Which Unis to pick for Economics? (Bath, Exeter, Loughborough)

I am looking to apply mostly for economics with predicted grades A*A*A, and I have narrowed down my choice to 6 unis:
- Warwick (A*AA) (Econ + GSD)
- Durham (A*AA)
- Bath (AAA)
- Exeter (AAA/AAB)
- Loughborough (AAA)
- Southampton (ABB)
(Some are reduced grades due to EPQ)

I am pretty certain that I want Durham and Warwick on my application as my top unis, and Southampton as my insurance choice. However, I am struggling to narrow down 2 out of Bath, Exeter and Loughborough.
Has anyone got any advice/tips on these 3 which could make my decision any easier? It doesn't matter if it is course specific or just generally about the uni life, as either will help massively.

Thanks!

Bath - top Uni, beautiful city, lots to do.
Exeter - far end of the universe (or it feees like that), small town/seaside.
Loughborough - big on student sport (irritating if you are not into that), small town.

i'd have an AAB back-up tbh. Bath will be very competitive but if you like risk, then keep that. Exeter and Lboro are very, very similar. Lboro being more sporty and Exeter being more preppy, but they're still remarkably similar unis socially and academically

Thanks for the reply.
Is having Southampton as a back up not enough? I would be pretty sure of getting in, and I am happy to have it as my insurance choice and then narrow down from the other 4 when deciding my 2.
From yours and the other response it sounds like Bath should be my top choice of the 3, but then it might be quite a tough decision between Loughborough and Exeter. I'm not massively into the sports at Lboro (though they are good to have), but I'm not sure about the preppy attitude at Exeter either. Considering they are so similar otherwise, it might come down to some pretty minor stuff to decide, as I am really not sure. Anything else you can come up with to help?

Thanks for the reply, it seems like Bath is probably the top choice from the 3. Are there any more differentiating factors between Exeter/Loughborough that could help me decide? They are both about the same distance from where I live. I am not particularly bothered about being on the seaside in Exeter or having lots of sport at Loughborough (I guess they are nice-to-haves, but not something I am especially looking for).

Bath - top Uni, beautiful city, lots to do.
Exeter - far end of the universe (or it feees like that), small town/seaside.
Loughborough - big on student sport (irritating if you are not into that), small town.

Exeter is the best of those three - it's not the'end of the world' - it's not that much further than Bath and is just as beautiful. Exeter has the best campus and choice of accommodation of all those you list.

Exeter is a far bigger city tha Loughborough. I cannot comment on Loughborough other than its sporting reputation but Exeter has a beautiful campus and is a really nice smallish city. The campus has a theatre as well as good sporting facilities but it will boil down to your likes and dislikes

I would agree with you there - I went to Exeter recently and it has one of the best campuses I've been to. My issue with it is probably the kind of people that go there - it seems to have quite a reputation for typical 'rugby lads' and from what I saw there was quite a few of them - what's your view on this?

Yes one of the issues I have with Loughborough is the city, it seemed quite dull when I was there. I didn't get to see Exeter as a city too much but it seems pretty good from what I hear. One thing I got from Loughborough was that there was a quite strong community atmosphere on campus, whereas with Exeter I see a bit of a reputation of poshness etc, and the typical 'rugby lads' - what do you think about that kind of thing?

Warwick is in the middle of nowhere ... with few local facilities - people tend to live in Leamington Spa.

Bath and Loughborough have more!

Loughborough is known for its sports facilities - some top professionals have gone there. Bath has places for sports too and is a big rugby city.

I am looking to apply mostly for economics with predicted grades A*A*A, and I have narrowed down my choice to 6 unis:
- Warwick (A*AA) (Econ + GSD)
- Durham (A*AA)
- Bath (AAA)
- Exeter (AAA/AAB)
- Loughborough (AAA)
- Southampton (ABB)
(Some are reduced grades due to EPQ)

I am pretty certain that I want Durham and Warwick on my application as my top unis, and Southampton as my insurance choice. However, I am struggling to narrow down 2 out of Bath, Exeter and Loughborough.
Has anyone got any advice/tips on these 3 which could make my decision any easier? It doesn't matter if it is course specific or just generally about the uni life, as either will help massively.

Thanks!

I am looking to apply mostly for economics with predicted grades A*A*A, and I have narrowed down my choice to 6 unis:
- Warwick (A*AA) (Econ + GSD)
- Durham (A*AA)
- Bath (AAA)
- Exeter (AAA/AAB)
- Loughborough (AAA)
- Southampton (ABB)
(Some are reduced grades due to EPQ)

I am pretty certain that I want Durham and Warwick on my application as my top unis, and Southampton as my insurance choice. However, I am struggling to narrow down 2 out of Bath, Exeter and Loughborough.
Has anyone got any advice/tips on these 3 which could make my decision any easier? It doesn't matter if it is course specific or just generally about the uni life, as either will help massively.

Thanks!

In terms of courses, Bath > Exeter > Loughborough. When you dig into the actual modules you'll be studying, Bath is far more rigorous than the other two and is more respected for undergrad Econ. Although you kinda see this as usually it asks for higher grades than the other two.

In terms of career, again I'd give the edge to Bath just because their industrial placement scheme is probably the best in the country which can give you a good leg up. The other two also offer them tho, just Bath seem to get more students into better places, presumably because they've been doing placements for decades whereas most unis have only started in the last decade. It's worth noting tho that the difference in career prospects isn't very big and would depend on the individual in question a lot more than the difference in value add to career prospects between these unis.

For location I'd go with Exeter > Bath > Loughborough. Exeter is a nice city, not too big that you'll be overwhelmed but not too small that it's boring. Being by the sea is pretty good too as others have mentioned. Bath is a pretty nice city too tho, although it's a little on the expensive side. Loughborough is in the Midlands, nuff said really 😅.

I do agree that Exeter will likely be just a touch preppier than Bath and Loughborough but I don't think you'll run into a tonne more private school snobs than you would at places like Bath. There will be quite a lot at Durham as I'm sure you already know.

Hi there,

I went to Loughborough so hopefully can help with that. In terms of student life, although the town is small, there is loads to do. The campus is huge and has everything you need from the club on campus to grocery stores and restaurants. I personally found it really easy to make friends in Loughborough as during freshers week they organise loads of activites for you to go out and make friends. There's also a lot to do if you're not into drinking with there being different societies. If you want more of a city experience, you can go into Nottingham or Leicester which are both around a 20 min train away and always great for nights out. The Loughborough town also has everything you need, with 3 different student clubs, a variety of pubs, restaurants and shops.

I hope this helped!

Exeter is not 'the end of the universe' - it's less than an hour from Bath!! It's not a small town - its a CITY!

Less than an hour!!! its over two hours by car and well over an hour by train..perhaps best not to give out false info ..

Really? Your car must be very slow

On Google maps it says it takes 2hrs 18mins to drive. Maybe you drive too quickly haha. I think it's fine to say that Exeter isn't very close to much else, to me that's a perk, especially if you're by the sea, means it's not too busy