Surrey, York, Bath - opinions?

[DinkyDaisy]

Hello, my ds has visited all of these. Likely to go down a politics route. All universities are possible with grades predicted. Bath had been his favourite but he was very impressed by the course structure at Surrey on the open day yesterday and is swaying heavily towards Surrey now.
Also, proximity to London, etc.
He is deferring so the application process has some wriggle room.
Views welcome though he will rightly go his own way!

Thanks.
Ultimately, he will go his own way but I will encourage him to explore carefully.
His view now is because he is conscientious and checked courses out/ contact time/ assessment approach of each university. Being a name will not cut it for him on its own. He is deferring which gives extra options if need be.

Can't comment on any of these unis for politics. DD only considered Scottish ones for similar degree.

She's been applying for social policy placements this term with various UK government departments. Applications are uni (and A level blind) but they are really interested in social research components of her course. So if your DC has a particular career in mind course content might matter more than uni.

Thanks.
He is also looking at placement years, etc as well as content and approach.
He needs to finalise personal statement and research more universities to top up to 5.

Another one with a DD at Bath doing Politics and IR (waves at @Geamhradh!) DD also C reject and had her heart set on Bath from the minute she set foot on the campus. Lots of international students and lots of UK students, DD thinks it makes for a more interesting mix. I think for DD Baths reputation also swung it, she is very academic like many of her peers and wanted a Uni that could meet her expectations. She has (like @Geamhradh dd) found it slow going, I think she was expecting A-level type pressure and it has not been like this. DD boyfriend has just gone into 2nd year at Manchester doing Economics and has said it is far harder this year so I suspect it will ramp up significantly. For me I want DD to have the best chance of a job after 4 years at Uni and Bath seemed amongst the top in terms of job prospects. She loves the Uni and the City, has made lots of friends and has a job there too.

Hello again. Resurrecting this thread. Ds got offer days at Bath for politics and IR over half term and also Surrey for Politics.
He is waiting for mock results but has been told his bugbear history probably gone up a grade. (Was predicted A star, A, B for ucas form so maybe A star, A, A now. Waiting for report! Makes no difference now...).
To remind anyone interested, ds preferred how Surrey course presented at open day (BBB) to Bath (A, A, B). He is going with his Dad to Bath and Surrey with me.
I have told him to drill down with questions and keep an open mind!!

I can't help directly with course etc but I did my post-grad at Bath and had a really wonderful experience. Great mix of UK students and international (though my closest friends are now spread across the globe). The campus has everything you need and then then is just a walk/bus ride away. With the train station in town travel is easy - I didn't drive at the time. My undergraduate city was very party-centric (which I loved) but Bath, whilst it does have clubs, is more focused around nice pubs and places to eat, which for your son might suit his socialising side.
Regarding contact hours, limited lectures is very normal for non sciences. In my third year at undergrad (humanities) I had 6 hours a week of contact time. Its very much about self study when you get to university. First year is sometimes a little more. I didn't feel let down by it (I loved both undergraduate and post graduate courses) but it does take a transition. I came from a pushy grammar, so it was a real shock to the system. It's where a lot of people go wrong in their first year and then have to give themselves a shake in 2nd.

Thank you. I have told ds to check out Bath carefully. It is first offer day on the Wednesday and Surrey on the Saturday after.

Clearly, if he prefers Surrey, not a lot of point putting Bath down as insurance!
However, not checked out accommodation at Bath and was more of a rush on the open day as did Bath and Bristol on the same day.
Him and his Dad going to stay overnight in Bath this time so he does offer afternoon on the Wednesday and tourist stuff Thursday.
We shall just go for the day to Surrey. Spent more time there on Open day and saw some accommodation, looked around the beautiful campus, and also spoke to politics students.

I would say Bath is the better if he cares about overall reputation. And many of their courses allow a placement year. Neither Bath nor Guildford are very big/lively in terms of nightlife. But Bath students do go to Bristol for clubs etc.

Both are good for accommodation supply- Ds1 is at Bath & his friend at Surrey stayed in halls every year for a variety of reasons.

Thank you. Surrey also do placement years.
He is not into lively nightlife at the moment and would be more likely to be part of a board game club at present!
Good to hear accommodation not huge issue.

DD is at Bath as I have previously said. I firmly think the decision should be theirs and if he loves Surrey then that should be where he goes, ultimately they are the ones that have to study there not us. Bath has a lot going for it but if Surrey is where his heart is then he should go for it.

Agreed Tango. I am deliberately not going to Bath as love it and need to take a step back. His Dad going. I will do Surrey and enjoy the campus whilst ds does his offer day stuff. He needs to really drill down on course and contact hours for both. Also, style of teaching, etc.

Bath has cancelled its offer day on the 15th of February. So... Ds will have to rebook in March or April. So far, Surrey still going ahead on the last Saturday of half term.

Update. Ds thinks going to firm Bath and have Surrey as insurance. Not done so yet... Loved Bath itself but slightly unclear of other reasons as he is being unclear with me!
As has year off due to deferring can reconsider if need be.
So, needs to get grades now but at least likes his Insurance choice very much...

Awww thats great news I am sure he will be very happy there. I was there visiting DD and her new chap on Sunday and they are loving life there. Took them for lunch and had a mooch around - such a lovely place to visit. The new boyf is doing CS in the year above and applying for placements so I was able to do some digging on this. He said placement team are brilliant very supportive if they want the support, they have listed jobs they can apply for and some are only available to Bath applicants (maybe some companies prefer different Unis?). He just had an interview for a leading tech firm in London and seemed very positive about things so that made me feel better.

The state of DD block of flats horrified me however and I had to use the loo (shared) and was very nearly sick!!!! They have a cleaner but god knows what they clean because it was filthy! She didnt seem to notice however.....😫

I went to Bath as postgraduate (not politics though) and I did find they gave a lot of help for finding placements during and employment after - huge difference with Durham, where I did my first degree. I was always going to do a PG course, so it didn't matter so much to me, but I think I may have struggled otherwise.

@Trickedbyadoughnut So good to hear!

That sounds grim! What halls was that?

Westwood - I blame the kids in it though not the cleaners. Rancid - no toilet needs to look like that there was a toilet brush next to it but it looked like a scene from a festival port-a-loo....😭

Thanks @TangoWhiskyAlphaTango . Ds doing assessed essay thing for history. Going to go to the wire but I've decided not to look at it unless he asks as still scarred by the epq experience. Just tentatively reminded him to answer his own bloody question and try not to have 3000 words to cut the weekend before giving it in - next weekend will be Hell. He is a modern version of Adrian Mole - succinct not in his vocabulary essay wise!

I will introduce ds to a toilet brush in his year off!

Westwood OMG I was there 40 years ago... and it certainly didn't look like that 😂

@@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango

Dd's first year flat, also WW, allocated bathrooms boys/girls. That might have helped her toilet/bathroom look okay when I saw it. It was always the boys who had to call maintenance out.