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Birmingham, Surrey or Royal Holloway?

Hey I am trying to decide on my 5 Uni's to study Psych at. So far I have:
- Nottingham
- Southampton
- Bristol
- UCL

But I'm stuck between Birmingham, Surrey and Rhul.

I have the perception that Birmingham is the most reputable out of the 3, so am inclined towards it, but from what I've seen and read Royal Holloway seems to have the best campus (nice and green!) and facilities. I've heard good things about the social environment at Surrey, it seems quite a close-knit, friendly uni... but I guess you could say this about all of them.

I am mainly looking at Uni's in the south of UK as I don't wanna be so far away from home, so altho I like the look of Durham I don't wanna go that far :/
I do want to continue Psych to a postgrad level, but am obv not 100% sure of this, so want a course that will be highly regarded by potential employers in the Psych field, allow me to find psych work experience on graduation easily, and done at a reputable Uni (like Nottingham and London uni's) if I decide to seek employment outside the field.

As for the uni I want somewhere with good transport links, shopping, nightlife, but do have that idealistic desire for the close-knit campus lifestyle, which put me off Bristol slightly and attracted me to Royal Holloway. Also I would like the uni to have good facilities, modern buildings etc and decent accomodation, and look, well, pretty?

My grades aren't really a problem so am looking for Uni's offering ABB - AAA.

Unfortunately I haven't visited any of the uni's so am purely going on word of mouth :/ What would you guys recommend for me?
Thanks =]

Reply 1

GodspeedGehenna

I can guarantee you that no particular university will allow you to find psych work upon graduation easily.

Reply 2

superkn

Southern part of UK? Why not include Exeter on your list as well? Good reputation, beautiful campus and strong in Psych and I have a friend studying there who said she enjoys her life there a lot. I wish I could be there with my friend but my grades didn't allow me to do so :frown:

Of the 3 you mention, probably Birmingham is better.

Reply 3

Antimatter

for nightlife, don't pick Surrey!

Reply 4

THRASHx

Birminghams got great nightlife, I live there. Having been to the Royal Holloway open day and seeing the surrounding area, well, I liked it enough to apply but the nightlife didnt seem that great and I think youd have to travel to London pretty often to do things. Although having grown up in a big city I prefer the quiet small town kinda aspect, although RHUL is as far as id go, as its in a tiny little village called Egham.

Reply 5

Anonymous0155

Surrey is tiny. Small, small, very small. I think Southamptons playing feilds is larger than the whole Surrey campus. Your decision though. On the flip side; their scholarship is quite good to up finance and double your maintainance grant; their offers are generally good for an insurance choice imo.

ps Surrey is good for employment opportunities and the uni is about 30-40 minutes train ride to London centre. The area itself is quite suburban and quiet. You got guildford spectrum close by which is good for ice skating, swimming etc and the uni is right next to the station.

Rooms are pretty poor if your going for low-end. The en-suite is really nice but rather expensive.

Birmingham.

Antimatter

for nightlife, don't pick Surrey!

Haha.

Yeah, surrey can hold good events on occasion, but it's extremely limited there and most of the clubs are sameish. I attended it for a year and hated the nightlife. I've heard the same about egham (RHUL), but if you're going for reputation that's probably the best one to pick.

I'd go for Birmingham personally, excellent town and great university.

EDIT: However, Surrey has the biggest sleep research centre in the UK, so it's quite popular and well regarded. Furthermore, the placement year will come in handy if you don't wanna do a postgraduate.

Reply 8

Vixxen

GodspeedGehenna

I can guarantee you that no particular university will allow you to find psych work upon graduation easily.

Ahaha, don't worry, after reading a few threads on this forum I'm amazed there are any sane psychologists at all, it seems that they are the ones who should be in therapy.
It really has made me reasess my decision to take Psych, I mean I am def gonna apply for Psych this year - too late to change my mind now - but really am not sure if I will actually take it. I did want to do Clinical Psychology at postgrad, but tbh I'm not particularly good at listening to people and understanding them so maybe its not a wise career choice, considering all the palaver I would have to go through to get there. And then there is the 3 years of boredom, stress and upon graduation to, apparently, be in a no better position than someone who didn't go to Uni at all doesn't sit well with me :/
I may well take a year out and apply for a diff course next year. I guess it depends on my offers.

