Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Can't help but wish I was going to London for Uni.

Even though I'm going to a great city like Manchester, I can't help but wish I was going to London - due to the opportunities and lifestyle it seems to offer.

Is London the be and end all?

Reply 1

_amanda

Original post by J-SP

Definitely not. I love London but Manchester is amazing and has pretty much everything London has to offer, just in a smaller numbers and in a smaller area.

What do you think you will miss out on?

Posted from TSR Mobile

The lifestyle I suppose. Everything seems to happen in London and it just seems to be an exciting place to be!

I suppose I fear I'm missing my only opportunity of being able to afford to live there.

Reply 2

Robertus

London is great, but no - it's far from being the "be all end all" of university locations.

To put things in perspective, I've lived in South London for all 18 years of my life, and despite how much I love the Central London I want nothing more than to get far away from this place when I go to uni.

Reply 3

RhymeAsylumForever

Original post by _amanda

Even though I'm going to a great city like Manchester, I can't help but wish I was going to London - due to the opportunities and lifestyle it seems to offer.

Is London the be and end all?

London is amazing but it is VERY expensive. Manchester is a good place and is similar to London

Reply 4

moonriver96

i wanted to go down to london too but none of the unis there did the exact type of course i wanted, so i ended up at nottingham but hey ho, you can't always get what you want in life :frown:

Reply 5

biffa

My whole academic life I wanted to go to uni in London and now that I'm going to this year the appeal has mostly worn off. London isn't all its cracked up to be, its so expensive and overrated for what it is. Sure there are a few nice places but theres lots of unsightly things too. Manchester will be a whole new experience and so much cheaper! Its got a great history with nightlife and lots of things to see. I bet once you've got there, made friends and settled in you will come to love it and you may have experiences that everyone that went to London perhaps didn't.

Reply 6

tillytots

I made the London vs Manchester decision and chose the latter.

It's the same big city vibe but SO much cheaper. There's so much more to do as a student and the community is brilliant. You couldn't get a better place for student lifestyle.

Reply 7

Copperknickers

I think the student lifestyle is pretty much the same everywhere. At the end of the day London is ridiculously expensive, even if it is better than Manchester in some ways, and tbh as a student you don't tend to do any of the exciting things in London when you live here.

Reply 8

_amanda

Original post by Robertus

To put things in perspective, I've lived in South London for all 18 years of my life, and despite how much I love the Central London I want nothing more than to get far away from this place when I go to uni.

How come?

Original post by J-SP

What do you mean by lifestyle? You have probably 95% of the things in Manchester that you would have in London, but probably 75% cheaper!
Posted from TSR Mobile

I'm not sure, I suppose how it is portrayed often in movies - which is stupid I know.

Reply 9

Crumpet1

Original post by _amanda

How come?

I'm not sure, I suppose how it is portrayed often in movies - which is stupid I know.

Have you noticed that when it's portrayed in the movies the people involved invariably have jobs - they aren't students trying to enjoy 'all that London has to offer' on the small amount that a student has left over per week?

Reply 10

Origami Bullets

I actively wouldn't have wanted to go to London for uni - it's too expensive on a tiny student budget (the extra student loan you get doesn't make up for the difference in the cost of living at all). As a result, no one can afford to live in central London, so everyone moves out to the outer suburbs, and you end up scattered across the city, with a long commute, miles away from many of your other friends, and too poor to take up many of the opportunities that London has to offer.

In any case, there's plenty of time to live in London after you've graduated and have a job - this is only three years of your life.

Reply 11

sp-ike96x

I applied to a London uni (Kings) and got accepted and also applied to Manchester which is my home city. I was close to accepting Kings but went with Manchester because it was cheaper and tbh Manchester is literally a scaled-down version of London. If you're looking for the cosmopolitan feel of London you'd find it in Manchester, the difference is instead of having t take the tube to different regions in central London, you would instead just take the bus due to the difference in size.

I sometimes wish I was moving to London too but then I know I'm not trading in London for something completely different like a country-side based campus uni. Don't worry, Manchester's great!

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 12

shakool2kool

Original post by Robertus

I'm also from south london and I agree with this. BUT my friends who came to london for uni from other areas loved it, me on the other hand would have actually preferred to have gone to a city like Manchester, but that's just because I've lived in central london all my life so I don't find it at all exciting any more.