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University of Leeds or Uni of Manchester or Uni of Bristol

Which one would you choose based on academics, social life, prestige and culture?

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Reply 1
Original post by rodcarter
Which one would you choose based on academics, social life, prestige and culture?


I'm going be biased here, because I'm firming Manchester for History.

I'd say Bristol is the best in terms of both prestige.

Academics - how do you mean by this? Lecturers or research? I think that would be difficult for one to judge unless you've attended all three universities, but from student satisfaction, I think Leeds may be 'best', but these are three quality institutions, so teaching will be of a good standard (depending on whether you're doing a BSc or a BA of course, the latter will usually have few hours teaching regardless of where you go unfortunately).

I'd say Leeds and Manchester are on a par for prestige and social life, they're often seen as amongst the best 'party' universities. Both have an excellent range of clubs, though, Manchester probably edges it in terms of night life, because it's bigger (bigger, the better :wink:). As for culture, again I'd probably say Manchester is the most culturally diverse area; large city. Curry Mile, Chinatown, old buildings, a few museums etc. And not far from Liverpool, voted capital of culture in 2008.

However, I'd say Bristol is the clear best all-rounder, it still has a good social aspect, in the heart of the city, thousands of students (including UWE), although if I applied and gotten an offer, I probably would not have taken it over Manchester because it's around 50% private intake, and I already go to a sixth form college infested with ex-private kids, and they do my head in; gotta get away/ not make the same mistake, though I do value my college's teaching :biggrin:

P.S Note, it will be considerably more expensive living in Bristol than Leeds/Manc, the lack of student housing in Bristol for the 50,000 students causes rents to be high, or so I've been told. Hope I've helped!
Reply 2
Ye definitely. I'm leaning towards Leeds.

I prefer Leeds as it's centred on one large campus whereas Manchester is split along a long road. Hard to tell who's who in Manchester. I think Leeds has more of an identity.

Bristol don't even offer bursaries currently - they just don't charge 9k for students under 25k.
Leeds and Manchester offer 3k packages which is great.
Reply 3
What about Loughborough? How would that compare to the aforementioned 3 using the stated criterion?
Reply 4
Leeds is my favourite uni personally, but Bristol I think is the most prestigious
Reply 5
I'd definitely go with Bristol, Leeds was my second choice and I looked round Manchester but didn't apply, so I made exactly the same judgement when I chose Bristol as my Uni.
I would say Bristol was best on Academics, prestige and culture.
Leeds and Manchester are probably slightly better for social life but I still have a great social life at Bristol.
I grew up in Bristol, am at uni in Manchester, and Leeds was my other first choice (it was a toss up between the two).

Academics - I suspect they're all much-of-a-muchness, although obviously I've only studied in one school at one uni, so it's hard to tell.

Social life - they've all got great nightlife, although I think Manchester's got more than Bristol (not that you'll get bored in either!). Can't really comment on Leeds too much TBH.

Prestige - I think Bristol has a slight edge, with Leeds and Manchester not far behind (and roughly equal)

Culture - I can't really say I'm one for the theatre and art galleries, but Bristol is quite good for festivals (although most of those take place when the students aren't there over the summer!) and you can spot various Banksy's around the city. There's the City Museum and Art Gallery next to the uni. Not really so sure about Manchester TBH - it's just not something I tend to seek out.

Honestly? I think you'll be happy wherever you go :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 7
Manchester has a great music scene but Leed seems to have an amazing sports program.

For every positive I find in Leeds I find another at Manchester.

But I struggle with Bristol, other than prestige it loses out on everything with me
Original post by rodcarter
What about Loughborough? How would that compare to the aforementioned 3 using the stated criterion?


Academics / prestige: Decent, but not as good as Leeds / Manchester / Bristol.

Social life: there's one or two clubs in town, tops, so the students union is (by necessity) very active in organising events. When I went to their open day, the students spent a lot of time (too much?) talking about how good the social life was.

Culture: non-existent, as far as I could tell, but I'm sure a local / Lufbra student will be on soon enough to correct me.
Reply 9
I think I'm gonna go with Leeds. It seems their financial packages are very generous
Reply 10
I'm seriously none the wiser ... I love both uni's
Original post by rodcarter
I think I'm gonna go with Leeds. It seems their financial packages are very generous


What financial packages do Leeds offer? I'm going through Access to Leeds which gives me a lower offer but they haven't said much about grants and that...should probably check that stuff out! Anyway, I'm firming them too! Would have been a toss up between Leeds and Manc had I not got rejected from Manc (I actually thought my Leeds interview was worse aswell!) but I don't know, I just had a kind of feeling that I was always gonna firm Leeds. I've heard great things about both, and tbh just go with your gut feeling. You can listen to millions of opinions and whatever, but just go with your gut and what feels right for you. If you liked both unis, then you'll like either one when you go!
Anyway, I'd like to think I could follow my own advice - I've been asking the same questions for the past couple of weeks, trying to ensure I make the right choice, but I'm trying not to stress too much about it now!
Good luck! :biggrin:
Reply 12
I would say Bristol is the most prestigious within the UK, and Manchester internationally.

