The Student Room Group
Well posting this on the Manchester forum isn't exactly going to get you unbiased responses!

The answer to your question is Manchester as firm obviously. Why on earth would you want to go to Birmingham?

Just a few thoughts:-

-Manchester receives more applicants than any other uni in the UK for a reason :smile:
-It's higher up the league tables (not that they really matter, but it sure sounds good...)
-It's the Sunday Times University of the Year
-Manchester Uni gets better and better each year... There are plans to have it in the world top twenty
-It has more investment/research funding than any other British uni
-Lots of grants/awards available

-Birmingham? Seriously? It's really not that nice. Manchester on the other hand is great. More students than anywhere else in Europe, great shopping, really cheap, amazing nightlife, lots of culture, plenty of green spaces and loads of nice northern people (!) And don't forget the music scene... I can't name a single band from Birmingham; we have THE SMITHS!
Reply 2
Manchester
Reply 3
Birmingham.
Reply 4
please say why :smile: it would help me
Reply 5
Birmingham. It's a great city with a thriving culture, brilliant shops and the university's sports facilities are outstanding. In terms of league tables it is slightly behind Manchester but not by much. Both universities are highly regarded and have good reputations and it is difficult to pick between them. However the city or town of a university is also important and Birmingham with its lovely Brindleyplace and Broad Street just does it for me. That doesn't mean to say that Manchester isn't a great place either as it also has a huge range of nightlife, student facilities etc as well... just that personally I found Birmingham to be really special (and one that has regenerated itself so well in the last 20 years).

One reason why Manchester has so many applicants is that firstly Manchester is a big city with 2.5 million people in the conurbation and also there are lots of major cities nearby (Liverpool is almost next door and Leeds and Sheffield aren't far) so quite a lot of students will be drawn in from these areas.

Obviously choose which university you would feel most happy in :smile:

As has been said though, don't expect a level-headed response in a Manchester forum! I just happened to see this thread whilst browsing through the site and thought I'd give my honest opinion.
Reply 6
Manchester - much nicer city. Little to choose between them academically apart from the layout of the uni in manchester - just between the accommodation and the city is perfect.

manchester all the way

ps. I live near birmingham and despite the fact that it would make it about 30 quid cheaper to come home if i needed too you have to vconsider the stupid accent brummies have.

tar
Reply 7
ytm8
Manchester - much nicer city. Little to choose between them academically apart from the layout of the uni in manchester - just between the accommodation and the city is perfect.

manchester all the way

ps. I live near birmingham and despite the fact that it would make it about 30 quid cheaper to come home if i needed too you have to vconsider the stupid accent brummies have.

tar


Lol, I'd say the majority of 'Brummies' I know don't really have an accent, or at most a very slight one which you would barely notice. They just have the typical normal British accent that a lot of people tend to have.

Birmingham's campus is also in a very good position - quite near to scenic countryside to the southeast, near enough to the city centre to visit it daily and far away enough from it to enjoy lots of nice greenery and parks/lakes etc...
Wow. Someone actually suggested that Birmingham's a nicer city?!?!? Never heard that before!!!

I'm being serious. I've seriously never met anyone who likes Birmingham :smile:
Reply 9
maybe_baby
Wow. Someone actually suggested that Birmingham's a nicer city?!?!? Never heard that before!!!

I'm being serious. I've seriously never met anyone who likes Birmingham :smile:


Wow. Someone needs to get the real picture. Birmingham is considered to be one of Britain's top tourist destinations by the BBC.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen likened Birmingham to other European cities such as Paris and Milan.

Birmingham city centre USED TO have a reputation as being dull and dreary 20 yrs ago like Manchester used to be but the situation couldn't be further from the truth now. Anyone who has been to Birmingham for the day and said they didn't like it was probably having a bad week. Like nick I’m not against Manchester, I regard both cities in Britain’s 5 most important cities.

PS nick11988 league tables are inaccurate and are irrelevant, annalisa should see both unis for herself (if she hasn't already) and make her own decision. Both unis are considered in the UK top 20.

Lots of people still see Birmingham as unpleasant place but that couldn't be further from the truth!!!! Truly phenomenal shopping facilities, incredible nightlife, great architecture, great restaurants, fantastic arena, great parks, great scenery... I could go on.

There was an article city staying that Birmingham women are the nation's worst shopaholics - do you know why? Because Birmingham is the shopping hub of Europe now.

Annalisa, go where you want to go, go out to both cities for a day and come to your own conclusion.

Remember people on a Manchester forum see their city as the centre of the universe.
Birmingam's a rank city.

But don't go on that, what do you want to do when you graduate? Accounting? Where do the accounting firms have their offices? Do the big four all have Birmingham and/or Manchester offices? Where do their recruiters visit? Why not study on their doorsteps in London? Important questions I reckon.
robb_3
Birmingham women are the nation's worst shopaholics - do you know why? Because Birmingham is the shopping hub of Europe now.


No it says that Birmingham is suffering the worst from the social problems surrounding debt, something which is associated with increased crime, increased alcoholism, increased drug use and reduced education, all within said conurbation.

