Campus universities with beautiful old buildings

[Trewser]

I know, i know. But dd2 is reluctant to go to any open days, and this is her (childish and silly i know) requirement. I thought if we could at least do ONE she will start to be more open minded!

[QuantumWeatherButterfly]

Royal Holloway is gorgeous, but the campus can be very quiet - there was a thread on this a few months ago and I'm sure someone said lots of the students went home at weekends. Egham isn't exactly a teeming metropolis and it's quite a long way to central London. This might be right up your DD's street, but it's worth knowing. If I can find the thread, I'll post a link.

I absolutely admit to being biased, but Birmingham really is great.

[NotMeNoNo]

Nottingham has a lovely campus with some traditional buildings in a 19th/20th century kind of way.

College universities, the individual colleges are very self contained and often have 3 years accommodation so no house sharing.

My friends son was an extremely anxious teenager and we had to practically use deception to get him up to Durham for an open day. He fell in love on the day and has done brilliantly.

[RedHelenB]

Durham would be A* AA tops . Was a bit too small for dd2 who wanted a city but it really is stunning.

[clary]

The reason I said that about ABB is that dd was offered AAA, and on offer day was told they would take AAB, maybe even ABB (thus was Warwick BTW so good uni), so her ABB back up wasn't much use really. Most of her mates held a first choice of AAA/AAB/ABB and quite a few didn't get that, got ABC, BBC, BCC etc so genuinely needed a lower offer.

Most people who were within a grade or so of their top choice offer got in there. Maybe it was a low-birth Yr with unis desperate to fill places.

DD is at Leicester BTW, clearly not a well regarded uni according to the op, along with Loughborough, Leeds Beckett, UEA, Lincoln, Nottingham Trent, Kent and other places that would have accepted her.

OP if your dd is stuck on to get AAA/AAB then you should get in most places tbh.

[titchy]

on offer day was told they would take AAB, maybe even ABB (thus was Warwick BTW so good uni), so her ABB back up wasn't much use really

You forget an ABB insurance would be likely to go down to BBB, or even BBC...

[ItsReallyOnlyMe]

Exeter University is righty recognised as one of the beautiful campus in the country. And ... as JK Rowling went there it was actually the inspiration for some of the locations for the stories - staircases, Leaky Cauldron etc ! Some of the buildings are old as well (though some are modern).

[Restlessinthenorth]

Keele is an absolutely magical campus setting. Cant recommend it highly enough as a place to study

[clary]

I guess so titchy so I suppose it's fair enough.

Didn't happen in Dd's case tho, sadly, ABB was as low as they would go. Basically she held the same offer twice, they were both willing to go so far and no further. What I'm trying to say is that it's wise, probably, to hold a genuinely less popular uni as a second choice. I feel I let dd down by not making her do that but anyway, it's all ok now.

[MollyButton]

Aberdeen is very Hogwarts,and the University is very compact/campus like, quite separate but close to the town.

[DamnaThatOnesTaken]

Another vote for university of Birmingham. Although I didn't have any lectures in the "pretty" buildings it was still a nice campus to walk around.

[TemporaryPermanent]

How about having a look at Girton or Newnham at cambridge, or Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford? All beautiful colleges and out of the centre, so they feel like tiny campuses. Of course it depends what it is about being on a campus she likes.

[alphajuliet123]

@Trewser what do you mean about her being scared of Leeds? It's a fantastic city for students and the campus has some stunning buildings.

[blahblahblahblahhh]

I second Nottingham campus - amazing

[blahblahblahblahhh]

I second Nottingham campus - amazing

[blahblahblahblahhh]

I second Nottingham campus - amazing do you have good unis near you? I lived at home and honestly never felt like I missed out on anything. I kept a weekend job and finished up with no debt.

[Trewser]

I'm sure when shes 18 she won't be scared of Leeds. I hear the uni is fab. But we know a few friends of dd1 that go there and it seems very very druggie ditto Bristol and dd2 is a bit sheltered at the moment, hopefully will be a bit more grown up in a couple of years

[Puffykins]

I refused to go to any open days. I was terrified. I chose St. Andrew's based entirely on watching prospectus videos, and I loved it. And my not going to open days was not symptomatic of lack of drive.

[Trewser]

Oh thank you for posting puffykins. That's nice to hear.

[MarchingFrogs]

Many great suggestions here. Exeter is also really lovely, and good for both English and Classics.

But only for the very, very fit...

One of Birmingham's rather lovely 'old' buildings here:
thebramall.co.uk/about-us/

[louderthan1]

I work at Sussex uni and I think the campus is unbelievably stunning. The buildings aren't 'old' but they're architecturally fascinating and many of them are listed.
The campus is at the foot of the South Downs, endless green space and some lovely views.

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

Keele has Keele Hall, which is lovely. I used to have tutorials for English in part of the attic. The rest of it is a bit 60's mostly, but a cheapish area to live in too.

[ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords]

I work at Sussex uni and I think the campus is unbelievably stunning. The buildings aren't 'old' but they're architecturally fascinating and many of them are listed.
My son really wanted to like Sussex because the course really appealed to him, but he hated it - didn't like the campus location, thinks Brighton is 'too try hard' and particularly hated the Brutalist architecture and said he just couldn't stand to study there - obviously growing up surrounded by beautiful old colleges has had an effect on him.

[BubblesBuddy]

There is a problem with competing for jobs after an English lit degree. Even with Classical Civilisation attached. Going to a lower ranked university and getting a first just doesn’t open doors. The very best universities for the subject keeps doors open as does high grade A levels. There is so much competition with humanities grads from nearly every university, you have to stand out somehow. So choosing say, Leeds Beckett, wouldn’t be a great idea for English Lit. Bristol with Classical Civilisation joint honours would be better.

As for drugs - every single university has drug takers. It is possible to ignore them and avoid and issues are stated on these threads that are not the norm. Many DC rock up at university already used to taking drugs and they are available to anyone who wants them anywhere. I would never base university choice on this hearsay. Making sure DD is engaged in healthy activities and societies tends to avoid this and ask to move halls if she’s not happy.

I do think preparing for university and work is something all parents should do. My DDs have heard about more drug taking in the workplace than at university. It’s a nasty old world in places but DC have to learn to cope with others. And don’t just think this is well off types either. It’s not.

[OneStepOneStumble]

Agreeing with pp for Glasgow! It's beautiful!! The cloisters and quad are generally remarked on as hogwarts 😊 all uni buildings generally in the same area and halls has free shuttle buses to get students there so not a problem for living location necessarily.

Older unis tend not to be campus based quite as much?

[TheBossOfMe]

There's nothing at all wrong with caring about what your Uni environment looks like. Some people are incredibly affected by aesthetics, and being surrounded by beautiful buildings/surroundings can be important to their ability to succeed.