Manchester vs Sheffield uni?

Hey!

I'm doing Biology at Sheffield and it is a highly regard university especially for Biological Sciences (probably more then Manchester (This may be biased)). Sheffield is a really nice city and it has lots of Parks and green spaces to sit in during summer to do revision. The main accomodation at Sheffield is feels slightly out the way but it dosn't take long to walk into city or to university and if you need to get taxis they aren't that expensive, also the accomadation is close to a few small shops. The uni itself is just on the outskirts of the city and only takes 5-10mins to get to the city centre. There are loads of things to do in Sheffield and the union is really good. In terms of companies Sheffield is well regared.

This may seem biased but just thought I would put the case forward for Sheffield

Thank you very much, this was really helpful. I rang Manchester today and they said that if I were to drop a grade (i.e. get AAB) it's very unlikely that they wouldn't let me in, so now I'm again very torn between the two.

Idk, something that appeals to me about Manchester is it its indie scene for music, art and fashion. I'm also really into theatre and art galleries and all that jazz. I'm also not sure how Sheffields lgbt scene and support compares to Manchesters (bisexual). The greenery and student area of Sheffield was lovely though. Do you live in student housing?

In terms of the music scene there are always live acts on at placce like the O2 acadamy, DQ, Corp, Plug, the Leadmill, the motorpoint arena and some of the smaller bars like the Harley and Green Room. There is also a lot of club nights and you are likely to find something to suit your tastes in music. The union also has an alternative music society called small ideas, who also put on a music night on the 1st thursday of every month at the West End.

For Theatres there are two in Sheffield; the Lyceum and the Crucible. Also the Drama society put productions on once a term. There are loads of other creative type societies at the union. I'm not sure about the art and fashion scene. I've also heard something about Open mic spoken word events but I can't remeber where it was.

In terms of LGBT, I don't know much about it outside the union a part from there being at least one LGBT bar. In the union there is the LGBT committe which have there own office where people can meet up and chat, who offer support. There is also a LGBT councillor on the Union Council who is there to represent LGBT people and the union has an LGBT night once a month. The LGBT committe offers a lot of support but there is also the Student Advice centre, nightline and loads of other welfare services. I don't know how this compares to Manchester.

Hope this helps you. To find out more about the music scene it might be best to look different venues to get a feel of what they offer, the Union website for the types of societies that are on offer and if you search for the other stuff I'm sure you will find some infomation on it. I would say that Manchester is likely to have a bigger indie scene simply because its a bigger city, but I'm sure you will find something that appeals to you in Sheffield.

Hi, I've applied for biosciences and I'm really torn between Manchester and Sheffield uni as insurance choice and your help/advice is really needed as I have to make a decision in about 2 weeks or so. I'm definitely firming Oxford (A*AA) but need a good insurance/fallback as it certainly isn't unrealistic to be worried that I won't make my firm offer. Which do you think is a better uni?

Overall, I love Manchester as a city- the vibrancy and culture/arts/music and northern quart really appeal to me and it appears that amongst employers and internationally, Manchester is perhaps better regarded than Sheffield (though I may be wrong). However, Manchester is asking for AAA. They did also, at request of my interviewer send a letter saying they were impressed by me but couldn't lower my offer because they thought it was against my best interests. Do you think I stand a chance if I miss a grade?

Sheffield also seems like a lovely place and asking for AAB which is a safer insurance option, but I don't know how well respected they are nationally and internationally. Furthermore, I'm not sure how much quieter Sheffield is than Manchester as it is a smaller city, and the campus is less integrated into the city.

tldr: which do you think is a better uni and a better insurance choice for bioscience- Manchester (AAA) or Sheffield (AAB)? Your advice is desperately needed!!

Sheffield's life science department is pure prestige! I'm not a sheffield student by the way.

is it Biomedical science?

Yeah, I've heard the Crucible is supposed to be up at the top in terms of theatre Ahh, that's really helpful and the student village looks so nice and green. How long did/does it take you to get from the student village to the city center (walking) and are bikes a safe/viable form of transport around the city? sounds good. In terms of how it compares to Manchesters LGBT society, Manchester has a gayt village, so...but tbh from what I've seen lots of gay bars often look a little naff (I guess like a lot of clubs in general then ) and often attract a stereotypical crowd. Though I can't knock it until I try it!

To walk from the student village to the city centre take about 30mins but you can do it in a relatively flat walk so its not a bad walk at all (It takes about 20 to get from the student villages to the uni). Also its quite nice being that far out of the city centre as its a bit quiter and the area the area is nice. If you don't want to walk it there are loads of buses and most are only 50p single for students and when your coming back from or going on a night out getting a taxi into town isn't that expensive when the cost is shared between 4/5 people. In terms of bikes I have seen a lot around (even a unicycle) and most of the roads are safe although at some of the rounderbouts it would be strongly adviced to get off you bike and go on the pavement using the crossings as they are very busy. The are lots of hills (very very steep ones) in Sheffield which make cycling that extra bit of a challenge but I seen people on road bikes in low gears tackle them fine.

