Should DN go for campus or city uni?

[Stringbean70]

DN lived in London all his life. Is sociable and street wise but not into clubbing or live music. His great passion is football - he wants to go to a uni where he can have a kick about with mates when he has a spare hour at lunch/between lectures.

With that as his top criterion, I’d have thought a campus uni is a no-brainer - green space and football pitches on site rather than a bus ride away? My friend’s DS is at Lancaster and thinks DN would love it - the sporting rivalry between colleges would appeal to him in her view.

Of course DN will assess courses in detail but, as a first filter, do you think he should be looking at campus over city? Londoners like him don’t always go to city unis do they (my DS seems to think they do)?

I went to a fantastic campus Uni - Surrey in Guildford. Brilliant campus -I believe there are 2 now! Sports facilities were amazing plus green space etc. campus walking distance to train station into London and walking to the lovely city of Guildford. In my second year I lived in rented house there / nice place. But can get fast train to Waterloo when mood takes!

Oh @weebleswobblebuttheydontfalldown glad u loved Surrey but my mum (DN’s grandma) lives in Guildford. She would love DN to go there but he knows Guildford too well and, as much as he loves her, wants distance from her and from his parents in London. I know Surrey campus from growing up there - really lovely - but thought he might prefer campuses north (Lancaster, Liverpool, B’ham etc)

I appreciate you are seeing the city v campus aspect as a first filter but take care this does not bin sensible options.

There are campus unis where some the sports facilities can be very peripheral despite being technically 'on' the campus and ostensibly 'city' unis where football pitches are within easy reach.

Also, think about the location of second and third year accommodation. This may be some way from the campus. So, a Selly Oak student in Birmingham will probably have a quicker trip to campus than a Lancaster second year living down near the Lune.

If possible, some visits would be a good idea. For example, the city of Lancaster has a population of under 100,000, whereas the conurbation of Birmingham is around one million. So not all campus unis have the same geographical context and your DN will need to decide whether that matters or not.

As an aside, I am a fan of Lancaster partly because it can get overlooked by SE-domiciled Mumsnetters despite its many advantages (some really strong departments, collegiate set-up, lots of accommodation, outdoor opportunities for those interested). I also come across Lancaster alumni regularly and they are typically very upbeat about their uni days.

DS is at a uni bang in the middle of a big city. He’s big into football and plays a bus ride away for the uni team, Futsal in the city and 5 a side/kick abiut is two minute walk from his accommodation. Just because he’s in a city and the uni sports fields are a bus ride away doesn’t stop him ! He’s also within walking distance of the big stadium if he wants to watch a match.

Lancaster is an amazing university. I was there years ago but everyone I knew loved it. It’s such a fantastic community. Interestingly, when I was there in the early 90s there were loads of people from the south (London, Essex, Kent etc dominated). It also meant that most people stayed around all term since a visit home was a trek. This was a good thing.

What about Loughborough? Its fantastic for sport but a decent sized town and Leicester and Nottingham are nearby for large cities for shopping/big nights out etc

I think he needs to visit places with the course he wants. If possible visit them fairly close together to be able to compare.

We visited lots of places last Easter, got ideas of places DS liked, places he hated and went from there.

However, ultimately, the course over-ruled the place. He said he wanted a city, a uni in the middle of it all. He’s actually chosen a campus uni in a rural location, he’s really excited by the course and the opportunities it offers.

I suspect, tell me if I'm wrong, that Loughborough is so chocka with elite athletes (in most sports), that it's hard for the merely good athletes to get a chance to play competitively.

That is correct. But there are lots of teams

What if OP's lad is quite good but not elite, and would like to compete for his Uni... might not have a chance to make the top team at Lboro but maybe could make the team at another, less very sporty Uni? This is something I'll be advising my own DS about, btw.

There are always community footie teams, in every town & a lot of villages, of course, and usually happy to have fresh young men join.

My DS1 went to a non campus uni and absolutely missed this kick about with his mates type thing and green space. He took a football with him and it never got kicked.

DS2 is at Birmingham and likes the green space but more for running. He is in the halls football team and enjoys that. But no one these days just seems to go for a kick about. Maybe it's just the youth of today! By the time the weather improves for BBQs and footie and lolling picturesquely by the lake, they're all home as Birmingham has semesters.

