Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield for quiet non party-er?

[Mueslikid]

Anyone with a quiet introvert at any of Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle?

Dc, who has asd, will apply in the winter. Likes these best for the course, though a bit worried about the rest of student life in a big “party” city.

Thought would prefer a campus but has rejected a few campus unis because course looks “rubbish”.
Chosen course is not offered that widely anyway.

Newcastle was favourite, but dc was put off by the phrase “work hard, play hard” about the student accommodation village and thinks it just means everyone will be noisy and partying all the time.

Sheffield doesn’t offer catered accommodation, which is a big negative, though does have “quiet accommodation” which is a big positive.

Manchester is the biggest city and uni, so quite overwhelming.

Don’t know about Leeds.

Anyone have any insights?

DS isn't a party guy and seems happiest in his room playing video games, eating M&Ms and drinking milkshakes. He's looking at Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

I love Sheffield Uni the best for him. It seems so nurturing and manageable, and a great place to be a student. He unfortunately loves Manchester best which I can understand because as a city it's fab.

We are going to all the open days and it will come down to the course. I'm hoping he chooses Sheffield as I think he'll thrive there over the other two. It's good to read all the support for it on this thread.

@Piggywaspushed yes, the Birmingham system is good, in that the meal plan money can be spent in lots of outlets on campus, so no need to miss a meal, because there will be somewhere serving food relatively late in the evening. However, in DS1's time in halls, nothing was allowed to.roll over at the end of the week, or into the holidays - cue lots of purchases of 'dry gpods' at the end of the week in whichever shop on campus one could spend one's meal plan money on. If you had more than the university's £3 weekly contribution left at the 'reset time', it was your own money you were wasting. That changed a while after; not sure whether by the time DD (currently a 3rd year on her year abroad) started, but then, she definitely didn't want catered accommodation, either.

All of ours have improved their cooking skills bit by bit, as well - replicating things they enjoy at home or have tried when eating out, following recipes, or just trial and error. There are some good recipes in some of the supermarket magazines, and one of our favourites is the Saturday Guardian 'Feast' supplement; some of the recipes are a little convoluted, granted, but there's a really nice curried butter bean one which even the most distracted offspring can manage.

Yes, Birmingham or any of the other universities doing it the same way has a good way of offering catered accommodation.

@ineedsun
Generally the students referred to as “rahs” don’t go to Sheffield. They are most often found at Newcastle, Durham, Bristol and Exeter plus others. It is a derogatory term for privately educated students. (That judgemental @RampantIvy thinks are not nice people). However they are not the only drunk, noisy lary students at a university. It’s unfair to say they are worse than the majority. They find their friends just as others do. Parties are not confined to privately educated Dc. These privately educated students are just being themselves. It’s not offensive, just different. I guess my DD was one but she also volunteered for the CAB and a womens rape advice centre.

When people say “rah” they always assume the young person is not worthy of friendship and indeed is beneath contempt. My DD didn’t say nasty things about other students, question their family finances, where they lived or who they were and then call them names. Students really ought to grow up and quit calling any other student by a derogatory name. And parents really ought to know better.

@TizerorFizz

I have heard the term "rah"', not used by my own DC or in respect to Newcastle students, but I have heard it. I don't for a minute believe that it refers to all privately educated or ex-boarding school DC and/or those who are from very affluent backgrounds. My understanding of the term is that is more a description of a specific type who is from a very privileged background AND who has a strong sense of superiority over other more normal students (state and privately educated DC). A student who is also much less focused on their actual degree than having a wild party time to an excess that is enabled by their family wealth.
Yes, it is a stereotype and not very complimentary but remember too that part of fitting the description is acting superior to others.

My own DC have close friends who have been to the top boarding schools in the country whose families have large estates and/or have businesses that have been household names for generations. The DC are well-mannered, hardworking, unassuming and sociable with people of all backgrounds. They would never in a million years fit the image of 'rah'.

(That judgemental @RampantIvy thinks are not nice people)

@TizerorFizz
I take exception at your comments about me.
For your benefit I have repeated what I wrote earlier, because your reading comprehension skills seem rather lacking
This is what the students in Newcastle call the privately educated students who think they are better than everyone else (on the unofficial Facebook page and in real life). I have seen some of the comments so I am not making it up. DD is friends with privately educated students as well, but they are nice and down to earth. This term is only used for the ones who are considered "up themselves".

