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Hey everyone,
I'm trying to pick a university for a year abroad in the UK, but I don't know enough about the English (and Scottish, and Welsh) universities to make an informed decision.
The criteria for picking a school aren't of an academic nature, but rather about the town or city I would end up in.
I'd prefer to be in the North of England, because it's supposed to be a bit easier on the cost of living, and for that reason I should like to avoid London. I'd also prefer a smaller city over party central, so maybe Manchester wouldn't be a great idea.
Geographically, I think Durham is great, but then again, I' don't know anything.
Here's a list of the unis I can pick from:
+ Show Spoiler +Academic Calendar (2014/15):
Aberystwyth (Wales)
Bangor (Wales)
Belfast (Northern Ireland)
Birmingham
Brighton
Bristol
Cardiff
Durham
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Kent
Lancaster
Leeds
Leicester
London - Queen Mary College
London - Royal Holloway College
Loughborough
Manchester
Middlesex
Nottingham
Semester
Sheffield
Surrey
Just for the sake of being comprehensive, these are the ones in the USA:
+ Show Spoiler +
University of Pennsylvania
Cornell University
Boston College
University of Florida
Stanford University
University of Texas
Dartmouth College
I don't think I will go the US, but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Since we can go tuition free, a year in the US might be fun.
Thanks in advance!
 
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Go to the USA if you can. England is shitty
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lol
ur going to uni but never mention what you are going to study?
That party comment made me laugh. Its up to you how hard you party and how you party is all about who you mix with.
You take a small place where everyone knows each other and are pretty bored and things escalate.
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I went to Durham, it's a great uni. Cost of living is very cheap when you aren't living in college i.e. probably your second year. City-wise, everything's very central, it's probably about 30 minutes from one end of town to the other. There's lots of rural beauty and historic buildings, but you still have all the necessities of the city; it's a good compromise. If you need/want to head into a bigger town at any point, Newcastle is 15 minutes away via train and costs less than £5. Although it's a city university (i.e. uni stuff is all over the place) almost everything is on one of two streets and it doesn't take long to get around.
Judging by your criteria, it sounds like Durham would be a good fit.
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I'm doing a 125% Bachelor in chemistry and English (25%), and the exchange is with the English department, so I would study English exclusively and finish that part of my degree in a year.
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Northern Ireland22208 Posts
No Cambridge so I can't recommend it, and I would not recommend Belfast because there's nothing here
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Northern Ireland280 Posts
I went to Royal Holloway myself. It's quite far away from anything fun, although the train link is pretty decent if you don't drive. Got a few towns nearby with stuff to do and ofc, London is down the road (or 30mins by train to get to central).
I went to uni a good 8 years ago or something tho, so there might be more stuff to do there now, but given that the tiny town it's actually in (englefield green) has nothing, and the town nearby (egham) isn't much better, it might not be what you're looking for.
It's also pretty expensive area, not central london expensive, but still surrey prices everywhere.
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I spent my year abroad at Bristol Uni (not UWE, which is also in Bristol but just one big ugly Uni).
Great Uni and a wonderful city. It's rather big however ( pop at around 400k) and in addition it is kind of the party centre for everything west of London :D
Still, it's great as a hub for Cornwell and Wales. It has its own low cost airport and it is not as expensive as London. And you got Banksy. I mean C'mon 
edit: also, Skins and Being Human!
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On November 10 2014 22:43 SixStrings wrote:
I'm doing a 125% Bachelor in chemistry and English (25%), and the exchange is with the English department, so I would study English exclusively and finish that part of my degree in a year.
More info on Durham not that I have this. The English department is just off the main high street (it's a 2 minute walk from the centre of town). The main lecture theatres for the subject are also fairly central, about the same distance away from the centre. Depending on what college you're at, they could be as little as a minute or so away, but if you're at one of the further out colleges it could be as much as 15 minutes. I think most of the colleges take year abroad students, so you could be anywhere.
Also, if academia does factor into the decision at all, afaik, roughly 40% of Durham English Students get a 1st and almost everyone else gets a 2;1, so it's probably quite good for the subject.
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You should choose Stanford.
