Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Cannot decide between Hull or Nottingham Trent

spiral87

I'm tearing my hair out in frustration over this decision :frown:

I'm studying History, I have offers for both. One moment while I write my reasons, I accidentally submitted the post.

Reply 1

spiral87

General reasons:

NTU's course isn't that flexible - exams are compulsory, the dissertation is 5000 words longer than Hull's. Hull course is far more academic, it's the "better" degree, it has more module choices, exams are dependent on those choices and the level of professionalism as a Uni seems a whole cut above NTU's.

I found the few lecturers I met at Hull quite stuffy and I didn't feel I'd enjoy being taught by them. But then there's the issue that Hull wipes the floor with NTU in every ranking for my course.

Hull's facilities are really impressive. NTU's shoved into the corner of a city and doesn't feel like a campus. I'd be taking lectures at a campus five miles outside the centre. I'd not even see the City campus. I could live in either campus as both are really modern, but it's by a busy road and doesn't feel homely. I have no idea of Hull's halls, other than it's not as modern and it's potentially closer to campus.

Nottingham will be more expensive to live in than Hull, but it has a vibrant rock scene which is what I enjoy in London. Bear in mind the best rock club in Hull closes at 2:30am and I'm used to going out in London on Friday and not getting home until Sunday because I party that hard. Even outside of nightlife, Nottingham has more to offer me in the way of excursions. I'd rather live in Nottingham, I do not want to live in Hull.

Breakdown of those stats:
History Ranking
Hull - 31st vs. NTU - 63rd
History Student satisfaction
Hull - 95.8% vs. NTU - 86%
Overall Uni Ranking
Hull - 53rd vs. NTU - 61st
Hull's research and graduate prospects are slightly higher. Degree completion is the same, ~82%.

What should I choose? Better academia or better overall (presumed) enjoyment? Am I kidding myself thinking Hull's course is preferable solely for the lack of exams and greater module choices? Would Hull's massive library, better research facilities, more sports facilities, own bar and nightclub, etc. give me a better Uni experience? Or will I, as a mature student, not get the most out of these as they'll be filled with kids nearly ten years younger anyway? Will my annoyance at having to travel to lectures fall by the wayside in second and third year anyway when I'll have to find my own accommodation away from the campus?

My only issues with NOT going to Nottingham are the course's inflexibility, despite me not yet seeing a module I wouldn't enjoy studying, plus it's more expensive and the statistics rank it as pitiful compared to Hull. Reason enough to forget it and accept Hull?

Reply 2

returnmigrant

Forget 'rankings', League Tables and all that other nebulous nonsense. None of that will help you if you don't enjoy what you are studying for three years.

Go back to basics - look at the course. Read the detailed optional units for all of the three years of the course and start thinking about what you would actually choose, and why. Its your enjoyment of the course that will get you a good final degree grade and a happy 'student experience' - not its supposed position on newspaper League Table that most employers never read.

General advice on Firm/Insurance choices - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/firm_and_insurance_choices

Reply 3

x__justmyluck

Depends on why you're going to uni. Is it to study a subject you love and make the most out of your degree to improve your employment prospects or to party?

Reply 4

JJ_TW

I would say you need to decide what's most important to you, if the best course is in a location you don't like, or you don't think you would enjoy it as much don't go there.

Don't listen to league tables, look at what's best for you as an individual and where you would enjoy and be happier.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 5

nulli tertius

Original post by spiral87

General reasons:

NTU's course isn't that flexible - exams are compulsory, the dissertation is 5000 words longer than Hull's.

Unless you personally have a problem with exams, you shouldn't look to be avoiding work. If you have been in the real world for a decade you will be surprised by how little work there is on a history degree.

Hull course is far more academic, it's the "better" degree, it has more module choices,

A quick look at the courses and Hull certainly seems to be doing more real history. NTU seems to be following historical fashions. However the reality is that modules are offered because people want to study them. One may think, as an outsider, that a history course with modules on the Carolingian Renaissance is inherently better than one with modules on Conflicts and Cultures, but students may find the latter sexy and the former dull and vote with their feet.

exams are dependent on those choices and the level of professionalism as a Uni seems a whole cut above NTU's.

Administrative efficiency is an often under-rated element of the university experience and one that is more likely to be of significance to mature students, who are more used to being treated with consideration in their ordinary lives.

I found the few lecturers I met at Hull quite stuffy and I didn't feel I'd enjoy being taught by them.

You can't possibly have met them for long enough to form a worthwhile view.

But then there's the issue that Hull wipes the floor with NTU in every ranking for my course.

As Returnmigrant says, that is not particularly relevant.

Hull's facilities are really impressive.NTU's shoved into the corner of a city and doesn't feel like a campus. I'd be taking lectures at a campus five miles outside the centre. I'd not even see the City campus. I could live in either campus as both are really modern, but it's by a busy road and doesn't feel homely. I have no idea of Hull's halls, other than it's not as modern and it's potentially closer to campus.

I think your description of Trent's campus is unfair and if it is shoved into a corner of it a city, Hull's is right out in the sticks. Having said that, the busy road you describe at Nottingham is going to be a building site for the next two years as there is a road widening scheme underway. There is an alternative route over which they are building a tram system for the next two years!

Nottingham will be more expensive to live in than Hull, but it has a vibrant rock scene which is what I enjoy in London. Bear in mind the best rock club in Hull closes at 2:30am and I'm used to going out in London on Friday and not getting home until Sunday because I party that hard. Even outside of nightlife, Nottingham has more to offer me in the way of excursions. I'd rather live in Nottingham, I do not want to live in Hull.

There is no doubt that Nottingham is the better city. One of the major reasons why a very good university such as Hull as become so unfashionable (and Hull would have been mixing it with Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham 20-30 years ago, not NTU) is because it is in Hull.

Reply 6

spiral87

Original post by nulli tertius

Outstanding. This has been one of the most helpful posts I've ever read. It helps me to clarify my answer. I should go where I will be happier, not where I think I'll get a "better" degree. I will enjoy studying Nottingham's modules, I thought I would from the open day. And as you say, I've lived in the real world for almost a decade, an 18 year old freshly freed from their parents' gaze would not be looking at Uni from the same perspective as me. At Nottingham I get to mingle with the locals as I do in London and establish a group of mature friends.

How will these rankings and statistics and reviews affect me though? I get the impression Uni work is so self managed and will actually take up so little of my time 'in reality' that they won't.