University of Exeter

Exeter

York or Exeter ?

Hi,

Which one has a better reputation overall (History and Politics) ? Apparently it is York, but would choosing Exeter "damage" my employment prospects ?

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Reply 1

leona

I had the same decision to make as you, well almost, it was for politics.
I chose Exeter, purely based on personal preference, and that I didnt think I'd get the grades for York (I did in the end), but to be honest I now sometimes wish I'd chosen York. It really helps if, when studying, you feel like you're doing it for a worthwhile reason. York is quite a bit higher/more respected/better/however you want to phrase it, for those subjects, so I think that should be an important consideration.

I'm not entirely certain on what the employment prospects are like here, they are fairly decent, and coming here wouldnt 'damage' them as such. Plus, its as much about what you do with yourself while you're here as it is about the degree itself, so in that sense, it doesnt matter so much where you go.

University of Exeter

Exeter

Reply 2

A Stranger in Moscow

York is probably better, yeah, but...Exeter is near the sea :smile:

I like Exeter more...
York has loads of ducks everywhere it gets to be quite annoying.
Anyway, choose the one whose course you like better, or you'll end up regretting it. You probably want one with more choice or something?

Reply 3

Tomber

I wouldn't know for politics, but for History both departments are excellent. You can get as good a degree from either.

Reply 4

greyspring

Thank you for replying. I am really having a tough time choosing because I like both! But hypothetically speaking, do you think I would have a better chance of getting a competitive job with a degree from York than one from Exeter (assuming I get a 1st/2.1) ? Sorry for all the stupid questions but I can´t decide!

Reply 5

Tomber

greyspring

No, with universities of that calibre neither will give a significant advantage over the other. People put too much importance the university's name, what matters is that you distinguish yourself whilst you're there.

If I were you make your decision based on whether you'd rather be based in the North or the South, they are an awful long way from each other.

Reply 6

Vampyrcorn

Why didn't you start an identical thread in the York forum? That way you would get opinions from students at both universities.

I'm at York studying PPE, though I did look around Exeter and liked it a lot so it was my insurance choice on UCAS.

I am happy to be at York. :smile:

I very much like the politics department too, I think the lecturers and tutors are brilliant.

Which university do you prefer?

If this helps, this is a list of graduate destinations for History and Politics students.

Reply 7

supercat

I had to choose between York and Exeter for English, and York probably has a better reputation, but I couldn't see myself there. Exeter felt right for me, and since I've been here I haven't regretted it once.

Have you visited both unis? That might help you make a decision.

Reply 8

Angelil

Plus, as has been correctly pointed out, by the time you get to the top 20/top 30 (where York and Exeter both are) there's really VERY little difference in the reputation of, say, no. 10 and no. 25.

I liken it to when my sister was trying to choose her accommodation for Cardiff University. They have loooooooads of different accommodation blocks and instead of being simple and asking her to simply write down the names of (say) her first three choices, they gave her a list of all 25-30 accommodation blocks and asked her to rank them in order of preference. Ranking her first choice to about her tenth choice seemed to go OK but then it just got silly and frustrating. As she put it, "what difference does it make if x is my 17th preference or my 23rd?!"

It's much the same with universities of similar calibre. The difference in reputation is not big enough to be worried about, and you should just choose wherever you'd be happiest to spend 3 years.

Reply 9

The Boosh

to be fair, york and exeter are very similar as angelil has said. exeter is 17th, york is about 10th. both are in historic cities, both are older universities, both have a similar sized student population, similar research income, similar high rankings in traditional departments, and both ask for high grades at a-level. york has more value on tsr because people on tsr read more into the league tables than they should, but in all seriousness, unless you are applying to amazingly competitive city jobs, the brand name doesn't make a great difference. when i was applying to universities i could get into york with ccd at a-level, so the current trend towards york really is a phase rather than some ultimate general truth about superior quality. now, if you where interested in something like neuroscience, and you asked about the difference between ucl and exeter, then a huuuuuuuuuge difference exists, but you are not asking for somethign so specialist.

Reply 10

Neutral_Tones

Overall, there's not that much difference between them: http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php

If you're thinking of getting a job in the South-West, (funnily enough!) Exeter is very highly regarded here.

