History at Leeds, Bristol or Edinburgh?

[Ketzele]

Dd has offers from Leeds, Bristol, Manchester and York and is waiting on Edinburgh. She's ruling out York (to my sorrow) and Manchester is lagging a bit for her. But any advice on the others would be great.

I think she's rather fallen in love with Bristol City, loves the beauty of Edinburgh, really likes the course at Leeds. She is an introvert but she doesn't want to be anywhere sleepy.

She has good contextual offers, lowest is Leeds (three Bs). I think Leeds is probably the best bet because of the course, and tbh it's cheaper than Bristol or Edinburgh and that is an issue for us. But would welcome any advice. Eg. Does the prestige of Edinburgh count for much with future employers?

Is Edinburgh 4 years rather than 3?

Unless she loves city life I wouldn’t go for Leeds or Manchester, they are quite buzzy, in your face places. Bristol has an edgy side but also lots of rahs in Clifton.

if it were me I would say Edinburgh or York based on being nice cities/ nice unis!

I'd say Leeds. (In your face? How?!)

Reasons: slightly more affordable, good student life, not a massive city so easy to get around, pretty central location for travelling to/from (good train links and easy motorway access), easy access to surrounding towns and countryside and the city caters well and is geared up for students.

Interesting because of all of those excellent unis, York is the one with the best reputation for history.

But hey ho, if she doesn't want to go there, she doesn't.

I think she should go for the course she likes best- so Leeds.

While we don't want to think about things going wrong, I work in a university and can vouch for the importance of support services. Its worth thinking about social, education and pastoral support. Do a little research on what each uni offers. Also, from a financial standstill point, if they aren't driving, which is cheaper on the train? If they want to come home a lot you don't want to be forking out hundreds in fairs.

For accommodation Leeds is significantly cheaper than Bristol or York, if that's a factor.

This. 100%

Leeds.

Yeh agree if she likes Leeds course best then that sounds like a good bet.

Agree York has the best rep for history but all are great unis. No employer <she stated boldly!> is going to appoint her bc she went to Edinburgh but not bc she went to Leeds.

Agree that it is worth thinking about accommodation costs - I am often shouted down on this point but DD at Leicester and DS2 at Lboro found private accomm easily available and costing around £100-£130 pw. If you are likely to be footing some or all of that bill then it is a consideration imho.

York is a much more obvious choice for history than Leeds but if she doesn't like it.
Leeds would be cheaper than the other two but is the least prestigious on the list.

These are all 'prestigious' universities!

They are all good but not totally equal and they have a better reputation in some subjects than others.
It seems fair to acknowledge that, doesn't mean that OP's dd has to choose on that basis.
She can definitely choose on a purely personal basis if she wants and do really well.

All great advice, thank you so much. My choice would have been York, but she (quite rightly) won't be persuaded by her mother!

I think Leeds is the best bet, as being entranced by the course has to be more important than being entranced by the architecture. I'd like to ignore the cost issue, but the prospect of subsidising 4 years at Edinburgh rather than 3 in Leeds is daunting.

I've also advised her that getting a good degree is more important than where you get it from, and she definitely likes the course at Leeds best (it's international history and politics). I reckon she's having a little wobble as a few of her posh friends are off to Oxford.

Leeds is hard to get in to. It's one of the unis that keeps people waiting. My school this year has had more rejections from Leeds than anywhere.

It also contains quite a hefty proportion of "posh people"!

In the real world they’re all great unis and she won’t be discriminated against for going to any one of them. She should pick the one she can see herself in.

Bristol has a terrible reputation for pastoral support.

Bristol is very expensive in years 2 and 3. And a lot of money required up front.
Believe York and Edinburgh also expensive.

My eldest is at Leeds. Cost of living is reasonable, everything is walkable, there's a short train from Birley (Hyde Park student area) to the main station. Lots going on socially, clubs etc always have 'sober socials' and feels very safe with all the students always about. She loves it

We are in Manchester so it's also cheap and quick for her to come home / us to drop her home with her stuff after Xmas.

17yo twins are now looking - Edinburgh is lovely but 4 years to fund, expensive accommodation and £100's to travel back and forth means it's a no.

Hoping for Sheffield, York, Liverpool, Nottingham for them. We shall see! Good luck.

Her “posh” friends are off to Oxford? Is that chip on your shoulder causing you any bother? 🤣

Leeds would be an excellent choice. Hope she loves every minute of it.

My daughter is doing History at Leeds and loving it. Very positive about the quality of the teaching. And she loves the city too. First term there she kept texting me how cheap everything is compared to London.
Little tip. To keep the contextual offer she will probably have to do a mini project. Emails about this went into my daughter's spam and she nearly missed out, so make sure to keep checking.

My son did three years at Leeds and enjoyed it. Is doing his masters there. He's an introvert country mouse. Loves Yorkshire. There's lots of green parkland to enjoy. It's been cheaper than other cities and the halls are excellent.

No chip on my shoulder! The Oxbridge friends are lovely girls who have worked hard for it. My dd prefers not to work quite as hard so I advised her against applying for that reason.

It's more that dd is the only one in her circle with a single parent, free school meals, no car etc and I wonder if she might be feeling social pressure. I've always told her that the 'best' university is the one that's best for her, taking into account the factors that are important to her and not which one makes the best parental boast.

Ceit thank you, that is really good to hear. Yes, my dd knows about the extra work involved for an Access to Leeds offer and is rolling her eyes about it, but we'll worth it for the grade reduction!

Gobimanchurian thanks, that's great to hear. I wanted her to go somewhere very small and safe (though we are south Londoners, so that means most places in comparison) so it's good to hear about Leeds.

One of my colleagues has just had her daughter move from the Welsh valleys to Peckham for uni. Can you imagine the culture shock - she'd never even been to London before!

I know we need to treat the League Tables with more than a pinch of salt but tbf to Leeds in the CUG for History it ranks 13th; as compared with Bristol 12th and York 9th, with Edinburgh marginally lower than Leeds at 15th. Out of 91 unis listed for History.

Its public school intake (overall) is 17%, more than York (13%) but lower than Bristol (25%) and a lot lower than Edinburgh (32%).

@Ketzele My DD2 went to Leeds and loved it. Another plus is that the uni automatically gives a bursary (grant in addition to their student loan) to all students from low income families - up to £2,000 a year depending on your income.