PPE Warwick or Durham?

[DurhamWarwick]

DD has identical offers for both to study PPE.

She likes both universities, both visited.

I think Warwick is a target uni for finance and she wants to major in economics and go down that route. PPE dept seemed very impressive.

Durham obviously very pretty, collegiate. She’s social and will be fine at either.

Anyone have a view?

I don't have a view but just wondered if your DD is swaying towards one or the other?

Career wise surely it won’t make much difference? Where would she rather live? After year 1, Warwick isn’t on campus. Students get a bit spread out between Leamington Spa and Coventry. Durham is small. Students stay living in Durham. Colleges play a part in uni life. Both have loads to do. If she prefers modules/core in Warwick, then maybe Warwick? Is she going to be certain of getting on every module she wants? Who gets chosen if a module is over subscribed?

The structure of the two courses is quite different. Durham treats it like Oxford and tackle the 3 subjects as separate streams whilst Warwick tries to integrate them. For example, a module on China would cover both politics and economics.

I think Durham is a target university for finance too.

Almost certainly so look at course structure for career purposes.

Well done to your DD on receiving offers from both. My DS is hoping to apply for 2024.
I saw a table on the student room for PPE university rankings for 2021 where Warwick was third behind Oxford and LSE, and then Durham was fifth behind UCL. Not sure if there a more up to date table to check out but could help your DD decide.
Good luck to your DD.

Thanks all very helpful. Possible leaning towards Warwick, it’s entirely up to her. Will attend offer days to get another look.

@DurhamWarwick
To be fair, employers are not going to worry about 2 positions in a league table where universities are near the top. The student seeking graduate work will still have to go through the requirements of getting the job. What’s best is to look at the courses and decide which is better for her talents and aims.

Durham is a university city. The university is a huge feature of the city. Warwick is campus, not attached to a city, and couldn’t be more different. They are a bit chalk and cheese in that respect.

DS is a first year at Durham. I think the collegiate system helped him find his feet faster than some of his friends elsewhere. He's doing a STEM course and happy there. He visited Warwick but didn't warm to it or Coventry.

I went to Warwick personally, didn't study PPE but a good 5-6 of my housemates did. Every single one of them now has fancy jobs for big banks!

Warwick is also so much fun. Campus life is very different to a city Uni but I loved it.

Thanks all, some helpful questions for DD to take to the offer days.

At the open day, Warwick dept v impressive, students talking about their experiences and career plans, you can do it as a BSc and major. They have a PPE society, tutorial groups. Durham talk much less impressive and it felt like a much smaller dept but I’ve heard lots are also happy there. Very nice place to spend a few years but very very small city. Although I’m sure when rammed with students it’s a lot of fun. And after first year Warwick students have to move off campus.

Will report back after the offer days...

Did you move to Leamington? What was it like?

@DurhamWarwick yeah lived there in my second and third years and it was great! It's a small place but still a decent nightlife. Good shops and a lot going on, everything is walkable too from the top end to the bottom end of Leam. There's a lovely huge park there called Jepson Gardens and we spent most of our time there in the summer.

North end of Leam parade is a bit posher.

Ahh I feel so nostalgic now!

Thanks- that’s really good to know.

@DurhamWarwick my ds is just finishing off his maths degree, he's in Leam and has had a great time. Bus a bit of a pain but not that bad. He's more interested in the student life of the town but we thought it really attractive when we visited...loved the Georgian architecture etc. One other advantage is how easy he's found it to visit friends at other unis from Warwick because its so central. BTW - he has a couple of friends doing PPE and they are already sorted with good jobs for next year.

That’s very reassuring- thank you!

If your dd leans towards economics and a career in finance, I'd chose Warwick as it offers the option to graduate with a BSc. I do feel a BSc is taken more seriously and there are a lot of jokes about the art(yfart)s in banking/financial services.

I also imagine it's so much easier travelling to job/internship interviews/assessment centres etc from Warwick than from Durham.

It's of course totally unscientific to distinguish between BAs and BSc in economics as there is no rhyme or reason to which uni offers which. Oxford and Cambridge, as most Ivy League, offer BAs. LSE, Warwick, Imperial and MIT offer BSc.

Went to offer holder days.

DD now leaning towards Durham. Just seemed a much nicer place with everything in walking distance, small city pubs, independent cafes all around and the college system and catered options in the first year seem to be lovely for socialising and feeling cared for.

Warwick day wasn’t great. The halls had no obvious social areas. The Arts centre, sports centre and a couple of uni bars looked fab but it is so isolated. Drove to Leamington which took 30 mins and that seems a long commute for second and third year.

dilemma…

@DurhamWarwick
Go with where DC actually feels at home. My DDs didn’t want remote campus at all. They liked coffee shops and a bit of character (although drinking coffee in coffee shops is considered profligate on MN where students survive on £10 a week).Joke! Durham has a lot to offer and there’s no real worst choice university with these two.

Depending on what you want to do next Warwick is more prestigious. Durham is a nightmare for accommodation for 2nd years the moment. Accomodation crisis

I wouldn't say Warwick is more prestigious than Durham, I'd put them on a par (with Bristol). (I admit I'm biased as I went there but I'm basing it on the view of school and other parents).

There is an accommodation issue in Durham. My son is having to pay £200 a week for a room in a house a fair trek away. But that's partly due to a covid bulge in numbers so is expected to improve. However it's a small city - plus for being near most things, minus for the availability of student housing. But it's very pretty.

Durham is not less prestigious than Warwick. They are very similar for all components. Durham overall ranks a bit above Warwick. Therefore campus vs city and course content are the most relevant factors.

@TizerorFizz @dew141 Durham is good and there is not much in it but depends on what the OPs DD wants to do next. The course at Warwick is more flexible you can choose to do a BA or BSc depending on components studied. It could be argued that if she wants to major in Economics and she wants to keep her options open for a career in Finance/the City that then Warwick's (BSc) route is likely to be a better route that Durham's (BA). I don't know how long this has been the case but over the last few years whilst DCs have been applying for Uni this has been the case. Warwick seems to be recognised as having degrees with a quant focus which is often attractive to some employers in Finance. If she has chosen @DurhamWarwick which did she pick?