Which university?

I'm doing a bit of research for my daughter. She wants to take Spanish at university (needs to start applying now) and I wondered if you could recommend a few of the best universities for this language (just to give us a head start) thanks

Reply 1

Eugenie Grandet

Original post by buttercup1000

Hi there

Well there are many universities within the top 20-30 which have very reputable Spanish departments. So to narrow things down a bit, what grades has she / is she likely to achieve? Also important things to consider are how far she wants to be from home. Also, does she want to be in London at unis such as UCL, KCL, Queen Mary or in big but slightly cheaper ones like Manchester or Birmingham? Or smaller cities like Leeds or Liverpool? Or really small ones like Cambridge, Durham, Warwick or Exeter? Also I know Leeds sends people on their year abroad in the 2nd year which personally I think is too young and people aren't proficient enough in their languages but the other unis in the top 30 generally send students abroad in 3rd year.

Reply 2

yothi5

You need to give us more information.

Her grades?
Her location preferences?
Her ideal uni - big/small etc
Any financial barriers

Reply 3

buttercup1000

Thanks for replying. Her predicated grades are AAC. She doesn't want to be in London. We are however, low income as her father is disabled.

Reply 4

Eugenie Grandet

Original post by buttercup1000

Thanks for replying. Her predicated grades are AAC. She doesn't want to be in London. We are however, low income as her father is disabled.

Hi, I think being predicted a 'C' might hinder her chances of getting into a top 30 university as most state they require at least ABB for Spanish. Is there any way her school/college could increase that grade? You could always call the departments you're interested in to get a concrete answer.

Reply 5

SuperHanss

I know that Birbeck are supposed to be very good for languages and they're probably within your daughters grade range. Though it is in London, it's Bloomsbury which is central but a really nice, scenic area

Reply 6

J_W-x

Buttercup, her predicted grades are fine. I hear of people getting into AAB+ universities whilst predicted ~ABB
but up to an extent there's no such thing as a 'best university' as it really depends on what city you feel you're comfortable in, the course structure etc
there's too many factors to consider,

If I were in your daughters position I would apply for
Two AAB university
two ABB universities
and one BBB university (Maybe for insurance)

But sometimes choosing 'the best' university ranked on the league tables etc isn't the best choice

Reply 7

Eugenie Grandet

Original post by SuperHanss

Doesn't a Birkbeck degree generally offer part-time or evning classes as it's aimed at professionals who want to fit a degree around the rest of their lifeso she may not get the typical student experience? Also on the site it said BA spaniah and Portuguese was ABB but I didn't find a single honours Spanish one.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

SuperHanss

Original post by Eugenie Grandet

Fair comment. Birbeck is quite specialist and selective and are really good for MA's and stuff like that. Though I assume they must offer undergraduate degrees for standard aged students because it's a constituent of UoL.
Wasn't sure about the requirements to be honest, I always though Birbeck gave modest, average offers. Just made the comment based on my knowledge that they are supposed to be quite good for languages really...

Reply 9

Eugenie Grandet

Original post by J_W-x

I think it's not wise applying for courses where you don't fulfil the requirements. Though since the fee hike Languages departments across the country have been hit by significant reductions in applications so might be more acquiescent
That said, it's worth checking from the horse's mouth I.e. to contact the universities themselves otherwise it could result in a waste of a choice.

Reply 10

J_W-x

Original post by Eugenie Grandet

Strictly speaking she doesn't know whether she will fulfil the requirements or not as they're only predicted grades and can only be considered to a certain extent, a good personal statement mixed with a genuine interest can make up for being predicted one grade lower, especially when they're predicted 2 A's surely then can move a C to a B (In the eyes of an admissions officer)

Reply 11

Eugenie Grandet

Original post by J_W-x

It's true that a good personal statement and references are really important. However at my undergrad university I knew admissions officers to outright reject people who don't meet the grades. Personally I would beg the school to change the predicition. If you dont quite get your grades universities can be more lenient (most of my languages coursemates missed their grade by one). Once you've made that commitment they can be more lenient. Of course there are no guarantees so she should try and raise that C to a B as her final mark.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 12

wbrian

sorry to ask this question on this forum i couldn't find a recent discussion about my question other than this :/ can anyone kindly give me a link to find the world ranking of a university ( i have a list and i need this information as well to choose one)