I am only repeating what has been said and written by Newcastle students on the now defunct Newfess Facebook page. This is not my opinion.

Thank you for validating my comments @opoponax

Thank you for everyone’s helpful comments and personal experiences.

Dc has decided to completely remove Manchester from the shortlist after Wetellyourstory’s cautionary tale.
Leeds remains on it for the moment.
Sheffield is now in top place on our spreadsheet, with Newcastle in second.

We are going to look carefully into meal plans, and also think about four or five simple dishes to practice cooking, and see if we can find adapted lightweight cooking equipment that might be easier to use - an air fryer and an electric tin-opener both sound sensible, and actually a slow cooker might solve some problems too.

Dc has agreed that it makes sense to add in a couple of choices where the course has downsides but the environment might be a better fit, (which is a massive breakthrough, and I think partly due to this thread, so thank you!) - we are going to spend a weekend having a look at Birmingham and Warwick.

Some halls won't allow extra electrical equipment like air fryers and slow cookers BTW.

Yes @RampantIvy , we had an issue with 2 of mine who needed mini-fridges in their rooms to store insulin! (couldn't rely on flatmates shutting the main fridge door and also the vials roll out of a fridge rather too easily 😂). Had to jump through quite a lot of hoops to get permission…

@Mueslikid i would say it’s a shame to disregard a fantastic university based on anecdotal evidence on an Internet forum. My dc was last years yr 13 and has several friends at all the universities mentioned (and, full disclosure is currently travelling before going to Manchester in September).

I could tell you similar stories about all these uni’s - in fact all Russell Group unis! I could also tell you about the students at these Uni’s who don’t party / drink but are having equally fantastic times. Universities are big places there is room for everyone.

As far as Manchester if you don’t like partying don’t stay at Fallowfield - Victoria Park and City are much quieter and even within them are lifestyle moderated halls - even Fallowfiels has a lifestyle moderated hall.

I know many students at Manchester- some party / some don’t. All work hard and achieve highly.

Isn’t it all stemming from the “rah where’s my baccy” thing on tic tok?

but yes agree it’s good not to stereotype young people but threads like this sadly are all about stereotypes 😞

Universities are big places there is room for everyone.

I agree. DD isn't a big party goer and doesn't like clubbing, but has made loads of friends and socialises a lot in Newcastle.

And @KittyMcKitty my comments about rahs was repeating other students comments. They aren't my own views. Some posters didn't read my posts properly.

Kitty you are right, but in the end you can only go to one university, and the size and busyness of the city is off putting in itself as well as the potential rowdiness of those sharing the accommodation.

Dc hadn’t heard of the word ‘Rah’, and certainly has no negative pre-conceptions about pupils from private school backgrounds (how would you know what school they went to, anyway?)
But just wants to avoid large groups of people being loud (as finds this v stressful), and doesn’t want socialising to revolve around alcohol and “going out” to get drunk.

‘How would you know what school they went to anyway?’

Don’t worry about that. They’ll tell you 😏😂

Museli I totally understand what you are saying however you are stereotyping students and have decided that because some students at Manchester party it is bad some students at Leeds / Newcastle/ Sheffield et al party this doesn’t mean all do. I find it a shame that you have decided that Manchester will force him to be surrounded by alcoholic partygoers! Manchester offers lifestyle moderated (so not booze) catered hall which would tick all his boxes.

of course he can only go to one university and he should choose what he feels is his best fit.

This thread is majorly depressing as it seems happy to condemn all students at Manchester as drug taking, hard drinking delinquents (on the basis of someone somebody knew - even though many people said to the contrary) but people are up in arms that someone maybe implied something possibly a bit mean about someone who went to private school sigh

It is DC that has decided rather than me. I’m canvassing opinions from parents, but dc will fill in the ucas form ultimately.

I personally think some of the halls in Manchester sound like they could be a really good fit - I just wish we could transplant them to a more manageable city!

Manchester was always the scariest to dc anyway simply because of the size of the city, so any negatives against it were going to count for that little bit more.

