Bristol or Warwick for Philosophy?

[Coroico97]

DS has offers from both and slightly prefers the content of the Warwick course - with politics and law. Am wondering if anyone has a view on how different the two unis are with face to face vs online now? Also in terms of enjoying student life without a car maybe Bristol would be better? I know Warwick is spread out and he might have further to travel. Any views of any aspect gratefully received! Thanks.

PS to clarify, Bristol is not cheap. The scooters are. Bristol houses are v v expensive ! Although I only have Nottingham to compare with and that's v cheap (£80 a week for N and £145 for B).

@ivykaty44

Coventry Uni is in Coventry city centre

Warwick Uni absolutely is in Coventry, just not the city centre

I live a 10 minute bus journey from both of them in Earlsdon.
My son's school is most defintely in Coventry and is on the edge of Warwick campus

postal address is always a useful indicator

University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK .

Warwick Uni is about 9 miles from Warwick and 8 from Leamington

For people who are insisting that Warwick Uni is not in Coventry - where do you think it is ?

@Ted27 well I used to think it was in Warwick 😂. Now know it's not.

No one shops in the old market area of Bristol unless they live there. That’s why there are supermarkets in Clifton. Not everyone sees a campus as being what they want and Stoke Bishop halls offer that anyway. My main point is that Bristol is, in many ways, a bit more adult. Less of a bridge between school and uni. My DD boarded at school and was more than ready to be in a city university. Maybe that’s why lots of ex boarders go there?

@ tigeroffizz... I find you out of touch given by your own admission you have not visited Warwick Uni. All accommodation is self catering so hardly boarding school unlike Bristol. Warwick attracts a lot of students from London they certainly are not looking for a bridge between boarding school and uni... A lot of them attended state schools where they needed their wits about them given crime rates...I like Bristol, but it does attract a lot of privately educated boarding school types who perhaps are looking for more independence ...whereas a lot of Warwick students have experienced the independence already, caught the tube to school hence jumping on a train to Bham is normalised...

Well I’m totally aware mostly Warwick is self catering. So is Bristol. I was really referring to the campus. I have nothing against a campus. I have merely tried to explain why it wouldn’t suit some snd more outside options, close at hand, are attractive. My DD had a lot of friends go to Exeter. They openly said it was like a continuation of school for them. That’s what they wanted. Others feel differently.

Waves to @Philandbill - your info last year was so helpful, thank you. Those days of DS agonising over which offer to accept seem a long time ago now. Warwick felt 'right' to him as soon as he visited, even though the campus was still pretty empty in early May last year. He hasn't had any doubts about his decision.

I agree with @Daisysway that it's not helpful to frame campus v city in terms of one being more 'grown up'. DS's twin brother ruled out all campus universities from the off and is happy in Leeds. But I don't think he's having to be more grown up or independent than his brother. Both have got used to new environments, catering for themselves etc. As @Daisysway said, Warwick students seem to be happy to jump on buses to cities like Birmingham as well as exploring Leamington and Coventry.

It's obviously a matter of personal choice - I totally get people not wanting a campus, and Bristol's obviously a great city. But I don't see my son at Warwick being more cosseted or protected than his twin in a big city. Though they weren't exactly cosseted at (comprehensive) school either and I don't think it ever occurred to them that anyone would be choosing a university as a continuation of school.

Well I’m totally aware mostly Warwick is self catering.

There is no catered accommodation at Warwick.

Given Bristol's recent treatment of Jewish and feminist students (two different cases) I wouldn't want my daughter going anywhere near there.

Blimey, poor Warwick and Bristol. Never knew people had such strong feelings about any Uni 🥴.

@Coroico97get her to choose the course structure and content she like best. She'll have fun whichever on she chooses.

@mumsneedwine

Blimey, poor Warwick and Bristol. Never knew people had such strong feelings about any Uni 🥴.

@Coroico97get her to choose the course structure and content she like best. She'll have fun whichever on she chooses.

They've harassed and bullied Jewish students , and also bullied and harassed a minority ethnic female student for her gender-critical views. There's nothing funny about it and certainly not a case of "poor Bristol".

@OnlyAFleshWound ok then. My feminist DD seems very happy there so I'll go by her experience.
There are many reasons to dislike lots of Unis if you only rely on the press. Sussex (lady prof harassed), Durham, Warwick (male toxic cultures). Oxford (produced BJ). Most people who work or study at those places are good. A few are not. Same everywhere.

Ahhh, but has she tried to join the feminist society? I am not sure Bristol is as liberal as it thinks it is.

