and that they had a good . solid batch of applicants?

The Hull course is probably over subscribed as a direct result of the Westminster internships, hence higher offers. They pair students with MPs and they get to work in Westminster for up to a year.
It's an old link but gives an idea of how it's done.

Hull is an extremely friendly and cheap place to live, albeit not posh enough for olives.

Thanks for that link , it really does highlight how good the placement year is.