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If you can get 1 free year at Stanford go for it!!
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You should ask your professors which university is the best for your field of study and perhaps they can also recommend which lectures to attend and to get in touch with which professors.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51464 Posts
On November 11 2014 00:03 tar wrote:I spent my year abroad at Bristol Uni (not UWE, which is also in Bristol but just one big ugly Uni). Great Uni and a wonderful city. It's rather big however ( pop at around 400k) and in addition it is kind of the party centre for everything west of London :D Still, it's great as a hub for Cornwell and Wales. It has its own low cost airport and it is not as expensive as London. And you got Banksy. I mean C'mon edit: also, Skins and Being Human!
Oh my god you went to Bristol, how did you get on with that horrible accent of theirs lol?
Durham is a good uni, however its in Durham which whilst has some heritage to it is very cold northerly city and is not good if you fancied on time off (summer) to go exploring. Literally just near Newcastle and such.
If you can bare the Bristol accent that university could be worth it due to being close to both London and Birmingham via trains and such.
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On November 11 2014 01:18 Pandemona wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2014 00:03 tar wrote:I spent my year abroad at Bristol Uni (not UWE, which is also in Bristol but just one big ugly Uni). Great Uni and a wonderful city. It's rather big however ( pop at around 400k) and in addition it is kind of the party centre for everything west of London :D Still, it's great as a hub for Cornwell and Wales. It has its own low cost airport and it is not as expensive as London. And you got Banksy. I mean C'mon edit: also, Skins and Being Human! Oh my god you went to Bristol, how did you get on with that horrible accent of theirs lol?
Durham is a good uni, however its in Durham which whilst has some heritage to it is very cold northerly city and is not good if you fancied on time off (summer) to go exploring. Literally just near Newcastle and such. If you can bare the Bristol accent that university could be worth it due to being close to both London and Birmingham via trains and such.
After the initial shock, I actually liked it! Took me quite some time to understand a Bristolian on the phone though 
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On November 11 2014 01:18 Pandemona wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2014 00:03 tar wrote:I spent my year abroad at Bristol Uni (not UWE, which is also in Bristol but just one big ugly Uni). Great Uni and a wonderful city. It's rather big however ( pop at around 400k) and in addition it is kind of the party centre for everything west of London :D Still, it's great as a hub for Cornwell and Wales. It has its own low cost airport and it is not as expensive as London. And you got Banksy. I mean C'mon edit: also, Skins and Being Human! Oh my god you went to Bristol, how did you get on with that horrible accent of theirs lol?
Durham is a good uni, however its in Durham which whilst has some heritage to it is very cold northerly city and is not good if you fancied on time off (summer) to go exploring. Literally just near Newcastle and such. If you can bare the Bristol accent that university could be worth it due to being close to both London and Birmingham via trains and such.
Being a German, any English accent is a step up.
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Why not come south? Its lovely down here 
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On November 11 2014 02:22 Skynx wrote:Why not come south? Its lovely down here
I'm going to Istanbul in February, but only for a week or so.
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Jesus if you can go to Stanford, aka a top 4ish school in the entire world, I'd do that...
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I just finished my MSc at University of Bristol. The university and the city are both great and I would recommend them to anyone. I like the fact that Bristol is big enough so that there is plenty of stuff to do but not so big that it feels like London. The university is really good and is in the centre of the city.
With regards to accent, I guess it depends where you come from but I don't think the Bristol accent is particularly bad, and tbh most of the people I met didn't really have a very strong Bristol or west country accent.
I stayed in student accommodation that is usually for international students (so the kind of place you might stay) and I really enjoyed it there too. It was in a good location close enough to the city centre and train/bus station and only a 10 minute walk from my classes.
I couldn't really compare it in terms of cost to places in the north of England since I've never lived very far north, but it is at least cheaper than London (which is of course not much of feat because London is ridiculous).
Also as someone else already mentioned you can pretty easily get to London or Birmingham from Bristol by train or bus. It also has its own airport.
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obviously stanford academically, though not sure how much employers care about a year abroad at top 10 school.
socially london is probably the best city in the world for students, so much stuff to do (until 1am when everything closes) Imperial/UCL are great unis there but not on your list. obviously expensive though.
