University of Manchester

Manchester

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Need help convincing my parents to allow me to put Mancs as firm

I need reasons to put Manchester as my firm choice. My parents are convinced that Cardiff is around the same as Manchester in terms of reputation, but I KNOW that Manchester is better. I'd also like hard facts/statistics if possible. They want me to choose Cardiff just because it's 9600 pounds per year for tuition, whereas Manchester is 10800 per year (plus the extra accomodation costs). But i'm certain that Manchester is better for employment prospects.

This is for L100 BAEcon Economics. My dad's argument against me is "Manchester is ranked 30 something in the economics rankings, whilst Cardiff is higher"... mine is that Manchester's overall ranking is 29th in the world, Cardiff 130th or so.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

President Rasputin

I am from Manchester and also about to study at Cardiff having lived here for 7 years.

If the academic argument doesn't work then say that Manchester is a better student community. There are 39,165 students at Manchester University alone excluding Manchester Metropolitan University, 33,490, Salford University 19,890 and UMIST.

Cardiff has 30,930 students.

Also there is bigger arts community, theatres, shops, facilities etc.

I like Cardiff and itas uiversity.

How do you 'KNOW' that it is better at Manchester?

University of Manchester

Manchester

Reply 2

Guitar_Mad

Why don't you just tell them you WANT to go to Manchester. That is where you would be HAPPY studying - they are the best reasons of them all.

Reply 3

Kyle Brown

'I want to go to Manchester' should more than suffice as a reason.

Reply 4

Talk Tok

Guitar_Mad

Why don't you just tell them you WANT to go to Manchester. That is where you would be HAPPY studying - they are the best reasons of them all.

Because I am from Hong Kong and parents here are totally different to parents in the UK. Academia, academia, academia. It isn't as simple as "i'd be happier at Manchester", considering it's 1200 pounds extra per year. I need good academic reasons, please.

Reply 5

fat_hampster

Why don't you go onto UCAS and firm Manchester, you can discuss it with your parents later. This is your decision, and you will be the one who the choice will affect, don't let your parents make it for you.

Thats not to say your parents input can't be helpful, but if you are sure that you want to go to manchester, then that should be the only factor to consider.

Reply 6

President Rasputin

Yes - tell them you will be unhappy at Cardiff and therefore will perform badly whereas at Manchester ...

Reply 7

President Rasputin

Would your parents cut you off if you chose Manchester?

Reply 8

Talk Tok

President Rasputin

Yes - tell them you will be unhappy at Cardiff and therefore will perform badly whereas at Manchester ...

That's a blatant lie, I have moral principles..

Please, constructive academic reasons? I'd like to reitorate - saying that i'd be happier at Manchester is not a good enough reason .. i'd enjoy life at either school, it's just the reputation of Manchester exceeds that of Cardiff but that is merely what i've been 'told'.. I need proof of that.

Reply 9

President Rasputin

I know this also- say that Manchester Univbersity has closer links with industry as they are on the doorstep - this point is true whereas Cardiff doesn't have the scope of industry. A lot of it has been closed down. Manchester is burgeoning with new enterprise and more opportunity - i.e. jobs, money ....

Reply 10

ArtGoblin

Cardiff does look better from the statistics.

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Economics&x=26&y=9&sub=22

Sorry.

Reply 11

Talk Tok

President Rasputin

Would your parents cut you off if you chose Manchester?

No they wouldn't but they'd be VERY angry.. I love them, wouldn't want to hurt them.

Reply 12

Arsenalforev

Cardiff and Manchester both good universities , instead tell them to not analyse the rankings but take a look at course content and whats being taught and stuff. Also talk to them about large student community and so on .

Reply 13

fat_hampster

Talk Tok

Does this mean that you're parents are paying? If that is the case, then I can see that you would need to pursuade them that manchester is the better choice.

I believe manchester does have a better reputation than cardiff in general, but I can't give you any evidence that would help you. You can also tell them that you would be happier at manchester, which would lead to you working better, which is important to doing well, or something like that.

Reply 14

TheMeister

ArtGoblin

Cardiff does look better from the statistics.

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Economics&x=26&y=9&sub=22

Sorry.

There's lies, damn lies and then there's statistics.

Reply 15

President Rasputin

I've looked it up for you - follow this link

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Economics-

Cardiff is at no. 25 and Manchester at 39 in the rankings so Cardiff IS the better university - case closed.

Reply 16

PoliceStory

Cardiff has a class twee music scene.

Reply 17

jabed786

http://www.unistats.com/ check this website out for some stats. Tell them the course is more suitable to your interests. BA Econ allows you to explore areas which perhaps Cardiff doesnt allow you to. Tell your parents about the larget amount of investment in research Manchester is doing etc.

oh and there are loads of international students so you would feel comfortable and be able to mingle with people from similar background.

edit: Im not sure but I think Manchester is ranked higher in global rankings. So maybe that can help you put up a good argument.

Reply 18

River85

Talk Tok

This is for L100 BAEcon Economics. My dad's argument against me is "Manchester is ranked 30 something in the economics rankings, whilst Cardiff is higher"... mine is that Manchester's overall ranking is 29th in the world, Cardiff 130th or so.

With respect, what makes you so certain that Manchester is better for graduate prospects? I'm guessing you have no experience of graduate employment. Employers employ you and not your university. There are far more important things than university name.

If you're using rankings then please don't (this goes for you and your father). They are no sign of employment prospects or even a sign of now good universities are and which are better. Also, Manchester are only top 30 in the world in one ranking. Take another ranking which uses the same factors but applies a different weighting, or even uses completely different factors, and you can get drastically different results.

Durham's not in the top 100 any more, do you think Manchester offers better employment prospects than Durham does? The number of international staff, students, research quantity etc. all the things that the THES world rankings take into account have nothing to do with employment prospects (or undergraduate quality imo). There is an employer review, where you have universeities outside the top 100 overall still placed in the top 20 in the world by employer review. But even this is open to question.

Cardiff was 99th last year but dropped 40(ish) places. It can really rise 40 places again next year, same with Manchester. It can fall significantly. They (the tables) are far too flawed and incosistant.

Manchester are let down in the domestic rankings for difference reasons. They use completely different measurements and two things that let Manchester down are the outdated RAE and, last time I looked, silly crap like student satisfaction.

I'm not saying Manchester isn't a popular uni brand that's growing. I'm certainly not saying it isn't well targeted. But you need to rely on more than league table positions.

Why not explain why you prefer Manchester as a city? Is there anything you prefer about the course? Try and tell your parents this. Hopefully this will work more than just relying on league tables (sets of statistics given arbitary ratings).

President Rasputin

Manchester has a far larger population though. In terms of student per head of the city population Cardiff has more than an edge. It's also a lot more compact whereas Manchester is larger and more spread out.

How "good" a student community is doesn't really come down to statistics alone. Certainly not how many students there are. It's very subjective and, if the OP thinks Manchester offers the better environment, then he needs to tell his parents this and express himself articulately.

I'm sure they just want what's best and only want him to be happy, so just explain things to them. Tell them why you think Manchester provides the environment you think you'll be happier at.