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!

[AndromedaPerseus]

I think you should ask her again at Easter re: open days and just let her settle into sixth form for now. Open days happen in June/July of yr12 and Sept/Oct of yr 13 so plenty of time to think about degree/ uni choices

[Serin]

DD went to Bangor and adored it.
Right beside the sea and Snowdonia.
Quiet, safe and friendly with a beautiful library.
Stirling is lovely too.

[milveycrohn]

A city university is likely to have some (not all) old buildings, but very spread out around the city - see Durham, etc
A campus university - York, Warwick, 1960s build, and largely altogether.

[Fifthtimelucky]

My older daughter originally wanted a campus university. She very reluctantly went to Oxford for an open day and fell in love with it. She was at one of the central colleges and felt the whole city was like a big campus.

The younger one also wanted a campus university. She loved both Birmingham and Exeter and took ages to decide between them. Finally pumped for Exeter as her first choice and is very happy there. As others have said, the campus is lovely, with some old bits amongst the new.

[QuestionableMouse]

I think some subjects a Durham are taught on Queen's Campus which is a newish site by the river Tees at Stockton.

I know that was the case a couple of years ago when I was looking.

York Uni campus is horrible imo... Huge lake in the middle that smelled bad, bird crap everywhere and the accommodation was horrible! The teaching rooms I saw were pretty typical and nothing special either.

[MrsMoastyToasty]

As someone who didn't go to university myself I would question whether she actually needs higher education. Is it peer, school or parental pressure saying it's the "done thing"?
Could she get a job or go traveling for a year and then go? Not everyone has the maturity to effectively leave home as a teen.

[Trewser]

As someone who didn't go to university myself I would question whether she actually needs higher education

Why would you question it? You don't know her

[dancingdirty]

Royal Holloway is stunning BUT the town is tiny so if she will need to work could be hard.
Not alot to do around there either

My DD had an unconditional for there but turned it down due to area

[Shimy]

As someone who didn't go to university myself I would question whether she actually needs higher education

You would question wether she needs a higher education based on her reluctance to attend open days and preference for older buildings at 16yrs?

[tam23]

Another vote for Reading, beautiful award winning campus, with some lovely buildings and a short walk to town.

[Ginmere]

Birmingham is beautiful and I'm told coined the phrase 'red brick' and has Old Joe to boot!

[Dljlr]

League Tables, TEF ratings, graduate employment rates etc

Lecturer here. If she's an anxious homebody she'll need decent pastoral support and she's unlikely to get that at a high ranking research-oriented university.

[raspberryrippleicecream]

Glasgow doesn't have free shuttle buses to halls, the very furthest gives a free bus pass though. Your DD needn't decide which way she wanted to go re Classics/Eng Lit at Glasgow though, at Scottish unis she could do both for two years and then decide whether or not to do joint honours.

Trouble with Royal Holloway as insurance/clearing is lack of help from uni in finding accommodation!

[stucknoue]

What are her predicted grades, then look at universities a bit either side.

[stucknoue]

Ps as she's only in year 12 you really need to see how she adapts to a levels, a*'s at gcse do not equal top a levels.

[confusedjuly2019]

Trewser - interesting post as have been trying to persuade DS (year 12) that it would be a good idea to do 2 or 3 informal visits to selected university cities this year i.e. go by train to get feeling for journey and city in general. Walk through campus/city but not on an open day etc. He refuses point blank as 'he can see it all on google Street View!!!'

[NameChange84]

Royal Holloway was my uni of choice. Its brilliant for English and Classics (I'm an English Lit grad, my first boyfriend was a RH Classics student). The buildings are stunning and there are great societies. In terms of Hogwarts feels, I got into Glasgow too but didn't like it much when I visited. The staff I met at RH were much nicer and I liked all the bonuses like the language centre and the fact that I was close to London but felt very safe on campus.

I didn't apply to Durham but if I was to study today, Durham would probably be my first choice. I have English grad friends who went there and loved it.

Despite being Oxbridge potential, I didn't want to go to university at all at your daughter's age. My teachers had to really push me very hard to even submit applications. None of my family were graduates and it didn't feel like "my world". I also didn't want to leave home. It was speaking to a rep from Royal Holloway at a Uni Fair I was forced to go to with school that changed everything and I knew I wanted to at least visit the campus.

I now teach at an excellent university .

[pinkpanther84]

Exeter campus is lovely, some new buildings some old. Very green and hilly

[Trewser]

What are her predicted grades, then look at universities a bit either side probably won't know this until later in the academic year, so we'll do that then go and look at easter and sept 2020. It's been lovely hearing everyone's stories.

[dontticklethetoad]

My son is at Royal Holloway. The founders building and quads are beautiful and there are lots of wooded footpaths around campus. It feels very tranquil!

[Lyingonthesofainthedark]

Durham, Edinburgh and Bristol are lovely, but town not campus.

[BubblesBuddy]

Bristol has campus halls of residence if you want them and Wills is old and attractive. Durham students are a healthy population within the city. It feels like a campus but again go out to Van Mildert hall for a famous feel. For English, go to the best possible and Edinburgh, Bristol and Durham tick these boxes. They also have the advantage of plenty going on and not being in the middle of nowhere or empty at weekends.

[BubblesBuddy]

Famous feel??? Campus feel.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Birmingham is beautiful and I'm told coined the phrase 'red brick' and has Old Joe to boot!

Old joe is like the sienna clock tower but with the clock at the right end.
The Vale halls site with its lake is nice too. Convenient local train into the city. It's a really good location.

[Cohle]

Does it have to be campus based? Lots of old and beautiful universities are based in major cities. Edinburgh and Glasgow are both very striking universities and Edinburgh has lots of Harry Potter links if that's something she's interested in.

If she loves home, roughly where in the country are you based? Would it be worth looking at universities nearby?