Music degree: Leeds vs York?

[ButPerfectlyFormed]

DS has identical offers from York and Leeds to study Music and Music Tech and now needs to choose which one to firm. Having attended open days at both, he's very much on the fence at the moment. Sadly the only remaining offer holders days for both unis are on the same day so he'll only be able to go to one - I admit to toying with the mad idea of trying to do both on one day, given how close they are! Really grateful for any thoughts, in particular from anyone with insight into the two faculties.

I realise that York is an out of town campus whereas Leeds is a city campus. Although very sociable and would probably be happy to go clubbing, that sort of thing is unlikely to be a prime motivator for DS. He likes historical places (York!) but will enjoy having access to as many music opportunities and experiences as possible (Leeds?). His main instrument is the sax so his performing opportunities are likely to centre on jazz/blues/big band/modern, although he has an eclectic taste in music.
I haven't yet been to Leeds but thought the atmosphere on campus in York was welcoming and I thought it would be great to be able to walk from halls to practice rooms in a matter of minutes (but then only for the first year).

I'm wittering on! As I said, very grateful for any wise words/experience.

I thought it did have an SU building these days? Maybe I'm mistaken.
Doing a campus crawl was such brilliant fun back when I was 19. The colleges would also often have a variety of different activities going on giving you lots of options to chose from, so live music in one, a quiz in another, karaoke in a third.

Gosh I want to be 18 again!

Does anyone know any specific details of 2nd 3rd year housing? I constantly read that York is expensive, but not much beyond that. Whereabouts do students tend to live? And how soon do you have to sort?
OP, I got the impression that York had quite a project based way of learning, and a lot of flexibility in how you were assessed. Not just in the normal sense that a music degree naturally involves performance, essays, composition, technical work, etc, but that the student could choose the weighting of assessment method in most modules.

Me too! When actually at York you go to all the different bars on campus, not just your college one. It’s about a minute’s walk from one to another! It’s really not collegiate in the same way as say, Oxford is.

When I was at York there was only a student union "corridor", which turned out to be just one guy at a desk in a very small office. It made no difference. There were still tonnes of clubs to join, causes to stand behind / object to, bars to frequent.

I did music at Leeds , though graduated over 20 years ago.
Back then it was one of the biggest uni music departments in the country so in terms of options etc was very broad also there was a huge amount of ensembles to get involved in. Playing in the Leeds Uni Symphony Orchestra was just phenomenal.
Also a great city with plenty of accommodation.

York is def a nice place but will have a different atmosphere. I don’t recall it being well known for music back then but I’m pretty out of date.

Depending on what he wanted in terms of clubs, it may be worth looking at the society insta - I know eg the York jazz band puts concerts on there as we know one of the members....
Regarding accommodation, my DD had no issues finding accommodation for 2nd year. Most seem to be paying around £140-160 / week excluding bills..

Not read all the replies so apologies if this has already been suggested but could he not do both offer holder open days? DD and I did both in one day for the earlier open days - it's only a 45 min drive between the two. They usually do subject talks/tours at different times of the day so you can schedule them to fit?

@WarraK I think my info is woefully out of date. For 2nd year there were lots of options in town, houses, flats etc all close to the bus stops that only took 10 mins to get back to campus. For 3rd year there were some residences which were only for 3rd yrs and post grads (this may well have changed) which were near Fairfax House (1st year single rooms) or in Heslington. I know the student population has massively expanded, from 3000 undergrads when I was there to over 20k total students now. Not comparable really.

Having just looked at Rightmove for student rentals in York and in Leeds the difference is staggering! I know it's the wrong time of year but York is coming up at £185/week for a house share bedroom, whereas Leeds there's plenty at about the £80/week mark.

That was actually two, maybe 3 years ago and they have built two new on campus halls since then so hopefully no longer an issue.

I went to York and never took the bus or train to Leeds for anything. I honestly think it's a myth there is no nightlife. I was never much into clubbing but I definitely attended some in York. And there are the legendary 365 pubs!

It has a great student experience imo - a mix of friendly, inclusive, lively but also user friendly and good pastoral care.

It ahs become more expensive but when we costed accommodation and found out about second year lets, Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Durham and various others came up the same and often more.

DS plays in brass and jazz bands at Birmingham. Both York and Leeds compete in various competitions. York possibly has the edge music wise for reputation.

Also worth investigating music practice rooms in halls/colleges. York definitley has some.

What areas of Leeds??

My DH's accommodation in Leeds was probably dirt cheap. It was also a complete shithole...

Look at the course content. I think from what dd said that Leeds is more contemporary and York traditional in modules.

York was considered one of the best music unis in the 80s...

That's what I loved about York too. I genuinely had no interest in an SU and found the whole concept a bit odd when I went on to Nottingham!

I do think the college identity at York has morphed a bit though and isn't as strong as it was. I used to love going from bop to bop!

Not heard of York University? At all?

Fair enough. I was at uni late 90s.

The student ones. Headingley, Hyde Park.

My student houses were all in these areas. Yes they are dodgy but that's part of the fun! Roughing it is part of being a student isn't it? I did three years of house shares and never had any issues with crime etc.

The OP did actually say ehr DS wasn't into clubbing.

We did have a few went over to the Hacienda but they were a very specific type of student and they already came from the Manchester area.

It wasn't so much the crime as the actual standard of the housing. It really is pretty awful at £80 a week. DS1 was in Lincoln. Now that is VFM.

Another thing I always liked about York was that students didn't have a ghetto in year 2 that they all lived in . We were all spread about and I felt I got to know the city more. Other uni cities have distinct student areas (eg Selly Oak, Lenton Triangle etc) and whilst this is brilliant in many ways it also feels like you aren't part of the community.

Horses for courses I guess. I had spent 2 years backpacking before uni so student houses were no issue after the hostels I had been living in. And I liked that I lived in an area full of students - no guilt at keeping / waking the neighbours up, random house parties down the street to wander into, make friends with the neighbours. You were a part of the (huge in Leeds) student community, but yes, not part of the wider Leeds community. But at 20-23 that didn't matter to me, & I stayed in Leeds after uni for a further 10 years after graduation so it didn't put me off the city!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141563564?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=student&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=STU_LET

I lived on this street! Not this house though.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145253474#/?channel=STU_LET

Ha, I lived in this street too!

Thanks for those who have commented about housing. DC is considering York as they prefer small cities/campus style.

It's so frustrating that their OHD are on the same day! I'd be willing to bet you aren't the only people affected. If DS called up or emailed one or other uni might suggest an alternative.