Manchester is an amazing city and an amazing uni. Great firm or insurance choice. Much more going on than in Sheffield.

Have you visited Sheffield? And how famililiar are you with Manchester? I think I'm swaying towards Manchester at the moment but I'm still really torn as Sheffield is according to league tables about 5-6 places better for biosciences than Manchester and a really high proportion of the bioscience students get firsts.

Yes I've visited Sheffield, it's quite nice and a wonderful university. But honestly employers won't look at your cv and rip it up as it's apparently 5/6 places up or down on whoevers list.

Manchester had an amazing vibe to it. As I was walking around the city I just felt like this city was on the pulse. It had an excitement and a certain coolness to it that I didn't feel elsewhere.

I guess it's what people must feel like when visiting London for the first time (I'm from London so I don't notice it anymore).

Add to that the university is domestically and internationally recognised (Manchester doesn't always do as well as it should domestically as it's such a large institution it fails on Student Satisfaction). It's standard of research is always ranked top 10 in the UK.

You'll be happy either way but I'd go for Manchester because of the buzz of the city and possibilities when living there.

Plus it doesn't matter how many people get 1st it's down to you anyway so that shouldn't really be a consideration. You're hard work will set your apart.

I am in about the same position! (excluding Oxford :P)

I got offers "bioscience" from both Manchester and Sheffield, Manchester had a higher requirement but I think I will firm Sheffield and make Manchester my insurance.

I am choosing Sheffield over Manchester for several reasons I noticed (although Manchester is a respected Uni):

- Because of their Bachelors + Masters program
- Sheffield is ranked FIRST in research assessment in the Complete University Guide for bio science
- Higher satisfaction for Sheffield
- Smaller city, I am currently living in London, not really enjoying big cities
- A few friends of mine live in Sheffield, no one complained about the university or the city

This is my personal opinion, you don't have to agree with me

Fair enough- I was offered the masters programme by Sheffield too, but seeing as I'm in no circumstance going to firm them, it doesn't make much of a difference to me I think Sheffield generally ranks better in UK league tables, and they're certainly up there for research, but Manchester blows Sheffield out of the water for international rankings both for bioscience and in general. Both of their satisfaction is very high and I'm sure I'd enjoy myself at either so I'm not factoring satisfaction ranking tooo much.

I don't know what it will be like living in such a big city though! I live pretty close to London myself (about 25 mins by train to central london), but I've heard people are a lot friendlier/welcoming in Manchester. But then all the greenery of Sheffield is pretty lovely

Guess I should just focus on getting the grades for Oxford because it feels like home to me there!

I have experience of both cities. I go to Sheffield uni, but I have many friends at Manchester uni so I have visited a lot. I know Manchester and Sheffield equally well, as I live basically in Manchester at home, but Sheffield in termt ime.

Of course it really goes on opinion. To me, Sheffield is a friendlier and more welcoming city than Manchester. I think it's a better city to study in too, for the same reasons. When I went to Manchester open day (I've never even applied there as I dislike the uni that much), I found it cold, unwelcoming and snobbish. They think they are so much better than they are, I have no idea where the hype for Manchester Uni comes from. My friends don't really seem overly impressed with it either, teaching wise.

Sheffield has been named Times Uni of the year just gone. It's a friendly, well organised uni and I think the teaching is excellent. I can't comment on the sciences if I'm honest, but the general uni is great.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you may have though!

Really? Where do you study? Nah, it's just pure biological science, I'm guessing you're doing biomed. I like how Sheffield offer extra modular courses (e.g. french, art, chinese, english etc...) as I'm very much an all rounder. but Manchester allow you to switch courses between the life sciences at the end of the first year very easily which I like the sound of as I may find myself pulled to neuriscience.

Do you know how Sheffield's regarded in general, as there's a chance I'll become dissoluisioned with lab work and maybe not want to go into research (I'm a pretty theoretical person!) and so am concerned about all round prestige of each uni in terms of finding jobs maybe related but not necessarily directly so to science.

Jheez sorry for replying late...I don't know too much about the course other than the prestige, and I know this doesn't mean anything much but Sheffield are consistently in Top 50 worldwide for Life Sciences.

They're 37th at the moment, Manchester isn't there.

They're ahead of the likes of King's, Bristol, Lund, Sydney, National University of Singapore (beast), Osaka Japan