Anyone any experience of Loughborough?

[Puffypuffin]

Went to open day yesterday with DD and she (and I) was pretty impressed. She was set on UEA or Warwick and Loughborough was a bit of a last minute visits but she's definitely interested. Anyone have a YP there?

Loughborough is rubbish for most sports unless you at elite level.
Otherwise excellent for many subjects and accomodation is better (and cheaper) than most places

Yep my ds2 is just starting his third year there. A lot of people say what @Whyhaveibeencutoutofmamsnot ssys about sports, but it does depend what sport.

Ds didn’t get into the footy team, but tbh that’s tough at many unis. What there is a lboro is a chance to take up a whole range of sports and enjoy it. If you’re not top class at athletics (for example), you probs won’t be representing lboro at BUCS, but you can still train on the great facilities.

Anyway any speciic qus, do ask @Puffypuffin

My DC's found unusual sports they could do (neither were keen on mainstream stuff like football). If they were applying now I would still think of Loughborough as an excellent choice
Both are now working in jobs directly related to their degrees

DD is not sporty at all, she'll do either English or History. Lots of the students yesterday did say that it doesn't matter if you're sporty or not and there does seem to be plenty of other societies and activities etc.

@clary what is Loughborough itself like? We didn't have time to go around the town and DD very much wants a campus uni but obviously she'll venture outside too!

I have NC, DH is a head of a dept at Loughborough and I am retired from that most desirous of places according to MN a Russell group University. I can honesty say I think Loughborough is an excellent University and they always do well in the student satisfaction survey. They don’t have to be sporty. We don’t live in Loughborough due to having to live where we had a bit of a fairer commute for both of us but it’s a decent market town and I have obviously spent some time there. DH and I met working in a different RG University and I honestly think they often rest on their laurels, I will leave it at that.

Ah ok not sporty. Well yes that's fine, but it saves me banging on too much about the sporting offer (which just in case sport people are also reading this, is immense IMHO and not "rubbish" at all - 50m swimming pool, fantastic gym, amazing pitches, every kind of sports club you could imagine ). Hard to get into the BUCS athletics squad, true, but then in recent years the uni has fielded Olympic pole vault medallist Holly Bradshaw and world 400m relay medallist Alex Haydock-Wilson so that's not surprising.

So it's important to remember that Luffers is not a city, it is a largeish town. That means the town itself is limited in terms of its cultural offer - theatres, clubs, gigs, shops. The same could be said of Warwick/Leamington tho - not of Norwich which is a lovely city, tho a bit off the beaten track.

So if you want a big city with lots going on outside uni then I suspect Lboro is not for you. Pal of Ds's started with him and left after a few weeks, ending up at Birmingham the following year. However the effect of this (which I imagine is similar at Warwick uni for example) is that there is loads going on within the uni itself. Yes, a lot of it is sporty (intra-mural sport between halls which I was amazed to discover a thing in 2021) but I believe there is lots more - drama, music (a number of DD's orchestral pals went there and had a good chance to play in ensembles), student newspaper... I know less about this as with DS2 it is all about the American footy.

What does your DD like doing @Puffypuffin? I do think that for any uni but maybe especially for campus unis in smaller places, it is key to have an interest which will allow you to meet people, make friends, have some fun. That could be sporty, it could also be a computer coding club, or acting in plays, or playing an instrument. Whatever it is, it will give you a way in to find the people you get on with. For DS his sport has been so much more than his sport - he has found housemates, friends to go on holiday with, people to study alongside.

hahaha yes @Loogabaruga both my DC that went to uni ended up at non-RG unis and I must say that I don't think that has been an issue. Let's hope they don't fall foul of the apparent recruitment filter of "must have gone to an RG uni" that was mentioned on another thread. (note: I cannot imagine that this is really a thing tbh; or if it is, more fool the recruiter)

The other thing is that Loughborough is good with courses with a year in industry - get a lot of help finding placements (normally paid)

@clary she loves drama and has been in a drama group since she was 7 and I'll know she'll miss it when she leaves. Loves music, plays guitar, books, animals etc.

Do you recommend catered or self catering halls?

My sister went years ago. She lived at home and commuted. I think she felt that she missed out a lot on student life. As it is so campus based.

