Campus vs Collegiate?

ok well i'm in year 12 and recently our school has been bombarding us with all this uni information, and telling us that we should be starting to make decisions about where we want to go. Well basically, i'm not really sure whether campus uni's like warwick would be better or collegiate ones like oxbridge and london universities.

I think i'd prefer to live in a bubble and have a really close university community but then on then on the other hand, the london uni's really appeal to me as well because they're, well, in london!

So ye, can anyone share any of their past experiences? what they found to be better? why?

Also as an aside, this won't really be relevant till aaaages but i've just been thinking about catered or self catered accomadation. i always thought i'd get self catered beause then i have the choice of what i eat, when i eat etc. but i heard that those who are catered for mix better, because they always have meals together etc. so bond more. this worries me slightly, is this the case?can others eat in the halls where catered people eat? [a bit random but hey! lol]

sorry for the long post! any replies would be great! :smile:

Reply 1

*River

15

The London universities aren't strictly collegiate, it's just that the individual universities are referred to as colleges of the University of London. Personally, I don't think I could hack the 'bubble' effect of Warwick, but I know plenty of people who are amazingly happy there. The best thing is to visit and get a feel of universities you're thinking of applying to (try to visit the local town as well so you see more than just the university itself) because that will help you work out what type of university you'd be happiest at.

Reply 2

happydinosaur

15

I wasn't sure what I wanted so I applied to a mixture of city universities like Manchester and Bristol and campus universities like Warwick and Lancaster. Now I am at Warwick and I love the university because in the first year everything is right there for you.

Reply 3

Caspop

It totally depends on the kind of person you are. I'm currently at loughborough which is a campus uni, and i thought that was the best thing for me, but now after being there almost a year i know that i would prefer to be at a non-campus uni. My friends love it there but it's not right for me. Just make sure you know what's best for you. Weigh up the pro's and con's for each and then i'm sure you'll make the right decision :smile:

Reply 4

sleepy_person!

My friend told me flat out not to apply for Oxbridge because I'd get too lost trying to find my way around.. the fact I'm not smart enough was irrelevant to us :p:

I think a campus uni is great but only if you’re really close to or in an area that’s lively and exciting, for example I could never go to Royal Holloway because although it’s a great uni it’s on a campus almost in the middle of nowhere, where as Sussex is right next to Brighton :wink:

Reply 5

username36063

11

Have you thought Campus Unis with Collegiete systems: York and Lancaster are 2.

best of both Worlds.

As for true collegiete unis your only looking at OXford, Cambridge, Durham. If you can get in there then go ahead and apply, York is a choice (top ten uni) and lancs as a great insurance (top 25 uni there or there abouts).

Reply 6

username36063

11

One more thing as said London isnt collegiete really, plus its in London which is huge, and the colleges are the size of normal unis 10k-20k sizes. you dont really get that close college bond and spirit you get at true collegietes.

Reply 7

AdamTJ

12

As mentioned before, there are only 3 true collegiate universities in the country anyway, so you will have to apply to a mixture of other ones as well!

As someone that is going to a collegiate university next year (Durham) I have to say that for me, it was one of the strongest pulls. The level of community and academic supervision you will get is unrivalled (this is particularly true and Oxbridge, but still true at Durham). It also gives you chances to participate in sport, drama, societies, committees that you might not get in another system.

That said, there is a danger of falling into the collegiate bubble, and socialising with the same group of people time and time again. However, it will be much easier to make friends in a collegiate system than anywhere else.

Oxbridge and Durham, however, are not renowned for their nightlives. So if you are a bit of a raver, then they might not be the place for you. There are only 3 clubs in Durham for instance (one of which was voted the second worst in Europe, and the worst has since burnt down), there is Newcastle nearby though. The nightlife in Oxford is actually alright, it is a proper town and therefore is more dynamic than Cambridge, who's best club Cindy's is simply awful.

A city university such as Bristol or Manchester, will be much more vibrant in terms of nightlife. As will London, where you should effectively regard the different colleges as separate universities. So it is all a question of priority. I want a life where I bike round small cobbly street, go to pubs and formals etc..and participate in collegiate events. Others want the clubs and bright lights of a big city.

Those are the essential differences.

Reply 8

L i b

19

*River

The London universities aren't strictly collegiate, it's just that the individual universities are referred to as colleges of the University of London. Personally, I don't think I could hack the 'bubble' effect of Warwick, but I know plenty of people who are amazingly happy there. The best thing is to visit and get a feel of universities you're thinking of applying to (try to visit the local town as well so you see more than just the university itself) because that will help you work out what type of university you'd be happiest at.