DD wasn't keen on Manchester either for the same reasons. We live in a village, so she wanted city life, but found Manchester too big and overwhelming.

Just seen this thread. Can confirm the term Rah is used by everyone my student Dd knows - even the Rahs in Castle Leazes themselves!

A Rah tends to wear a North Face coat and a signet ring. Apparently. This is from the local press a few years back, not my Dd.
I would liken it to goths wearing black. Not particularly controversial or derogatory.

I went to a posh public school and went out of my way not to be a rah. They usually loudly introduced themselves by telling you which school they went to and what their dad did.

Dd is in a much quieter house this year as she’s studying hard there and the library. Newcastle is an amazing city and very compact and easy to get around. Though the shopping centre complex has increased so much that I get disorientated. Loads of places to eat and cheaper than most cities. Very friendly.

My dc is a quiet type and loves Manchester. Very into theatre, indie gigs and climbing so they’ve enjoyed being able to access those in a bigger city (we live in one of the cities you mention). Can still walk into Uni.

Wherever he goes, and I include Sheffield in this, he will experience the drinking culture and need to navigate it. We had a game plan for prinking - dc would take soft drinks and then slide off when people were pissed. They also joined a couple of societies aligned to their interests. Seemed to work.

luckily gen Z take fewer drugs and drink less than their prior generations, so lots of students who don’t party. I also think they are more tolerant of Neuro diversity and introversion. So hd can find his people.

we had to pick when we couldn’t visit. Do you have that advantage.

We had a flying visit to Sheffield last Easter to check out the city and although due to covid we could not access the uni it was my DD's insurance. We all really liked the feel of the city and it felt a nice, safe but busy small city.

@ZandathePanda your description applies to a few universities include where my DD is.

@RampantIvy
I did read what you posted. You just confirmed your DC are biased.l by repeating what they think. It’s interesting that DC accept all sorts of religions and lifestyles that they wouldn’t dare say anything adverse about and then you publish their views about a tiny minority that are fair game? Would you target them in the same way if a couple were disabled? Or maybe they are black and “rah”? Still happy to repeat the bias of DC?

As for North Face jackets? Is that a joke? Moncler!

Why are you picking on me @TizerorFizz? More than one poster has backed up the observations that DD and her friends have made. Why are you so touchy about it? Why don't you challenge other posters who have made the same observation?

I don't understand your North Face jacket comment. I never mentioned jackets.

And more than one poster thinks, like me, that all students should be welcome and not picked on because they look and sound a bit different. Now you maybe understand how unkind it might be? Anyway. Enough said: but I urge you to be more measured and not repeat what others might find offensive. I’ve never ever seen anyone you seem to despise talking about other students, not like them, in the way your DC snd their friends do. It’s deemed ok because they wear certain clothes and jewellery and possibly are a bit noisy. Accept everyone and teach your DC to do the same. It’s a perfectly reasonable request. Live and let live.

The jacket thing was me @RampantIvy as I read it in an article about rahs. Me and you are on the same page. No idea why @TizerorFizz is so touchy and has taken over the thread. Maybe she’s offended at the fashion choice? I am rocking Tu by Sainsburys atm.
OP my Dd has had a fantastic time at Newcastle and has studied really hard. As RampantIvy said, it’s a fantastic city and would suit your DC but I would see if you could ask for quieter accommodation than Castle Leazes if they fancy Newcastle. The accommodation office people are very friendly I found. One tip I would do is get university owned accommodation of any kind if you are offered it. It’s cheaper and they have loads of different options and lots of movement in the first term. So if you don’t succeed in getting your first choice you may do after a few weeks. Parkview wasn’t too noisy but self catered. Marris House refurbished nicely and Windsor Terrace (next to library but also busy road). It’s all very accessible.

Thank you @ZandathePanda. DD had a couple of friends at Castle Leazes, one of whom hated it so much that she managed to get a room at Park View after someone dropped out.

My DD is finishing her first year at Newcastle, is naturally quiet and loves it there! Castle Leazes is party central and also the worst accommodation! Park View flats tend to be quieter. It's a brilliant city as it has everything you could want as a student and is small enough to walk everywhere. You can easily access the beach by Metro (as my daughter has done a couple of times).