Geography degrees

[Hedgehoghairy]

Hi, my son is interested in studying Geography at Uni - leaning towards human but happy with a bit of physical so a BA. He will hopefuly get AAB or ABB so not Cambridge etc. We are looking at Exeter, Loughborough, Southampton and Swansea - can anyone recomend any others? He is looking for a good social life/campus. We are south east. Thank you.

Brilliant - she did very well - glad it paid off

My ds did get 2 weeks of work experience over Easter and did some last summer too so that will have to do for him!!

Just for anyone who was interested, after some research I've found that Liverpool offers 2 optional planning modules in the first year of the Geog BA - so should my son go there, he could do geography but also dip his toes into planning. Looks like Sheffield offers similar (obviously we'll check this with both when we visit).
So I feel like we've made progress.

@Monstermunchy

Not sure if he's interested but Sheffield is brilliant for Landscape Architecture. The built environment is an impressive subject area at Sheffield.

He's definitely more of a geographer, but thanks, will explore when we visit

DD is (hopefully) going to study Geography and Planning this September. Sheffield ranks quite highly but she wasn't sold at all -neither the course talk nor the city appealed when we visited so she has firmed Liverpool and has Newcastle as insurance.

I have a close family member who has works in the Nottingham Geography department for many years now (3rd generation in my family to have a Geography focused career). My dc also inherited the family 'Geography gene' (it skipped me!) but was unable to take up their original place at UWE (Urban Planning) due to the accommodation fiasco a couple of years ago. My family member recommended Human Geography at Portsmouth as a better alternative - they had moderated there in the past and had some colleagues based there. We went to look at the facilities and I was extremely impressed (Portsmouth are leaders in fields such as Marine Geography and Disaster Management); dc immediately decided that they wanted to go there instead. They are having a fabulous time, have just been to Berlin, and accommodation is sensibly priced. Add to that a superb new sports centre and a vibrant yet small enough to walk around city. I too work in education having attended 2 Russell group universities and I am jealous of the experience they are having. Hope that helps a bit. (Nottingham very good too, obvs!)

That’s great - and really interesting - would love to hear how she gets on. Best of luck to her with A levels 😊

We’ve got Sheffield and Liverpool booked - and will do Newcastle too (probably his favourite on paper, lots of students from him school end up there and dh has family there too)

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/course/geography-environmental-science-climate-change?course&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9cCyBhBzEiwAJTUWNTp86UgRaAMcJ2R41KnwDFcs96JoFVlHS9poBE00A8nthZVrHBXgzRoCNtAQAvD_BwE#undergraduate excellent employability stats too.

Sheffield is regularly a top performer for student satisfaction. I'm amazed that anyone looking round didn't like it. It's really not much different to Liverpool. Talks from lecturers are odd things. It's a snapshot. These people might not even teach you! Basing decisions on a personality contest is a bit narrow.

My DD is about to graduate from Exeter in Bsc Geography with applied GIS (the extra is an add on as she has completed all the GIS modules). First year is a 50/50 split between human and physical and you can even take a module from another department. Year 2 and 3 lots of optional modules and my DD knows students who have swapped from BA to Bsc. Grades for course were AAA and her offer was AAB if she firmed, which was a pleasant surprise. DD has loved her time at Exeter.

DD's other offers were Durham, Sheffield, Lancaster and Royal Holloway AAA - AAB.

I agree, you can't make a decision on just one thing, but when the whole place doesn't feel like somewhere you're going to be happy spending 3 years then no amount of satisfaction surveys are going to negate that. For DD it was a combination of that, the modules available and the interaction with other prospective and current students. Liverpool just felt more 'her'. Intangible I suppose but it's her degree and her loans so has to be her choice.

Just back from the Liverpool open day - the geography and planning department is great, particularly impressed with the planning lecturers and students who we spoke to. Sheffield next…

My DD did human geography at Sheffield. It had a phenomenal reputation for the subject back then (over a decade ago) which I hope it's retained.

This is a great post to read through, thank you everyone! DD Geography BSc, have been to see Durham, Newcastle, Brum and today, Notts. Any experience of BSc DCs with recently completed (or currently at) courses as regards unis with good quality lecturers/teaching and also vibrant city life, would be grateful!

@17againmovie I can help you with BSc at Bristol and Exeter. PM me

The advice I had was look at location, and what the lifestyle is like there. Important factors for our dd were safety, good affordable accommodation, green spaces etc. Once you've found a town or city you like, they have a look around the campus and see if they can imagine living there. Everything else falls into place.

One of mine did Geography BSc Bristol and another child did geog BSc Nottingham.

So frustrating that so many open days were yesterday. DS did Manchester in the end but also really wanted to do Notts and LIverpool who don't seem to have any more before Christmas/UCAS deadline

Has anyone done a visit on a 'non' official open day?

Would highly recommend the BA Human Geography at Lancaster. Lancaster is highly rated for geography, and the first year opportunity to take a different minor subject allows for maximum flexibility. DD currently in year 1 there.

Lancaster is ranked in the top 15 across all of the main University rankings.

DS also looking to do BA geography and we've been to open days - he really liked the BA geog courses and general uni environment at Liverpool, Newcastle, Leicester, Southampton and Swansea.

He didn't like Lancaster as he prefers a more busy/ city environment - was a nice campus but he wouldn't want to be there all the time & he thought Lancaster town was a bit dull. I realise this is an unpopular opinion on MN though and most posters love Lancaster!

Geography at Southampton is good, the National Oceanography Centre is also there in case there js an interest in pursuing that career path.

This is fantastic, both on my DD shortlist, are you able to share the experiences - good and bad - of studying Geography BSC at both please?

My experience of cons of doing several non-official Open Days with my elder DD 2 years ago is that 1) campus generally were less busy offering far less of a welcoming vibe to a prospective applicant, DD removed several universities from her list down to that feeling which was not representative but nothing that could be done 2) missing out on the subject talk and possibility of hearing from or meeting several of the department faculty is a disadvantage. NB I find that this time of year tends to present unis in a drab light and any my current DD is considering which we have not been to, we are looking at nice summery videos on YouTube instead! I found the closer to winter we were, previous DD enjoyed the visits less! We attended Notts yesterday BTW, happy to give you our experience if you would like it.

Thank you, I've PMd you.

Heard great things about Lancaster, sadly DD wants big vibrant city feel.