DS is at Keele, he found it more student friendly than Lancaster (he got (AAA) so could have gone. He is not a clubber and really enjoys it. The sport theory seems really good - all his mates play football (he is not a team sport person but runs every night around the campus grounds)

Not sure how sporty your lad is but Birmingham does have great sports facilities and very central on campus (bit of a schlep from the halls). DS has also been to see a couple of matches at Birmingham City FC.

Liverpool isn't a campus uni, OP!

He could consider Nottingham and York too? The newer bit of York may not be that great for casual kickabouts but the new sports stuff is close. Nottingham has loads of green space.

Depends on the city. My DD is 2 minutes from a big city park where young people are always playing football (in fact it's the park where the modern rules of the game were invented!)

I would just look at all the options within his grade expectations. Even if it's not a full on campus university, there may be parkland attached eg Leicester university sits aside a lovely park which the students use like it's their campus eg football kick about, ultimate frisbee etc. they also have lots of pitches further out of town near the halls.

Birmingham has land on site at both campus and halls, can't speak for others as don't know them well enough but I would recommend looking at the courses very carefully, he'll find football maté's anywhere

@PerpetualOptimist you are so right about accommodation in subsequent years - know someone who went to Warwick and was mightily pissed off to live a 30 min bus journey away

@Piggywaspushed sorry, what do you mean by Birmingham has semesters? I thought all unis (other than Oxbridge) had similar term dates?

Hi OP, some unis (not sure how many) now have a two-block system rather than a three-block system. My DD started early (right at the start of September), had three weeks off at Christmas, and will only have two off for Easter, with no "reading weeks." She will be finished in early May for the year!

(In her case it's so that the uni can squeeze in a block during summer for some overseas students and short-courses.)

A long time ago, but I suspect it isn't much different now, a friend was a county level player of a sport and couldn't even get into the 3rd team at L'boro so couldn't play regular competitive games whilst there.

I can't comment on the football aspect, but as a Londoner one of my main criteria was going to a campus uni as I had seen first hand how disparate and spread out things could be at a city uni. I wanted a more insular uni life with a lot of people going through the same experience as me. The vast majority of my friends also ended up at campus unis.

I think also there's less need to assimilate yourself into a city uni if you've grown up in one - you can go home for that, he's not "going off to the big city" as that's where his parents are! He's not going to have more access to music, culture, future jobs, etc by moving to a smaller city in the UK.

Just on Lboro and footy - my ds is there and when he went he was a keen footy player. He failed to get on to the uni football team (I think 400+ trying out - he plays in goal as well so I imagine they would not need many, even with 3-4 teams). He played footy for his hall in his first year tho, and he could still have played for a local team in Luffers itself tho and in fact had that set up when he went.

In the end he switched to a different sport and did so well that footy has gone by the wayside. His team have had an amazing BUCS season this year as well.

Loughborough does encourage students to do some sport and, say you did athletics, you could still train at the excellent stadium, even if you were not good enough to make the BUCS team. There are excellent facilities on campus for sport. But yes, if it must be a specific sport then I guess disappointment is always a possibility. That's true anywhere tho - mate of DS is as Lancaster and got into the football team, but it was still v competitive (not as bad as Lboro but still).

Not at all saying that this sporting offer is not available anywhere else btw - it deffo is.

There are usually amateur football clubs in the locality - students don't have to restrict themselves to facilities provided by the university / SU.

UEA has sports facilities on site, as well as a huge amount of green space on campus. It also organises the academic year as two semesters, though, if this is an issue for some reason? DS2 is there and it doesn't seem to be for him (ditto DS1 or DD, who both were / are at Birmingham.

Leicester also has a lot of public green space nearby.

HiOP. I see photodad answered already.

Exactly what he said!

Off the top off my head , the semester unis are Bath, Birmingham and now York but there are lots more.

I had no idea about semesters @Piggywaspushed and @PhotoDad - thanks for the explanation! Should they be a factor in a student’s university choice - ie. are there pros and cons?

Shorter breaks at Christmas and Easter, but much longer summer on the "semester" model. I think it's six of one and half-a-dozen of t'other! Similar number of teaching weeks everywhere.