Leeds vs. Sussex

Leeds!

Not that I'm biased or anything. :ninja:

But I think you'll find that Leeds, and Leeds English especially, is the better known and respected.

Reply 2

silence

16

for english and general academia, leeds is probably respected about 14% moreso than sussex.

a friend who does english at leeds seems to have a great time when going out etc but tend not to have peace of mind concerning the safety of his car in accommodation parking.

although it's probably something of a mission, open days are definitely worth going to if you can. doesn't matter too much as it's only your fifth choice, but i don't think either would be a 'wrong' decision as such.

Reply 3

OP

Yes, I am leaning rather more towards Leeds. How confident should I be, offer wise? (GCSE: A*AAAAAABBB AS: AABB-AAAA) I think I heard that the English course was in Clearing last year, though I could be mistaken.

Reply 4

silence

16

i believe their offer is AAA? i'm fairly sure sussex is slightly lower.

it's only worth putting down somewhere you'd want to go though.

Reply 5

OP

The Leeds website says AAB, whereas Sussex's says AAA-AAB. Interesting.

Reply 6

Lidka

LGoddard

The Leeds website says AAB, whereas Sussex's says AAA-AAB. Interesting.

My offer from Leeds is AAB. There is a lot of competition for places on the English course, and though I can't remember exactly the figures quoted at the open day last year they were not to be sniffed at; in fact, they were much higher than the statistics for my Cam application! But I think a lot of people reject offers in favour of somewhere else or put Leeds as their insurance place, so it's not as desperate as it sounds. Good luck. :smile:

Reply 7

OP

Lidia

Good luck. :smile:

Thanks; from looking at the website, it seems a really nice department.

Reply 8

Lidia

Leeds!

Not that I'm biased or anything. :ninja:

But I think you'll find that Leeds, and Leeds English especially, is the better known and respected.

I went to the Leeds open day and there were lot's ( :p:

) of things which appealed to me about the city and the course. It all seemed very flexible academically and the students I met seemed very enthusiastic about the university.

I agree with LGoddard about the 'campus issue' - Nottingham seemed fine for English, but the location was a little insular (and I imagine Warwick would be even more so). I haven't considered Sussex, however.

Reply 9

OP

Wildebeest

I agree with LGoddard about the 'campus issue' - Nottingham seemed fine for English, but the location was a little insular (and I imagine Warwick would be even more so). I haven't considered Sussex because it is a hellish journey from Bristol.

I felt the same about York, though my mother really liked it when we visited. :smile:

The campus looks like a UFO surrounded by a few tiny blocks of flats, and it's about 45 minutes' walk from the city (which, incidentally, is basically a theme park).

Reply 10

RaggedProse

5

Interesting; out of 6 applications, Leeds and Sussex were the only two places to make an offer.
Sussex got back within two weeks of application (early November), Leeds took until around March.

Anyway, both want AAB, so I made my decision to put Leeds as my firm based on;

•

The fact that Leeds is higher in both English subject and overall league tables.

•

The opinions of everyone i've spoken to, Leeds seems to be more respected than Sussex.

•

Open days; first of all I preferred the flexibility and the overall look of the course at Leeds. Not to say the course at Sussex wasn't good, but I preferred Leeds's.

•

Also, the open day at Leeds was much better organised and gave me a better impression of the course and the feel of the place.

•

The general area and accomodation. Sussex is in a great area but I came to the conclusion that I'm not exactly gonna be swanning off to the beach every day. The university accommodation is also very expensive compared to Leeds and looked a bit much like a holiday home! I preferred the city of Leeds and the arrangement of the accomodation.

Anyway, to answer your question (I have waffled somewhat), I don't think the difference is huge but Leeds is marginally more respected and IMHO the course is better.

Good luck.

Reply 11

Lidka

LGoddard

I felt the same about York, though my mother really liked it when we visited. :smile:

The campus looks like a UFO surrounded by a few tiny blocks of flats, and it's about 45 minutes' walk from the city (which, incidentally, is basically a theme park).