But the only reason I settled for Psychology was because I could not think of anything else to do :/ I don't excel majorly in anything, and I enjoy everything as much as each other. :rolleyes:

Wow sorry to go so OT... erm thanks everyone for your replies. I am gonna rule out Surrey, soo its between Rhul and Birmingham. I do like the sound of Rhul, but then again I read a rather depressing thread where Egham was described as having a "permanent fog" and "hell on earth". How cheery.

Reply 9

crazyappleie

i would have picked royal holloway if it wasn't so close to me! its lovely and old, but its quite secluded and the night life is average, and even though its a 'london uni' i can assure you that it takes a good 40 minutes to get into central! on the other hand birmingham is much better for the partyingness, i know a few people who do psychology there and they seem to love it :smile:

... and i have no clue about surrey!

Reply 10

_xAnonymous

birmingham ftw! good uni.

Reply 11

Yorkie1314

Sounds like Birmingham fits all your criteria! Go for it. I second Exeter as well.

Reply 12

booraad

Psychology Graduate Starting Salaries

0115 The City University £21,070
0141 Royal Holloway and Bedford New College £20,444
0156 The University of Oxford £19,902
0149 University College London £19,500
0161 The University of Surrey £19,113
0160 The University of Southampton £19,106
0113 Brunel University £19,054
0167 The University of Edinburgh £19,000
0076 London South Bank University £18,962
0067 Middlesex University £18,899
0109 The University of Bath £18,893
0131 Goldsmiths College £18,682
0112 The University of Bristol £18,648
0058 The University of East London £18,400
0064 Leeds Metropolitan University £18,188
0152 Loughborough University £18,174
0059 The University of Greenwich £18,157
0060 University of Hertfordshire £18,127
0179 Cardiff University £17,977
0119 The University of Exeter £17,857
0063 Kingston University £17,679
0122 The University of Kent £17,538
0108 Aston University £17,525
0031 Roehampton University £17,460
0155 The University of Nottingham £17,395
0162 The University of Sussex £17,318
0157 The University of Reading £17,280
0170 The University of Aberdeen £17,242
0118 The University of Essex £17,122
0164 The University of York £17,000
0056 Coventry University £17,000
0123 The University of Lancaster £16,963
0124 The University of Leeds £16,952
0204 The University of Manchester £16,804
0163 The University of Warwick £16,722
0168 The University of Glasgow £16,703
0110 The University of Birmingham £16,629
0173 The University of St Andrews £16,611
0037 Southampton Solent University £16,611
0121 The University of Keele £16,568
0074 The University of Portsmouth £16,543
All institutions £16,528
0116 University of Durham £16,528
0071 The Nottingham Trent University £16,482
0106 Glasgow Caledonian University £16,444
0125 The University of Leicester £16,330
0180 Swansea University £16,224
0066 The Manchester Metropolitan University £16,173
0185 University of Ulster £16,171
0120 The University of Hull £16,154
0078 The University of Sunderland £16,083
0048 Bath Spa University £16,082
0159 The University of Sheffield £16,065
0050 Bournemouth University £16,056
0075 Sheffield Hallam University £16,053
0072 Oxford Brookes University £15,977
0083 The University of Westminster £15,891
0111 The University of Bradford £15,782
0073 The University of Plymouth £15,714
0047 Anglia Ruskin University £15,688
0081 University of the West of England, Bristol £15,646
0174 The University of Stirling £15,633
0021 The University of Winchester £15,606
0169 The University of Strathclyde £15,530
0057 University of Derby £15,446
0095 University of Abertay Dundee £15,333
0089 University of Wales Institute, Cardiff £15,273
0027 The University of Northampton £15,260
0062 The University of Lincoln £15,259
0011 University of Chester £15,176
0061 The University of Huddersfield £15,144
0069 The University of Northumbria at Newcastle £15,119
0068 De Montfort University £15,106
0184 The Queen's University of Belfast £15,000
0053 The University of Central Lancashire £15,000
0012 Canterbury Christ Church University £14,686
0154 The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne £14,584
0065 Liverpool John Moores University £14,558
0054 University of Gloucestershire £14,458
0079 The University of Teesside £14,289
0090 University of Glamorgan £14,200
0040 Leeds Trinity and All Saints £14,118
0126 The University of Liverpool £13,898
0178 Bangor University £13,792
0077 Staffordshire University £13,782

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6832162.ece