So no, neither will 'damage' your employment prospects - choose the one that feels right for you. Good luck! :smile:

Reply 11

Pikey

I had to choose between the two for single History and i've decided to put Exeter on my application.

Like most have said, both are highly ranked so I tried to not let the league tables influence my decision. Exeter's campus is gorgeous and right in the city (which is also nice). York on the other hand, is a bit out of the way, and the campus is apparently rather ugly. Being in the city, in a nice location, near the coast - it was a no brainer for me.

Reply 12

ladytoxic

Did anyone visit BOTH universities??

If you did, which one did you like and why? And what didn't you like about the other one?

Reply 13

Angelil

I haven't *visited* York, but it was effectively my insurance for postgrad and I have to admit there were 2 things that put me off as opposed to Exeter. The first thing is that apparently while the city of York is beautiful, the campus is a concrete jungle (unlike Exeter). The second thing is that the campus is really quite far from the city centre (20 mins minimum as I understood it), whereas in Exeter you're talking half that.

Reply 14

supercat

I visited both when I was choosing, and literally fell in love with Exeter's campus, whereas I just couldn't see myself at York. York's not the prettiest of campuses, and as Angelil said it's quite far out of town. In fact it takes about 20 minutes on the bus (I wouldn't like to be held to bus timetables!), whereas you can walk to Exeter city centre in about 10 from the campus.

I think when it came down to it it was a personal "Exeter is the place for me" thing that isn't very easy to explain. I would recommend visiting both places if you're in this situation, and just see where you feel most comfortable. Being happy with where you are for 3 years is so important.

Reply 15

The Boosh

i've been to both and as others have said, the exeter campus is a lot prettier - hence why it is often named as one of the most attractive campuses (taken from the website: ""Exeter is very easy to fall in love with. It has one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, in one of the most beautiful counties in Britain." - Virgin Alternative Guide to British Universities, 2005.

york has an attractive city centre too, but unfortunately the university buildings are typical of the age that it was built - plate glass 1960s. exeter was built after the victorian "redbrick" phase of university development (c.1880-1910) and prior to the 1960's "plateglass" movement, so it's a lot more attractive than most of the UK's newer universities and gives the impression of being much older and more traditional than it actually is.

still, how attractive you find the campus doesn't translate into the quality of your education and i chose exeter over other universities because of the department and academics not the looks of the campus.

Reply 16

Tomber

Exeter is certainly much prettier, unless you're doing archaeology. King's Manor in York is really stunning

Reply 17

Clucky123

I can't believe how similar your reaction to picking a uni is to mine!! :biggrin:

I did the EXACT same thing...keep asking which university was better than others...and it was between York and Exeter in the end for me too!! My teachers and friends at Uni all told me the same thing...just pick the one that you can imagine yourself living at!! Because that is exactly what you will be doing for 3 years! Courses are usually very similar, and....as was said before...theres not much....if ANY difference between York and Exeter in "league tables"! My head said York...because of all the blah "it's higher in the tables"..."History is good there" etc, but I knew from visiting Exeter that I could imagine myself living here...and so here I am!!! PLEASE PLEASE TRUST ME....in hindsight I have no idea why I tried to choose a uni over its 'ratings'....it should be about where your heart says you should be! *Cliched or WHAT!??* but its so true!! Visit them both and decide...When you get there...you will honestly wonder why you were worried on job prospects...there are so many other things that contribute towards job prospects...ie...clubs, societys you join, work experience, charity work, module choices...it's not ALL about the uni! :biggrin:

Pick where feels right...and be honest to yourself! I'm glad I picked Exeter...P.S...It's great down here! :biggrin:

Reply 18

olivia_archaeology

Tomber

Exeter is certainly much prettier, unless you're doing archaeology. King's Manor in York is really stunning

Hi, im applying for archaeology at both York and Exeter... are you saying the campus isn't nice in Exeter for Archaeology?! I can't decide where to go... its between Exeter, York, Durham or Bristol ! :s-smilie:

Reply 19

The Boosh

^^^ bristol strikes me as the odd one out city wise since it's a lot larger and busier than the others, with durham as the sleepiest/smallest and exeter/york in between. i think tomber was implying that exeter is pretty, but york has a nicer building for archaeology. generally, york is concrete, steel and glass.