I applied to York and liked the city, but I agree the campus is horrible. When I went it was raining, so everything was grey and wet - I think only the ducks were happy! Their course seemed good, but the university has no Classics dept. which put me off a bit as that's something I want to get my teeth into at university (though they do have classical modules in the English course). Neither did their language centre offer Polish. Then they went and gave me an AAA offer which I couldn't accept anyway, so my choice was made for me. :frown:

Ah well, in another life, maybe, or next year's application cycle if the 16th is a disaster. :p:

Reply 12

notsoperfect

1

i got offers from sussex and leeds two years running with very similar GCSEs to yours, and AAA at AS and at A-level.

i chose leeds as my firm because i really like the city and the proximity of the campus to the city centre. it is definitely a "campus" university, but it's got a really central city location, and as i come from london i really couldn't see myself being out of the way like sussex is. i know that with sussex you'll probably end up living in brighton in year two, but i didn't want to have to live on a really out of the way campus for my first year... the sussex campus is a bit weird in my opinion.

in terms of reputation, i think they are pretty similar, though i think leeds may have the edge. and with offers, i reckon they are similar - i got offers of AAB from both.

Reply 13

There is a similar campus problem with Warwick. It's a very good department, but even though the campus is spacious and has good facilities, it resembles a business park in the middle of nowhere. And if I ended up living off campus after the first year, there are Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington to endure! :p:

Reply 14

OP

To dredge this thread up again: I've also been looking at Manchester. Any opinions in comparison to Leeds ('difficulty', reputation, &c.)?

Reply 15

Hashshashin

LGoddard

To dredge this thread up again: I've also been looking at Manchester. Any opinions in comparison to Leeds ('difficulty', reputation, &c.)?

Leeds is a campus uni, Manchester isn't.

The impression I got at the Leeds open day is that the department isn't particularly influenced by GCSE grades - they didn't mind my B in GCSE English Literature (*sob*) at all.

Reply 16

Neutral_Tones

Manchester - very good reputation from what I can gather! I have two friends (sciency though *hisses*) who would probably reject Oxbridge (if they got in) to go there. Not sure I'd go that far, but still, it's got a pretty damn good reputation!

Yeah I've heard that about Leeds as well. To the original q: I'd go for Leeds, but I admit I don't really know much about Sussex!

Nottingham does have a nice campus and a very good reputation for English. The city however *looks furtively around* AAAAH DON'T DO IT!! Well actually it's not that bad, the shopping's pretty good but there isn't much else to do here. Anyway the campus is a little far away from the centre! *Is dragged away by the marketing team from Nottingham uni.* :rolleyes:

I haven't had chance to visit York yet: what's it like? Well... aside from the UFOs :p:

As a matter of interest - which universities do people at your school seem to be applying to en masse?

Reply 17

York is the other way around. Nottingham's campus is far nicer than the city (the university is surrounded by trees and open space), whereas York's campus is - a bit of a dump, essentially. However, I think York is a very attractive place. I've never been shopping in Nottingham ( :p:

) but I did sense an impracticality with their campus - there didn't seem to be any proper shops on it or outside of it!

Click
That's what York looks like - entirely sixties' disasters in evidence, but then you have a very good reputation and a nice bit of scenery all around it. Oh, and plenty of ducks as well. Not that anyone would still like ducks after spending three years in York.

Reply 18

hobnob

14

Wildebeest

Click
That's what York looks like - entirely sixties' disasters in evidence, but then you have a very good reputation and a nice bit of scenery all around it. Oh, and plenty of ducks as well. Not that anyone would still like ducks after spending three years in York.

That's beside the point, though, isn't it? Clearly the ducks' main function is to attract applicants, not to amuse students who should be in their rooms, writing essays, instead of loitering about outside. :p:

Reply 19