Birmingham being a 'shopping hub' is a stupid reason to go to a university. SHould we all take our degrees in the Trafford Centre or maybe Bluewater? Birmingham is a shopping hub because it's crammed with boring high street shops and the regional harvey nichs/selfridges (a lot like Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh incidentally). This is not something a student should be concerned with. We can't afford to shop at Harvey Nichs, and just because it's present in a city it doesn't mean the city is a nice place to be. Shopping is not what Birmingham should be highlighting as its main asset. After all, do those students in London buy everything from Oxford Street and Harrods?
Reply 12
not
No it says that Birmingham is suffering the worst from the social problems surrounding debt, something which is associated with increased crime, increased alcoholism, increased drug use and reduced education, all within said conurbation.

Birmingham being a 'shopping hub' is a stupid reason to go to a university. SHould we all take our degrees in the Trafford Centre or maybe Bluewater? Birmingham is a shopping hub because it's crammed with boring high street shops and the regional harvey nichs/selfridges (a lot like Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh incidentally). This is not something a student should be concerned with. We can't afford to shop at Harvey Nichs, and just because it's present in a city it doesn't mean the city is a nice place to be. Shopping is not what Birmingham should be highlighting as its main asset. After all, do those students in London buy everything from Oxford Street and Harrods?


I didn't say shopping was the only reason why people should go to a location for university :smile: As for the debt/drug use etc all large cities have this problem, particularly London as it's bigger. Having said that though I'd be extremely surprised if many students in large city universities didn't visit these shopping centres most weekends even if they can't afford mountains of stuff. My main reasons for Birmingham being an attraction for students are: good reputation and academic/teaching, beautiful campus, great architecture, less crime than Manchester, superb nightlife, easy reach of city centre attractions, outstanding sports facitilities, great location with only a short to the lovely towns of Stratford, Warwick and Leamington, good trasnport networks to other cities ... I could go on.
city wise- Manchester
clubbing/social wise - Manchester
Course wise - Manchester (your course is taught at the Manchester business school, check out the international ranking and i think accounting and finance is 5* in RAE)
Manchester is undergoing some drastic transformation and investing huge amounts in its facility. It's aiming to be in the top 25 world wide by 2015.



Overall Manchester.
Reply 14
Manchester, definitely. Obviously i'm biased, but that doesn't make me wrong.
Reply 15
I had Birmingham as my first choice, then phoned up UCAS back in July, before clearing, and changed to Manchester. Birmingham is really nice, but as it's all on campus, there's not that much to do. At Manchester, the uni is close together, but in city centre, so the whole city is owned by students! Everything is geared for students, and the nightlife is amazing! A lot of nightclubs give priority to students on weeknights!
Reply 16
1hackjack1
I had Birmingham as my first choice, then phoned up UCAS back in July, before clearing, and changed to Manchester. Birmingham is really nice, but as it's all on campus, there's not that much to do
. At Manchester, the uni is close together, but in city centre, so the whole city is owned by students! Everything is geared for students, and the nightlife is amazing! A lot of nightclubs give priority to students on weeknights!


------ UNDERSTATEMENT OF 2007 ------


"Birmingham was the first University to introduce a sporting option for all students, the first to be built on a campus model and the first to establish a medical school
The University owns land over 251 hectares – including properties in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Lake District.
It has its own railway station, art gallery, concert hall and one of the largest Students’ Unions in the UK
A founder member of Universitas 21 – a network of 18 research-intensive universities – the University is involved in research projects around the world
Birmingham is consistently in the top three in British inter-varsity sport, and in 2004, six recent graduates and one current Birmingham student competed at Athens.
96% of Birmingham students are either employed or in further study within six months of graduation
Birmingham currently has over 4,000 international students from nearly 150 different countries, making it one of the largest international student communities in the UK.
Our academic library is one of the most comprehensive in the country – and our continuous investment into learning facilities means that 90% of our student accommodation now has data point access."

There's much, much more to be found on their website.

I was looking around the sports facilities last weekend, it really offers a truly outstanding amount of facilities. I don't understand what you mean by not being geared towards students, the whole idea of a campus university is for that very thing.
You should choose Manchester....but I have no real reason why!! I've been to Birmingham many times, and while the university campus and city centre are very nice, I just got a better feeling from Manchester. Something about Manchester just really appealed to me - I could imagine myself living there. I didn't get the same feelings from Birminngham, so I didn't apply.

You should just go where you think you'll be most comfortable, where the facilities suit your needs the most. There's more to uni than league table rankings. For me the range of accommodation options was very important as was the sports and club facilities. Manchester has one of the biggest unions in the country and therefore a lot of sports clubs. Since the commonweatlth games Manchester's sports facilities are now brilliant - most of which are either on or on the edge of campus. Manchester also has a huge range of accommodation and can guarantee a place in halls to all first years and most second years as well. All these things convinced me to pick Manchester.
Manchester, for shopping, nightlife, music and pretty much everything else.

It's the 2nd city for a whole lot of people.
my preference, i go for man. but fact, bham is also a brilliant choice. they're both amonst the giants of higher edu. the reason for man having the upper hand over bham in my mind is that MBS is regarded as the leader of acct and fin study, ranked 5*A. only LSE shared parallel assessment result in this subject.