Great if you want to be raped and forced to drop charges by the head of Leicester police because it’ll damage the reputation of the university

Loughborough is an excellent Uni - it's top 10 in most Higher Ed KPI measures and league tables. Gets totally overlooked on MN because there's a ridiculous obsession with RG Unis.

I was a student there 20 years ago and most of my peers have seriously impressive jobs now - CEOs etc (me, not so much, as career has taken a backseat to care for disabled DS.) But career prospects are very good - lots of employers covert Loughborough grads.

Most of life happens on campus. The Halls of Residence are all very collegiate and each one has a social committee that organises lots of in-hall activities to help freshers get to know each other. It's very easy to meet people. And there's lots of Uni wide societies and an active SU. To be honest, we rarely went into the town itself. It's very small and not much going on.

Campus does get windy in winter - if she goes there, pack layers. But that's honestly the only bad thing I can say about it. Oh, apart from the infamous Seb Coe steps. (Fellow alumni will know what I mean. A total pain in the arse...)

I'm so sorry to read this. Sadly, I don't think this is exclusive to one university or even place. 💐

well that depends on how loaded you are tbh, ngl. Elvyn Richards, for example, which is catered Monday to Friday with en-suite bathrooms, is £9,200 this year which is pretty much the full loan, so not leaving much for social activities, or even eating at the weekend!

Catered is a good option according to DS's mate "as it means you don't have to cook" so again, that depends on your viewpoint. I'm being slightly flippant and there are cheaper catered options, but overall I think it's not really affordable for a lot of people.

So DS went Sc shared bathroom for sure, he was in Falk Egg - small rooms and fairly basic, but great atmosphere and it cost him about £4k for the year (bit more now but still affordable).

Yes agree this is horrible; I can see how it would colour your view of the uni but probably not unique to Lboro sadly.

I live there. It’s campus is great but you won’t get it in year 2 and the commute / houses in and around Loughborough and Beeston are rough. So many robberies and attempted stabbings that don’t get reported! Most students who know the area tend to live in North Leicester and commute and that tends to destroy the student experience a bit.

I went to Loughborough years ago (not sporty) and it was the best time of my life. The student union and campus were amazing. Town was just starting to get better set up for students and with Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester all nearby there is plenty to do.

Just to add another perspective on accommodation... you can stay in halls for year 2 in fact the uni wants at least some ppl to do so. Ds almost did but in the end went for a shared house, very nice and close to uni.

This year he is in a smaller flat with just one friend. He's never mentioned any incidents. Not sure why Beeston has been mentioned - that's in Nottingham.

I’ve worked at L’boro, Nottingham and Bristol and hand on heart, I’d recommend L’boro over the other two for the overall quality of the teaching and pastoral care. You won’t get the same sort of nightlife experience in L’boro as you would in a city based Uni, but I think that’s a good thing personally.

No idea why another poster mentioned Beeston? It’s miles away and full of Nott’m Uni staff and students. You wouldn’t commute that far down the motorway to L’boro as a student.

My DS went to the open day yesterday - he was really impressed with the facilities too. I think he’s putting as his 2nd option for if he doesn’t get the grades for his dream course / uni.

Train... there are regular trains from Beeston to Lboro. And buses.

DS is a student at Nottingham in Uni recommended accommodation & 5 minutes walk from Beeston high street.

? Why would you live in Beeston and commute to L boro tho? Beeston is great for UoN for sure, but I'm puzzled by the suggestion from the PP that lots of Lboro students live there.

My DS left Loughborough a couple of years or so ago and absolutely loved it!
From the moment he found out he had a place, he was part of the 'Loughborough family'. They were amazing.
He stayed in halls for 2 years and then stayed in a privately rented flat for the 3rd.
Haven't got a bad word to say about them at all.

Really encouraging to read most of these thank you.

We're definitely not loaded @clary , were kind of thinking somewhere in the mid range! I know that Faraday and David Collett are both catered but I don't know if you can ensure that you have an en-suite in those halls? I don't know much about the whole process to be completely honest. She has type 1 Diabetes and I really feel that she needs her own toilet in particular, as if her bloods are a bit high (she controls her Type 1 pretty well most of the time), she needs the loo a lot and I think sharing could be a problem in those circumstances.