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Warwick vs. Bristol vs. QMUL

Hi there,

I'm having such a hard time trying to decide which course to firm and insurance, was wondering if anyone had any information they'd like to share that might sway me one way or another?

The courses are:
Warwick - French with Theatre studies
Bristol - Drama and French
QMUL - Drama and French

Are league tables and uni reputation important? I feel obliged to accept warwick simply because it's ranked so highly..?
I've heard that bristol has a good reputation but it's position on the league has slipped in past years?
Can anyone compare the city life between all of them?
I know that employers love warwick and I think bristol too, but are these employers mainly looking for science and maths graduates for large firms? Because that's the feeling I've been getting when reading around and looking at statistics.

ANYONE WITH ANY EXPERIENCE AT ANY OF THESE UNIS OR WITH ANY OF THE COURSES PLEASE POST!

Thank you!

Reply 1

SuperSam_Fantastiche

Hi,

I'm third year French at QMUL, unfortunately I cant tell you much about league tables as they don't interest me but I will say, I turned down UCL for QM and haven't regretted it for a second. I can't compare city life as I've never been to Bristol or Warwick (although I have heard that Bristol is amazing, Warwick less so - it's essentially in a field)

If you've got any questions about French or QMUL in general I'm happy to answer them, I don't study drama but quite a few of my course mates do so I might be able ot advise you a bit.

Reply 2

megaduck

Warwick's great. It's not in the middle of a field. The French department has a reputation for being super-supportive. The Theatre Studies bit is probably quite theoretical compared to most places.

Reply 3

elstevens

Original post by jijamaphone

Hello! Next year I'm going to study English and Theatre at Warwick, but it was a really tough decision between them and Queen Mary's. I think if you choose either of those universities you'll have a great time. My reason for choosing Warwick was because of the Arts' Centre that offers so many plays and films to watch, and the numerous opportunities they offer to develop script writing skills from their massive creative writing department. They also have ties with Peter Brook who I love, so they sort of lured me in with that.

However, I was so drawn to Queen Mary's because of all the opportunities that would arise from being in London; the plays, the work experience etc. Also, the drama tutors were all so passionate, as were Warwick's, but it's nice to know that at both unis they love their subject. Queen Mary's will probably have more of a night life if that's what your looking for. I've spoken to a lot of people at Warwick who say that it's an untrue rumour that Warwick is dull and anti-social, and I believe them, I just think it's probably harder to get to places/clubs so that's why people think it's boring. However, from what I've heard there are good bus services anyway so it shouldn't really matter.

I think it really depends what you're looking to gain from your degree, and I really wouldn't recommend looking at league tables. I only chose Warwick because of what I think I will gain from their course, no other reason. I really just think you should go where you think you'll engage with the course more. A degree is what you make of it, and you'll meet people and make friends and probably have a good time wherever you go. If you enjoy the course, it's more likely you'll do better in it as well.

I probably haven't been very helpful. Just rambled. Since we've both applied for theatre though and I was stuck too I thought it was worth adding my two cents.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

SuperSam_Fantastiche

Original post by megaduck

Warwick's great. It's not in the middle of a field. The French department has a reputation for being super-supportive. The Theatre Studies bit is probably quite theoretical compared to most places.

Lol did it move since my French teacher was there?

Nah, I guess she was trying to say that its not really the place for people who like/want/need the convenience of the city.

Reply 5

jijamaphone

Thank you for your replies, it's nice to hear lots of different opinions, they have all been helpful in one way or another!

elstevens, What you said about the London opportunities is probably the biggest win for QMUL, when the tutor was describing the course titles and content it sounded so fun and interesting, argghhhh decisions decisions!!
And I agree about the QMUL tutors showing real enthusiasm for their subjects, they really enticed me into the course when I was at the interview.

However, this was quite the opposite at Bristol, during the Q&A session the 3 tutors answering the quesstions were quite clearly struggling to answer basic questions about the course and it's content. Also, during the worshop 2 other tutors running the activities seemed quite scatty and were really vague about things... I'm not sure if this should have an effect on my decision?

At Warwick there wasn't really much chance to see what the tutors were like - a couple of them gave a presentation and seemed very knowledgable and confident in their subject - but because the course has so many students I don't know whether the student/tutor relationship will be very strong (although I've been told quite often the teaching at warwick is amazing and very supportive)

anymore opinions/experiences please share!!

Reply 6

Pheebs1201

I had an offer from Warwick and still chose Bristol. There's really not much difference between them and I knew I'd be happier at Bristol (fingers crossed I get the grades :colondollar:

)

You should just choose where you think you'd be happiest and where would suit you best :smile:

Thanks.

bump.

However, this was quite the opposite at Bristol, during the Q&A session the 3 tutors answering the quesstions were quite clearly struggling to answer basic questions about the course and it's content. Also, during the worshop 2 other tutors running the activities seemed quite scatty and were really vague about things... I'm not sure if this should have an effect on my decision?

I graduated in a completely different subject and only applied to Warwick out of your choices, but here's my two cents worth.

I think your experience at Bristol is a very useful sign for you. I preferred Manchester and Nottingham as unis over my eventual choice York but was swayed by my open day experiences. The former were disorganised and unenthusiastic - if they were like that when trying to persuade people to pick them, what would they be like once you had enrolled? I picked York and had a fantastic experience academically. If you don't enjoy your course, you won't enjoy uni and you are much less likely to end up with a good degree which will shaft your future employment prospects.

Personally, I was not attracted to the whole Warwick campus bubble thing and wanted to live in a city. You'd have to make your own mind up on that one.

The difference between practical and theoretical approaches to drama/theatre studies also sounds like something you should think about very carefully.

Finally, although league tables are not the be all, they are an indicator of a uni's overall reputation. That matters because employers target a limited number of unis. The Association of Graduate Recruiters represent most of the larger graduate recruiters: 2/3 target 20 or less unis, 1/3 target 10 or less. Warwick is likely to be in most of their top tens. QM may not be in some top 20s. You can still get a good job from any uni.- the most important factors are what you put in: academic performance, extra curriculars, volunteering, work experience. But it makes it tougher if you are not at a target uni (but only for typical graduate training jobs).

Only you can decide what will be best for you. But hopefully this will give you some stuff to think about.

Good luck

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