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On November 11 2014 03:09 SixStrings wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2014 02:22 Skynx wrote:Why not come south? Its lovely down here I'm going to Istanbul in February, but only for a week or so.
haha I meant south of UK but Istanbul is nice too
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On November 11 2014 05:01 Espers wrote:
obviously stanford academically, though not sure how much employers care about a year abroad at top 10 school.
socially london is probably the best city in the world for students, so much stuff to do (until 1am when everything closes) Imperial/UCL are great unis there but not on your list. obviously expensive though.
Yeah, I don't think I can afford it. They pay our tuition and some niggardly grand of 250-something Euros, so I'd basically have to find a way to set aside 10.000 pounds by August next year. Not something that seems feasible.
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
rip, bath not there 
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Stanford!
Not only is this (arguably) the top-ranked university on your list, but Palo Alto is a super beautiful, laid back place. It's spring all year round in the Bay Area.
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51412 Posts
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Not sure how I'm going to afford that, to be honest.
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Stanford it is.
My advisor at the chemistry department hooked me up with a deal, giving me a place to stay on campus and a modest stipend for food in exchange for working 8 hours a week in some lab.
So now I only have to come up with the money for the flights to and from America, should be doable.
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United States1225 Posts
Stanford will be the biggest change you can make from Germany, which, in my opinion, is what university is all about. Glad you made that choice. It's a gorgeous area and an amazing school. Great atmosphere!
Best of luck with the finances! Definitely throw up another blog once you get here! :D
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What country should I tell people I'm from?
According to a friend of mine who went to Berkeley for a year, he really regretted telling people he was from Germany.
Apparently he had to endure Nazi jokes pretty much every day, so he advised me to tell people I was French.
But I reckon it's best to tell them I'm from some country they never heard about, like Belgium or Switzerland.
I thought of Austria first, but I don't want to be corrected on my pronunciation of 'Australia' every day.
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On November 27 2014 05:41 SixStrings wrote:
What country should I tell people I'm from?
According to a friend of mine who went to Berkeley for a year, he really regretted telling people he was from Germany.
Apparently he had to endure Nazi jokes pretty much every day, so he advised me to tell people I was French.
But I reckon it's best to tell them I'm from some country they never heard about, like Belgium or Switzerland.
I thought of Austria first, but I don't want to be corrected on my pronunciation of 'Australia' every day.
Yeah... Don't listen to your friend. Lying is a great way to make first impressions /s
Just be honest and act normally. If you do encounter a nazi joke, just be cool about it, no need to get worked up over it. If you don't want to speak to that person anymore, just move along and find other people. Definitely don't lie and be someone you're not.
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Oh, I don't usually mind. But the way he described it, it got really obnoxious and ubiquitous.
I wouldn't even think about these things twice if I were going anywhere but to the USA, but without exception, any show on the telly I've seen, any programme about comedy, pretty much anyone trying to be funny, whenever it comes to Germans, a Nazi joke is sure to follow. Apparently that passes for wit over there.
Seriously, make fun of our accents, make fun of hour humourless work attitude, make fun of the current political state of affairs, but just give it a rest with these Nazi jokes, just for a day or two. Don't you have your own genocide to confront?
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United Kingdom10443 Posts
American Humour is always a reminder about how different that country really is.
It is funny that, despite sharing a language, I feel I have more in common with other Europeans rather than Americans.
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nobody will call you a nazi unless they don't like you. if they don't like you they would have just called you something else anyway even if you weren't german. yeah people will probably talk about nazis with you but we don't have the taboo here about them as much as you do so just suck it up
be careful about what courses you take at stanford. organic chemistry, for instance, is a somewhat complicated subject but isn't really too hard; however at most universities way too many people want to be doctors, and so the course is curved quite hard and the median grade ends up being somewhere from C to B-. at most public schools (other than Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA, etc.) that doesn't matter because the median student isn't really going to understand the material very well regardless, but at competitive schools, like Stanford, that can make it very hard to get a good grade.
but I don't know enough about stanford to know which courses in particular may fuck you over
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EPT