It's nothing to do with the press.i posted a link to Raquel Rosario Sanchez's funding page purely for info about the case. Forgot it wasn't allowed. Look her up. Bristol announced it has no duty of care towards her - a foreign, non white, young female student whose harassment Bristol supported and encouraged.

I know the students involved in the antisemitism case personally. Bristol had no duty of care towards them either.

As the mother of a Jewish daughter, I wouldn't dream of letting her go to a place that actively encourages the harassment and bullying of young women and Jews.

@Needmoresleep 😂😂😂. Sorry that made me laugh. No, not tried to join the feminist society. She's too busy just being one and succeeding in a difficult profession that used to be entirely male (is now mostly female though).
Bristol is just a city full of people who are like people everywhere else. No better, no worse. It does have a nice bridge though.

@OnlyAFleshWound I do understand. It was a nasty case and not handed well by some idiots in the University. Think majority of students (& plenty of the staff) would agree with you. Hope your DD finds the Uni for her.

More seriously I think Warwick and Bristol will have different atmospheres and suit different students. DS applied to both, was offered a place at Bristol but not at Warwick. He then decided he did not want to go to Bristol. He would have been perfectly happy at Warwick, where there appears to be less pressure to fit in. He had a couple of friends at LSE who did not enjoy London and who regretted not choosing Warwick.

DD struggled initially at Bristol. She is not into clubbing. She played university sport which took up a lot of time and which was deemed ‘lesbian’ by her peers. She eventually found her people but it took a while. I suspect it is easier for 18 year old who more naturally fit into the cool gang at school. Her brother, who would prefer time discussing his subject to any time in a club, would have been very lost. Academic study did not feel as central to the student experience as it was for both DC (LSE and Imperial) in London, or for their friends at Warwick.

Why funny. Have you seen the shocking video of a feminist society meeting being attacked by men wearing masks. Now subject to a court case.

I assume it depends of how feminist is described.

All universities are to some extent about fit. People who fit in easily at Bristol do have a great time. Your daughter clearly does. My DD less so, till she found a sporty, outdoorsy group to hang out with.

She was amazed that ‘lesbian’ is seen as an insult. She has also been shocked at some of the proCorbyn/Palestine anti Israeli stuff that can appear on student group chats. At times Bristol can seem so liberal that it is almost illiberal.

[quote mumsneedwine]@OnlyAFleshWound I do understand. It was a nasty case and not handed well by some idiots in the University. Think majority of students (& plenty of the staff) would agree with you. Hope your DD finds the Uni for her. [/quote]
Thanks. My eldest is only 11 so things are bound to be different by then. Better I hope

@Needmoresleep I'm sorry your DD had a tough start to Bristol. Maybe ours would have been friends if in same year as mine values getting her degree above all else too. Was hard enough to get into !
Yes she enjoys going out, has joined several sporty societies (nowhere near good enough to play at Uni level though), and has been lucky to have now made really good friends. Starting during the early days of the pandemic was tough though. No one could go out or play sport so they had to rely on finding fun in the small ways they could. Weekly trip to Asda became a social occasion.
She is a normal kid, from a normal background. Was a nerd at school and never a popular so never cared about fitting in. But knows what she wants from life and anyone trying to stop her better duck.
It sounds like there are some students at Bristol who maybe come from boarding school backgrounds who don't take education as seriously as others. Maybe they're not paying for it 🤷‍♀️. But all DDs friends, from a variety of courses, are just trying to get their education while being a little silly and young.
And I'm sure Warwick is the same (other Universities are available).

@Needmoresleep I'm very sorry to hear about your daughter's experiences. Sadly this does tally with what I've heard from friends too. Antisemitism is rife in the UK at the moment, but some places definitely worse than others. It's awful that I would, in the current climate, want to either keep my kids in London, or make sure they go somewhere with a significant Jewish population. We are hardly even religious, but it would be extremely uncomfortable to be Jewish in many universities in the UK today.

@Needmoresleep my DD has many lesbian friends. She takes it as a compliment if ever called one - usually by idiot man who she has told to go away 😊.
I'm not sure about the fitting in thing. My DD is outdoorsy and sporty as are all her friends. Her course sort of dictates that you have to be.
Only 8 Unis do her course in the UK so the luxury of choice is not as varied as for most things. But she loves Bristol and would have no idea what liberal means.

@OnlyAFleshWound my DD has been to many Bat Mitzvahs and was always shocked by the security guards on the doors. In a leafy part of S London.
I hope their generation start making things better for when your DD is old enough to go.