Help! Manchester or Warwick for CS?

[multivac]

I know this is a good problem for him to have; but ds is struggling to finalise his choices for next year. He has offers from Warwick, Manchester and York - and is really torn. If he firms M, then he'll put W as his insurance; if he firms W, M will be out of the picture. Barring a last minute disaster, he should get the grades for M (it's 3 x A star vs 2 A stars and A for W) - so it really does come down to where he will be happier, and have the better experience... I don't suppose anyone has any inside info they can share?!

For example, what's it like in W living so far away from campus in year 2? Can you find peace and green space in Manchester? Relative pastoral care?

Anything that will help him tip the balance one way or the other would be great, thank you!

Warwick has an Open Day in 24 June so I might see you there OP as we are checking out the unis early on in the process.

Good luck to everyone’s DCs taking exams this summer.

@HumourReplacementTherapy my Warwick DS co-founded the Warwick Marxist Society! Living in the cheapest hall meant he found many like minded friends. 🤷🏼‍♀️

My ds went to Warwick and lived in Coventry in years 2 and 3. The commute from leamington to the university can be a pain and you end up staying on campus all day if you have lectures at the beginning and end of the day as it takes too long to commute back and forth. Ds wasn’t interested in nightlife. Sports centre was vg

Dd is at Warwick. It's a myth that everyone lives in Leam after year 2. Some so as it's nice. Dd is living in the Earlsdon area of Coventry next year. Some stay on campus. Some live in Canley or Cannon Park (very near the uni.) Some live in the various private halls near uni.
It's also not true that everyone is a toff. Dd isn't. She went to the local comp and is sharing next year with friends she met in her halls which are one of the cheapest on campus. Their private accom next year is costing the same as their halls, so nice that it's not too pricey. I don't think anyone in her halls is a toff

I'd vote York, then Warwick, then Manchester, but I far prefer York as a city to either Manc or Coventry/Leamington Spa.

In terms of prestige I'd say as general universities they're about equal, but I don't know specifically for CS. Also agree that it depends what sort of uni experience he wants.

I went to a big city uni for one term and absolutely hated it. The campus wasn't really a campus. It was spread all over the city and I had quite big distances between lectures and tutorials. If I had a big gap between lectures, I'd go all the way home and back again. I didn't like it.

I actually dropped out and then went to Bath which has a campus where you stay for the first year and it suited me a lot better. But other people would be the total opposite

In terms of prestige I'd say as general universities they're about equal

Well Warwick clearly ranks more highly but Manchester is high. York is very much second tier and outside of the top 15.

Is York really considered second tier? I thought it was quite prestigious. I'd have ranked it higher than Manchester tbh.

Hi OP I meant to post earlier but didn't - I see that everyone has said what I might have said - that they are very different unis.

DD really really loved Warwick - the campus and especially the course and the department (not CS). I did have concerns over the bus commute and being away from uni in second and third years tho. She ended up somewhere else so no direct experience.

But is he more interested in a big city with its offer of clubs, gigs, theatre, eating out, shops; or does he want a cosy campus (I thought Warwick was lovely) with everything on tap and nearby. I gather as a PP says that there is other accomm nearby for later years and of course some ppl stay in halls all through. Your DS deffo needs to go and see. Best of luck to him.

it depends on the table. Times has Manchester ranked very highly at the moment (top ten which is unusually high for Manchester). The guardian has it ranked way down at 30ish so Manchester obviously did something which really pissed them off! Manchester is generally sitting in the top 15 though. York is a good few places below (typically around 20ish)