The Student Room Group

Bath vs Sheffield: The ultimate shakedown

I'm not sure whether there's a special forum for questions like these, and maybe some people are sick of answering them, so I apologise for both cases.

I'm doing German and ab initio russian at uni, but I want a course that isn't literature based (so that rules most major red bricks, like Bristol, Durham, etc. Also if you are at these unis, I don't wish to start a debate on whether they are literature based or not. I have done my own research, and they are not really what I'm interested in). Anyway, I've narrowed it down to Bath and Sheffield.

Now, Sheffield is supposed to be one of the best departments for Russian, and when I went to the open day, I did really like the languages school as a whole (it was the major open day, I have the department one in a couple of weeks). But I wasn't really keen on the uni as a whole, I'm really after a campus uni, and the accommodation was pretty awful, and generally I wasn't impressed.

Bath, on the other hand is the opposite. I love the atmosphere of the uni and think I'd be very happy there. And the course includes a lot of European Studies, which is something that interests me, as well as a lot of history and politics, on an equal weighting with culture. However I am mildly concerned with the actual language teaching, as I have some reports that it's not exactly great, particularly in Russian (although the tutor I met seemed very patient, which would be a good quality to have in someone teaching you the crazy language that is Russian). I'm also a bit miffed that it doesn't have the breadth of fun related languages like Dutch and Polish to take modules in, and I'm worried that as it's not as well known as Sheffield, people may dismiss it as a rubbish uni.

At the moment, Bath is winning, but I want to have other people's views on what I should do.

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Reply 1
Go to Bath if you are happier to go there. Don't worry about it's reputation - I'd say it's rep is actually better than Sheffield overall anyway.
Reply 2
i would say there is anything between them rep-wise, so don't let that be a factor.
Reply 3
I'd go for Sheffield personally, I visited Bath and didn't like it one bit.
Reply 4
You have to imagine where you would be happier living for the next three years of your life. Even if the teachers at sheffield were the most amazing in the world, and the course was the most reputed course in the world, it's not worth living in a place for three years that you'll hate.
Reply 5
if it was the accom you didn't like at sheff, they have built/building a whole loads of new accom and knockind down the old stuff ready for Sept07. Not trying to sway you coz you have to go tsomewhere you like but if it was the accom that put you off, just to tell you for 07 there is loads of new stuff, and by loads we are talking nearly 2000 new (or 1yr old) rooms combined across the site.

you have to go to somewhere you'll be happiest, if you want the campus life then by all means go to Bath, but if theres aspects of the course you dont like then seriously think about it. if you don't like the course it'll just make it harder to get a better degree. But if you go somewhere and you don't like the place, you'll be unhappier and les inclined to study as much.

If the shortcomings in the Bath course outwiegh the shortcomings of location at Sheffield, then go to Bath. just make sure you are happy with your decision.
Reply 6
Your enjoy your studies more and achieve a higher mark if you enjoy the campus/surrounding etc etc....don't fall for the better reputation argument because its all about you and if your happy to study there for 3 years...many people turn down oxbridge yet you can't ask for better reputation than them.....go with where your feel comfortable.......

hey i think i'm gonna choose portsmouth...yet the majority of my other choices have better "reputation" but personally i don't care....because generally speaking i can see myself living in portsmouth for the next 3 years whereas i couldn't see myself in liverpool etc after visiting.
Reply 7
You sound like you'd be happier at Bath - go there. The different between the perceived reputations between them is nothing.
Reply 8
Thanks people, you've made me feel a lot happier about going to Bath. And mtbab, I think you are right about accommodation, because although I hated the stuff I saw on the open day, they sent me info about all the different halls and things the other day, and some of it does look really nice.
luckysmartie
Thanks people, you've made me feel a lot happier about going to Bath. And mtbab, I think you are right about accommodation, because although I hated the stuff I saw on the open day, they sent me info about all the different halls and things the other day, and some of it does look really nice.

Bath is a really nice university: really friendly, very student-y city (I go to school there) and good accommodation. Plus it is well known! Talk to admissions staff about modules that you could take there, but follow your heart :smile:
From what you've said, I'd go for Bath. You seem to prefer both the uni and the course, so don't be put off by reputation. There's not a huge amount in it, and if anything, I'd say Bath actually has a better reputation overall than Sheffield.
Reply 11
I agree with what others have said in that you'll enjoy your degree more as a whole if you're studying somewhere you like. Sheffield isn't a campus uni, and if that's what you're looking for then you shouldn't come to Sheffield. However, whilst I may be slightly biased, and whilst reputation shouldn't be a factor in your choice, I would say Sheffield's reputation was better than Bath's, especially for languages.
just like to point out that bath doesnt get dismissed as a rubbish uni. its well known for students easily getting jobs after graduation, plus you gotta remember it is generally seen as a better uni than sheffield anyway.

im at bath atm studying german and management and the quality of teaching for german is superb. cant comment on russian but generally the language department is very strong. i absolutely love it here mainly cos of the campus aspect, it makes life so much easier.

good luck with whatever you choose though
Reply 13
Personally I´d lean towards Sheffield, though I´ve never actually been there.
I have been to Bath however and thought it was a grotty little place up a great big hill to be honest.
However it doesn´t really matter what we think as we´re not the ones deciding.
Oh and also I was under the impression that Bath was the one with the better reputation, not Sheffield.
Reply 14
Maybe it's a northern thing. Most people I know (especially those with no experience of HE) would not really know whether Bath was good or not. York on the other hand....

Wherewathuwen, I'm glad you said that because I've only really spoken to people from the Russian department, not the German, so it's nice to know that both are thought well of :smile:
Heh...I'm having exactly the same debate with myself, but with Nottingham thrown in there, and fro French and a/i Russian. I just can't separate the three at all...Bath probably has a better reputation, but there's something I don't quite like about it, I don't know...what did you think of the Russian dept. there?
Reply 16
I quite liked all the tutors and lecturers I met, and certainly all the students seemed to enjoy it. They also seem to be very helpful when it comes to your year abroad, and the 4th years I spoke to did all sorts of interesting things, particularly in Russia, where I'd imagine it's a lot harder to get placements and things, but they seemed to have had lots of support. It doesn't win prizes for looking nice, but I like the atmosphere (it was RAG week when I went so there was a lot going on on campus).

I went to Sheffield last week and I have to say as a department it was mightily impressive, I almost put it as my firm instead (at least I don't mind too much now if I don't get the grades for Bath). As an open day though, the majority wasn't very well organised, just little things like the main speaker (who was from the Spanish department) was quite boring and not very enthusiastic and the accommodation lady got lost so only did half her presentation. But then the bits in the departments were very interesting and everyone was so enthusiastic and nice and gave the impression they really love what they do.

I also applied to Nottingham, but it the one I least want to go to. The open day really put me off. Don't get wrong, the campus is stunning, but it had absolutely no life whatsoever, and neither did any of the staff. But it has a good reputation and things, so maybe I'm being unfair.
Reply 17
Sheffield has a much better night life and is a cheaper place to live. Also you can do ab initio Luxembourgish in your third year as part of the german course :biggrin:
Reply 18
Frostie
Sheffield has a much better night life and is a cheaper place to live. Also you can do ab initio Luxembourgish in your third year as part of the german course :biggrin:

Never in my life have I heard of a language that sounded more made-up than this:wtf?:
Reply 19
paddy
Never in my life have I heard of a language that sounded more made-up than this:wtf?:


It's true. It's a kind of mix of French and German.