Surely the University of London is the only university constituted? It awards degrees and has the central powers reserved to its Senate to my knowledge...

I think I'd enjoy the internal social rivalry and close-knit communities of a collegiate university, but I've never actually attended one, so I wouldn't be certain.

Reply 9

thefish_uk

14

I'm at a collegiate university and it's a really good system. It's a little like being at school again, in that you have a bunch of people in your year (small enough for you to know most people at least enough to say hi to them in the bar), people in years above, and, eventually, below. But you also get to meet up with people from others, organise "formal swaps" where you go and eat at each other's colleges, etc. And if I wanted to I could represent my college at sport even though I'm totally awful at it.

I think it's very hard to put unis into categories in the way you might be trying to though. Unis like Manchester and London are fully city-based with the bits just buildings in the city which happen to be near to each other. Birmingham is unusual - it sounds like it's going to be like that but actually it's a proper campus, complete with trees and things, a couple of miles out of the city centre (but still within the actual city and with easy access to the centre making it more difficult to classify). Oxford, Cambridge and Durham are different in that they're small towns with the university fully integrated into them - in Cambridge when you walk past colleges and uni departments in the centre it really does feel like you are never leaving a large campus.

Reply 10

ChemistBoy

16

You can get a large amount of rivalry at campus or small town universities between halls of residence. It is certainly the case for both St Andrews and Nottingham (they being two I have experienced). From my friends' experiences of Durham the St Andrews halls seem to be very much like colleges but without the academic staff allied to them.

Reply 11

AdamTJ

12

How do you rate the nightlife in Cambridge fish? Would be good to hear from an actual student there.

I wasn't that impressed the few times I've been.

Reply 12

Mr. Mortell

11

Queen Mary is a campus university, in London :smile:

I'd say you'd probably make your decision if you went and saw potential universities. Only when you're there will you know if you like it.

Reply 13

kellywood_5

17

Personally I love being at a campus university (Exeter) because everything you need is in one place; accommodation, teaching buildings, library, social buildings, sports buildings, a few shops, a few cash machines. At a city university, you'd have to waste a lot of time and money on travelling between different sites. Everyone is different though, so it's really important to visit your universities before you decide. As for catered vs self catered, I've experienced both this year and personally I prefer self catered, but again it depends what kind of person you are. Catered is more anonymous in a way because you just have loads of rooms one after the other, so although you'll see lots of different people every day at meal times, you might not be as close to them. In self catered, rooms tend to be grouped into flats and you share the kitchen with a TV, so you don't see as many people, but you see the same ones all the time, so you're likely to be closer to them. The only downside with self catered is that you don't tend to have many social events organised, whereas the catered halls seem to have them all the time. Obviously it'll vary at each uni though.

Reply 14

stoney

12

Being at a collegiate university (Durham in my case) is fantastic. as someone above mentioned the city feels like one big campus and the rivalry (at sporting events etc) is all part of the fun! Each college has it's own character (its own history, each college's formals tend to be slightly different etc.) which was something that I liked and also you tend to get to know everyone (almost) in your college.

I wouldn't have minded a campus uni, I suppose there the advantages are that you can be a face in the crowd/meet new people all the time. I largely made my choice of university based on academic criteria and thus independent of this question however I do feel over all that I am happier in a collegiate system than I would have been in a campus.

Reply 15

TomX

14

sleepy_person!

My friend told me flat out not to apply for Oxbridge because I'd get too lost trying to find my way around.. the fact I'm not smart enough was irrelevant to us :p:

*snip*

Your friend told you not to apply for Oxbridge because she feared you'd get accepted, probably.

Reply 16

The Boosh

17

AdamTJ-
i always thought oxford nightlife was quite diverse (weekly nights from jazz to dnb), it doesnt have the london opening times i admit, but it does have a diverse scene. i think cambridge and durham are especially sleepy (from what ive heard).

Reply 17

stoney

12

The Boosh

AdamTJ-
i think cambridge and durham are especially sleepy (from what ive heard).

I can only speak for Durham but yes that is right. It's really sleepy and there are 3 clubs (I think) as someone mentioned one of which is the worst in europe or something. Durham is supposed to be a city yet it's smaller than my home town of Chesterfield which is just an average size town!

Reply 18

mousey

2

For me being on a campus near a city was important. Some people like the idea of city universities where uni builfings are integrated with the city, but i don't think i would have liked that. I really like the student vibe of a campus, but i couldn't have gone to warwick where you can't escape it. I think what you can gather from this thread is that it's very different for different people so visit unis as much as you can. Catered/self-catered - at whatever uni you end up at there might only be one option so i wouldn't worry about this yet. xx