What's it like living in Manchester?

Are there many Southerners at UoM, like from London/Home Counties? Many rich kids? Also, why is student satisfaction so low?! :l

London / Home Counties = Frickin loads of them. Seriously, I swear every other person you meet is from bloody London. Then there are more normal proportions of people from the rest of England and Wales. You never get Scots though - presumably because funding across the border is more preferable.

Rich kids? You get some here and there. Very few of them are ever audacious about it - whilst you might be able to work out that they went to a particularly expensive public school, it's not the sort of thing that people tend to talk about that much (and I did come across one person who was actively trying to keep it on the down-low that he had been to a very well-known boarding school!). Anyway, my point is that you're not going to suddenly find yourself surrounded by people talking about polo ponies, and 77.2% (2008 figures) are from state schools, and most people are pretty normal!

And as for student satisfaction - I'm yet to work this out myself, although I do have >2 years left here, and I suspect that some departments are dragging others down disproportionately.

That's one of the things I've noticed about uni, most of the 'rich kids' hide it. One of my good friends now who I met during Freshers lives in OP tower, smokes a ton of weed and dresses like a hobo, as I got to know him, turns out he has a double barrel surname and went to Rugby School, most of the rich kids like to pretend they're from 'da ghetto'.

Do you know anyone on History courses? Could you get me some feedback? It's the one thing stopping me from firming at the moment!

I can't really think of anyone offhand unfortunately

I do Politics, but it's not really much help to you - it's not even in the same school as History. I'm thinking that there might be a relevant facebook group though, and you could inbox people from there.

I've tried searching for one, but nothing :/

yeah im from london but i bet that guys from some little village

That's one of the things I've noticed about uni, most of the 'rich kids' hide it. One of my good friends now who I met during Freshers lives in OP tower, smokes a ton of weed and dresses like a hobo, as I got to know him, turns out he has a double barrel surname and went to Rugby School, most of the rich kids like to pretend they're from 'da ghetto'.

Are there many Southerners at UoM, like from London/Home Counties? Many rich kids? Also, why is student satisfaction so low?! :l

Nah, she's completely harmless. All she wants to do is hand you one of her leaflets - I've never heard of her doing anything other than that, snoozing at bus stops and moving multiple oversized suitcases around!

I think secretly a lot of Manchester students have a bit of a soft spot for the Crazy Bus Lady - I've heard of a few different people who've taken her home and let her sleep on their sofa!

But you woulnd't know that having just arrived to the city :P

really? I heard mancunians were friendly, but that friendly? fair play on them lol

Well, it's always been drunk students who have done it (at least that I've heard about. Tbh you'll get to know very few mancunians - Paz from kebab king, your cleaner in halls, and maybe anyone you work with (although when I temped it was almost exclusively students and migrant workers!); most people spend three years in a student bubble.

Nah, she's completely harmless. All she wants to do is hand you one of her leaflets - I've never heard of her doing anything other than that, snoozing at bus stops and moving multiple oversized suitcases around!

I think secretly a lot of Manchester students have a bit of a soft spot for the Crazy Bus Lady - I've heard of a few different people who've taken her home and let her sleep on their sofa!

i hear so much bout the crazy lady, i need to meet her

I can't really think of anyone offhand unfortunately

I do Politics, but it's not really much help to you - it's not even in the same school as History. I'm thinking that there might be a relevant facebook group though, and you could inbox people from there.

If you're going to be a UoM student, I definitely recommend Whitworth Park for accomodation. The student feeling is great with everyone so close together, it is 5 minutes from most lectures, right next to Maccie's, Subway, Gemini's, etc, and has a gym, student bar and squash courts. It is also the cheapest iirc

Is it not full of internationals? Also, why would you say Whitworth Park, other than the proximity to City Centre/Uni?

I wouldn't say so, there's a good mix here. Whitworth Park is probably about a 20-30 minute walk from the City Centre or 5-10 minutes on one of the countless buses. In fact, pretty much everything you could need is within walking distance other than Picadilly Train Station which is around 20 minutes by bus and walking.

So you would not recommend Oak House for first year? If I put both Oak House and Whitworth Park for accommodation, which one am I likely to get given? Because you don't rank preferences do you? You just pick 3 you'd be happy to live in?