The Student Room Group
Reply 1
They are all about the same in terms of reputation, ie., excellent! :smile:
Reply 2
UCL is in london how can the social life ever be terrible? :rolleyes:
Reply 3
Well combined for Social Life and Reputation, my humble opinion would be:

UCL
Bristol/Edinburgh
Warwick
York
Reputation-wise you can't go wrong. They're all about even. I know nothing about UCL or Edinburgh, but I will tell you what I know about the rest.

York:

I liked the campus a lot. There are a lot of ugly 1960s buildings but the setting is very attractive and it's a nice, well-designed, modern campus. Has a reputation for being very friendly and down to earth - you don't hear of very many rahs at York. When I went to visit, everyone I met was really helpful - nothing was too much trouble and the staff were all delightful. The city is absolutely gorgeous, and would be a lovely place to live in 2nd/3rd year. There's quite a lot to do in York, but if you're really mad about clubbing and going out, Leeds is only a short train journey away. I turned down York because it's too far away from home and I can't stand the cold. But otherwise, I can't fault the place.

Warwick:

I originally wanted to go here but didn't get in. The campus is much like York's, only bigger. When I stayed there with my then-boyfriend, I really liked it. Ok so he was in the nicest accommodation, but it really was gorgeous, and the social life seemed great. Very impressive union, nice students, amazing arts centre, lots to do on campus, excellent facilities. The problem with Warwick is what they call the "Warwick bubble". It is a bit isolated, and nowhere near any big cities. Coventry is ok, but not the nicest place in the world, and Leamington is pretty but the uni is not really near a big city. Birmingham is about 20-30 mins away on the train - but it'll take you at least that long to get to the station first, so it's not really practical for a night out. This is probably why the campus is so damned fantastic. It needs to be. But you can't live there throughout your time at Warwick, which is a shame.

Bristol:

This is where I will be come Saturday! :biggrin:

Bristol is a city university, which puts it at a disadvantage when it comes to open days. When you visit in the middle of term, you'll go to the main university precinct, where most of the departments are housed (many of them quite literally in converted houses) and see the library, sports centre (which is amazing) etc. Then you'll take a 10 minute walk to the union, which is a bit of an eyesore to be honest, and see the facilities there. But you won't see any accommodation because it's mostly out in the suburbs, and they're not going to bus people out just to show them the outside of a building. However, most of the halls are in Stoke Bishop, which means you get about 2,000 students, mainly freshers, all living in halls very close to each other, in a very nice area and surrounded by loads of green, open space. There is a wide variety of halls, from Wills Hall, which is a traditional catered hall which looks likean Oxbridge college, to more modern catered halls, to lovely self-catered halls (which I'm in!). This year the accommodation office seem to have done a fantastic job of giving most people what they wanted, if TSR is anything to go by. The nightlife in Bristol is amazing, with pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs to suit every taste, and a taxi back from the city centre to halls is about £7, which split between four is cheaper than the bus fare. There are also some halls in the centre of Bristol, for those who don't like walking, although they are a bit more expensive. In your second and third year, you live out in the city, and benefit from being even closer to your lectures and to all the nightlife/shopping etc. Most students live in Clifton, Cotham or Redland, which are the nicer parts of Bristol. All in all, Bristol is the ultimate student city. And it's very pretty too! :p:

Hope this information is useful. I've never applied to/visited UCL or Edinburgh, but the others I know a fair bit about. Basically, I honestly don't think you can go wrong. They are all superb universities with a top-class reputation, and I would go to any of them.