Culture- Manchester is a very quirky and individual city compared to pretty much every city, lost of character (except London and Edinburgh)
Nicest university - Leeds university has a nicer campus than Manchester (haven't been to Bristol!)
Social Life - You won't get bored at any of the above, going by speaking to students who used to go to my school at each of these universities!
Reply 13
Original post by dulciemae
What financial packages do Leeds offer?


I'd personally be entitled to a £3000 package including £1000 in cash and the other £2000 as accommodation vouchers or fee waivers.

So it makes things significantly easier for me financially.

Manchester offer a similar package but Bristol are incredibly tight and do not offer any bursaries or accommodation help. They simply offer a significant fee waiver but that wouldn't really help me whilst I was there.

What are your pro's and con's for Leeds thus far?

Good luck to you too btw
Original post by rodcarter
I'd personally be entitled to a £3000 package including £1000 in cash and the other £2000 as accommodation vouchers or fee waivers.

So it makes things significantly easier for me financially.

Manchester offer a similar package but Bristol are incredibly tight and do not offer any bursaries or accommodation help. They simply offer a significant fee waiver but that wouldn't really help me whilst I was there.

What are your pro's and con's for Leeds thus far?

Good luck to you too btw


Yeah, Manchester's is pretty much the same as Leeds in that case. A very popular hall at Manchester is £80 a week, so factor that in as well, I'd be paying only around £1,300 A YEAR for my first year at least :tongue: That leaves me plenty for food and nights out, as well as saving; I'm a fairly good saver, and also plan on getting part time work doing 20 hours a week :smile:
Original post by Mero8
I would say Bristol is the most prestigious within the UK, and Manchester internationally.

Culture- Manchester is a very quirky and individual city compared to pretty much every city, lost of character (except London and Edinburgh)
Nicest university - Leeds university has a nicer campus than Manchester (haven't been to Bristol!)
Social Life - You won't get bored at any of the above, going by speaking to students who used to go to my school at each of these universities!


What's the difference between Manchester and Leeds' campus? Is it much nicer than Mancs?
Reply 16
Not nicer, I just felt Leeds' was much closer and you're sort of walking in a university rather than to buildings where you have lectures.
It depends what you prefer really.

In terms of city, Leeds seemed very compact and not much to do compared to other cities (may be wrong) whereas Manchester is probably the closest city to London I have seen :-)

I am probably firming Manchester soon and withdrawing from Leeds because they are taking too long to reply! :-P Just waiting on St.Andrews to reply too though :-( If they give me an offer (fingers crossed) I would decide between them and Manchester x
Original post by Mero8
Not nicer, I just felt Leeds' was much closer and you're sort of walking in a university rather than to buildings where you have lectures.
It depends what you prefer really.

In terms of city, Leeds seemed very compact and not much to do compared to other cities (may be wrong) whereas Manchester is probably the closest city to London I have seen :-)

I am probably firming Manchester soon and withdrawing from Leeds because they are taking too long to reply! :-P Just waiting on St.Andrews to reply too though :-( If they give me an offer (fingers crossed) I would decide between them and Manchester x


Ah, I'm firming Manchester :biggrin: I thought you were going to say something bad about Mancs, and yeah, Manchester doesn't really have a campus, more of a load of buildings dotted around two locations in the city :tongue: Good luck with St. Andrews, that'd be amazing to get an offer from them :tongue: totally different environment, mind :smile:
Reply 18
Original post by sarah1345
Ah, I'm firming Manchester :biggrin: I thought you were going to say something bad about Mancs, and yeah, Manchester doesn't really have a campus, more of a load of buildings dotted around two locations in the city :tongue: Good luck with St. Andrews, that'd be amazing to get an offer from them :tongue: totally different environment, mind :smile:


Hah, thanks :biggrin: What course are you applying to? :smile:
Original post by Mero8
Hah, thanks :biggrin: What course are you applying to? :smile:


History hopefully :biggrin: You're medicine right?

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