Uni choices - city or campus?

[BringOnTheScience]

DC1 (yr12) is looking at uni options. They know exactly which (v niche!) subject they want to do, so is v quickly down to a small selection.

So, what are the pros and cons of out-of-town-campus or sprawled-across-the-city styles?

Thanks@

Completely personal preference, I think. My older two both went for city universities (one collegiate, one with a small city campus forming the heart of the uni) and really weren't drawn to campuses. Just starting to get the next one to think about what he might like.

Agree, a big city eg London University has lots to offer but the young person needs to be more independent than say Warwick which is more of a halfway house from School to the world of work. York is a campus university in the fringe of a city so provides a bit of both.
There are many other factors to take into consideration as well and as you say , the course is number one.
Other factors are, general feel,cost of living,likelihood of finding a termtime job,distance and travel cost to Home, student accommodation etc. These are all surprisingly personal factors.

What do you think the pros and cons are, OP?

There is a third option - a self-contained campus in a city, such as Newcastle.

Reading also a self contained campus near big town centre.

Advantages of spread around town is getting to know the city really well including good/bad areas and especially useful when chosing accommodation for years 2 and travelling safely/cheaply to friends houses in later years.

Disadvantages are sometimes longish journeys from halls to class.

I would guess being in a campus feels more 'protected' but also likely to be trapped by limited food shops etc and prices on campus rather than venturing out to local Lidl.

Two uni towns can have a great nightlife and mix of people/accommodation options. Southampton for example.

Thank you all. Just trying to gauge some views as I'm the only one in the family so far who went to Uni, so we have inly my experience to offer. Mine was very much the city sprawl so I can't begin to imagine how a campus compares.
Interesting that York has been mentioned - that's one of the short list! :-)

Agree with others that a 'campus in a City' (eg Birmingham) is a different scenario again. I also agree with Yikes that a campus can be less of a culture shock than living somewhere like Cardiff where the University buildings are spread amongst non-university building.

With a campus, a good question to be asking students is 'what happens in Yrs 2 and 3?' How easy / difficult is it to get accommodation and to travel to and from the campus ?
Also, how easy is it to get work, if the campus is a bit isolated / away from a town or City?
What are the transport links like - to shops / bars and nights out / train stations / really anything students might need - from campus ?

Many, many years ago my brother went to a campus university and found first year was lovely, but after that, unless you had a car, then life was pretty restrictive in terms of transport.

I agree with others who have said to fast forward to later years.

With DD2, we visited Sussex Uni. It is a totally fab campus - beautiful buildings and housing close by, with lovely green spaces. However, 2nd and 3rd Years live off-campus, specifically in Brighton - a train ride away. TBF, I don’t think too many students are fazed by this as Brighton is a fantastic young person experience, but it is something to think about, especially if you are not the most exuberant type.

My other DCs have been (are) in city centre Unis. They are part of the vibrancy of the cities. They shop in normal places, and their 2nd year places are in real neighbourhoods. They leave equipped for adult life.

Very individual - I went to a campus in the middle of the city and loved it. I then went to a campus in the middle of nowhere and it drove me crazy, I felt very isolated, public transport was poor/non-existent and food shopping was a logistic nightmare. But not all campuses will be like that (I hope!)

I loved my city centre non-campus one and DH loved his campus one. Neither of us could imagine doing the other type. Mine was great for getting to know the city, it was a compact city so never needed to travel more than about a mile, never needed public transport even though years two and three were living out. Very handy for shopping, part time work and going out in the evenings. You felt part of the city, although I think that was a bit artificial as we generally only mixed with other students and certain pubs/parts of the city were definite no-go areas. DH had a brilliant social life on campus, was in the same halls throughout his time there but barely ever set foot in his uni town, I think they spent their whole time in the student union while we rarely set foot in ours because it was a dump and the pubs and clubs were better. I am still very attached to my city, 20+ years after leaving, DH has no attachment whatsoever to his.

sprawled-across-the-city styles?

You have to ask yourself how sprawled across the city they are. As a clunky rule of thumb, older Universities tend to be more compact. Newer Universities can be an amalgam of various old Institutions (FE colleges, teacher training colleges, etc) and therefore more spread out.
If the DC is doing a niche subject then it may be that their department is the odd, out-of-the-way one. So, as well as asking the general city v. campus question, check out precisely where the DC's department is. My DD ruled out some Universities because in her case the answers were "on the other side of the river, and the student bus takes 40 mins in the rush-hour" or "actually the department isn't in the University city, it's in the next door town".

Many older universities have their major buildings and faculties in a cluster but within the city, such as Bristol, Birmingham and Sheffield. You are never far away from anything and can get halls in the city or, in the case of Bristol at Stoke Bishop a bus ride away. However it’s never 3 years in a Hall these days!

Some campuses are very enclosed worlds and some can empty at the weekends. Regarding subsequent years, Warwick students often live in Leamington Spa in years 2 and 3 so there is no city or cultural life to speak of. If you like this element of life it may not be for you.

The best thing to do is analyse his personality. What does he want from the experience? I think for many students the course is part of the equation but definitely not first in all cases. My DDs would not have done any course in a quiet campus in an out of the way Town even if that course was the best. They would have been miserable. It’s not worth that! So know what makes you tick and shortlist based on course and where meets your needs for life and living!

There is a third option - a self-contained campus in a city, such as Newcastle.

It's not a campus in the traditional sense though, which to me means people living there too - most of the University buildings are there, but it's not really self-contained. There are a handful of halls that say they are on campus, but you have to cross roads to get to classes! Most of the halls are scattered around the city. I would count it as a city university rather than campus. Leeds is another example, with a pretty big campus of University buildings, some halls of residence on the perimeter, but not all accommodation concentrated there.

Although I've just thought of Southampton, which is undoubtedly a campus uni, but has plenty of halls further afield ...

Maybe the difference isn't strictly city vs campus, but more like urban vs out of town?

I went to campus uni in a city.
Only they had one hall of residence a way away. Uni set up a bus to and from, but if you didn't like those times it was a 40 min walk, 20 min bike or a taxi.
They set up another campus whilst I was there. Again impossible to get to on public transport and 3 miles from the main campus.

I like the closeness and community atmosphere of a campus, but I think somewhere like Liverpool or Durham where things are very close together in the city will have a similar feel.

All things being equal I would choose a city university. At campus style universities you run the risk of only ever socialising with other live on campus students which can leave you a bit ignorant and boring. Universities that are more spread out force you to go out and make friends properly.

Dd looked around at both a lot...
She has chosen to apply to all city universities mainly with the exception of 1
It’s very dependent on the child and they won’t know until they visit the uni

Just read through all of the answers woth DC1. Huge thanks to everyone. Senua's point about checking where the Dept is located is a very good one. Off to check maps now ...

bring
Take your time though sometimes it is better to wait until you have predicted grades just so your DC doesn’t get their heart set on one that’s AAA and then gets predicted BBC
Of course I don’t know your situation but several of dds friends went and looked at Durham etc and didn’t have the right predicted grades and are now disheartened and have found it hard to accept they’ll be going to somewhere else

Thanks Fantasy. DC1 is doing the IB, so it's a matter of score out of 45. Cambridge already discounted! Other unis range 34-37.