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Which should I choose as my insurance choice? (Physics)

Hi,

I am going to accept Imperial as my firm with an offer of A*A*A and I need help deciding which to have down as my insurance choice. I have offers from UCL, Warwick and Bath (AAB, A*AA and A*AA respectively). Initially I thought I'd made up my mind on UCL because it's such a relatively low offer and gives me a lot of room if I have a bad exam or two. I'm reasonably confident I'll make the A*A*A offer, but obviously I can't be certain. I've visited them all and preferred UCL the least, with Warwick and Bath on a par.

Which would you put as your insurance?
UCL. You don't want to go through Clearing and end up in none of those top universities.

Also if you choose both choices as London unis u can make plans in advance for moving to London (if you have to)

Also I know UCL campus can be quite dull but its reputation will give u an extra mile. Warwick is okay but don't go to Bath if you don't have to - personally I study at Bath and would have preferred Warwick / UCL - employers love those two more as they have more reputation, i.e. more company presentations and networking opportunites, i.e. better jobs!
(edited 9 years ago)
I agree with everything you've said, that's pretty much what I've been thinking all along. The only small thing that plays on my mind is that if I choose UCL as my insurance and ended up with A*AA. I wouldn't want to then always be thinking about how my grades could have had at Warwick (or Bath), and that I could have been happier there. I have offers for 4 year masters with all of them, but Warwick offer a Physics with Business course that replaces the 3rd year with business modules, and that sounds quite interesting. (They also said it wouldn't be difficult to switch whilst you're there).

To summarise:

UCL - Lowest offer, almost guaranteed to get in (I got full UMS in my physics exams last year for instance, so to get an A overall I need a C this year), in London, has good rep. Seemed a bit boring when I was there.

Warwick - Good course, seemed very organised and well run. Nice staff there, just generally well run. Offers 'with business' course. Good rep. Could get a bit locked in, Coventry doesn't seem so nice and doesn't have London prestige.

Bath - Good feelings from the place whilst I was there, and Bath itself is very nice. Staff seemed enthusiastic but not as well clued up as Warwick. Might be high in league tables, but doesn't have the long lasting rep that the other two have (you'd have to tell people it's good uni possibly), also not in London.
If you truly like being in London then you should be. You can sacrifice London for a good uni but UCL is very respected, and I can't stress this enough - a lot more than Bath. And if you are career-oriented (I got that impression from you choosing an option in Business), then UCL or Warwick since their students societies benefits you more for your career prospects than Bath.

After all the grades doesn't matter, if you got good grade then it will look good on your CV but it certainly doesn't tell the whole story about what uni you go to. Also league tables don't mean everything, it is the overall reputation of the university that what's matter, i.e. what normal people think it's best.

UCL can be boring - yes, but you will be in London, the life there will be truly exciting, and again if you are career-oriented then there will be more chances there for you to visit companies and their networking events rather than have to travel all the way from Warwick or Bath (as I am at the moment :P)
(edited 9 years ago)
Okay so basically you suggest ruling out Bath, and suggest UCL but if I really like Warwick consider that too.

Can I ask what you study?
Maths and Computing :biggrin:

If you need a concrete answer, I would say UCL. It fits well with your situation and with the perks that I have been saying. But on the bright side, if you can go to Imperial it would be truly brilliant. (I was an Imperial reject, their offer were ridiculous - A*A*AA)
(edited 9 years ago)
Okay so one vote for UCL, any other opinions?
I'm feeling sorta impatient at the moment and I'd rather not make my mind up based on one person's opinion, please could someone else chime in?
Friends, family, teachers? Their opinions are equally good as well.
One advantage of UCL is that in the fourth year you can choose a mixture of courses from UCL, Kings, Queen Mary and Royal Holloway, which gives you a huge range of options. The main disadvantage (I think) is that it's harder to get the full uni-experience in a central London college. A lot of students end up having to move out to the suburbs after the first year, as central London accommodation is expensive and hard-to-find.

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