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Which uni for geo ??? help please

Hello everyone

Its my first post so here goes....
I was just wondering what peoples opinions were on the following universities as I am having real trouble deciding between them. :confused:

I have had offers from:
Durham AAB :smile:
Bristol AAB :smile:
Leeds ABB :smile:
Sheffield BBB :smile:
Exeter ABC :smile:
Nottingham AAB :smile:

My predicted grades are AAB

At the moment I am stuck between deciding on my firm choice either Bristol or Durham and my second I think will be either Leeds or Sheffield.

Any help would greatly be appreciated, as I am the first in my family to go to university my parents dont really know how to help me. In truth I attribute my offers to the fact I am perfect for university widening participation statistics i.e. first generation higher education and I am from an inner London comprehensive (even though its a good one)

Also does anyone know what universities views on people who they offer a place to, and they decline then they apply again for the same subject. This is due to the fact that I have deferred entry so was thinking of applying to Oxbridge if i get AAA this summer. I couldn’t apply this year as I got a AABD at AS- however its now AAAB after re-sits.

Sorry about the essay style post and know that there are hundreds of threads the same as this but I really need some help.

Thank you
Lucy
Reply 1
I had the same dilema, but between Durham, Bristol and St Andrews. All are really good unis and the departments are good in different ways. After visiting all again I've chosen Durham as I liked the college system- it felt friendlier than halls. Also I couldn't see myself living in Bristol and St Andrews for me was a little too remote. Also as the largest department in the country, Durham had quite a few different research interests so they had a really interesting list of optional modules (not saying ofcourse Bristol and St Andrews didn't either).

Also if your deferred and looking to get AAA, why not apply?

Hope that helped a bit- which college are u for Durham?
Reply 2
Hey, I think I am currently tilting towards Durham, like u I love the college system it created a great atmosphere and the open days are legendary !!!
I applied to St. Aidans- the college on the hill as its know. What about you?
Reply 3
I've gone for Bristol, because the course is much better suited for me personally, durham is tooo far away and in my opinion Bristol is a nicer city. My friend went up to the Aidan's open day, he's doing geography aswell and he didn't like it, but again that's just one opinion.

What are your interests in Geography?
Reply 4
My interests in geography are mainly human especially political and cultural. I am not sure which uni caters best for this because in the first years of both Bristol and Durham you have to do human and physical.

Durham is far away from me, so wouldn’t be able to make visits to home that regularly. But ah well terms aren’t that long.
Reply 5
Well I'm mostly interested in Physical, especially the topics covered by the course at Bristol, which is a major reason why I chose there. But that doesn't really help you. Just compare courses, compare cities and which do you think you'll enjoy and do better at...did you get a feeling at any of them that the particular uni was right for you?...sometimes it's best to trust your instincts!
Reply 6
I think if you're interested in Political and Cultural human geography then Bristol is definitely the place for you, cultural geography is covered in great depth during the 1st year and political in the human course during the 2nd, with the oppourtunity to study both at great level in the 3rd year. Bristol has a political and cultural geography research group so they've got lots of staff at the cutting edge of this field who are great to work with.
Be prepared for LOTS of quantitative human/phyiscal geography at Bristol also though, they run a Methods course which all geographers have to take and it is heavily computer based.
Reply 7
Yay rob...long time no see! You say lots of quantitative work, but what does that involve; is it mostly equations?
Reply 8
Out of all those (lovely choices, btw!);

1. Bristol
2. Exeter

Purely because (for me) they're close to home (I'm in Devon) and Bristol is the better uni and I don't fancy going millions of miles away.

Purely homey reasons, I :love: my mummy too much to go miles away!!
Reply 9
I think if you're interested in Political and Cultural human geography then Bristol is definitely the place for you

To be fair, it's covered at equally great depth within the Durham course. Durham also has 'Lived & Material Cultures', 'Politics - State - Space', 'Social / Spatial Theory' and 'Social Well-being & Spatial Justice' research groups to fulfil your qualititave research needs.
Reply 10
Oh god here comes the Durham Geography War Machine:p:
Reply 11
nicko88
Yay rob...long time no see! You say lots of quantitative work, but what does that involve; is it mostly equations?

The quantitative work varies quite widely, there is some parts of the economic geography where there are so many formulas to get your head round, although in the first year there is no exam in economic geog., just a group project so you can struggle together!
But for the majority of it, the quantitative work consists of analysing data with software packages, learning statistics (to about AS level standard) so that you can interpret results that the program gives you. It is important to note that they frequently stress that it isnt HOW you do the tests (i.e. the maths) that you need to be able to do, its interpreting the results in a geographical context that they consider most important, because we are geographers and not mathematicians! Theres also some quite cool work using mapping packages and making choropleth maps and stuff.
Reply 12
*grins* We are a juggernaut of TSR :p: Durham and Bristle are equally good universities for geography in differing ways. It depends what you're looking for really.
Reply 13
Lucyj- I'm hopefully going to St Chads. On the whole decision thing, just go where you will feel happiest. In terms of geo department both are good so wherever you go, teaching etc will be of a high standard. Good luck with the decision!

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