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Most important factors in choosing a university
Poll
What's the most important factor in choosing a university
Whats more important factors in choosing a university for you?? and what is the second most important thing.
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For me personally? It's a combination.
First, the academic standards of the course and students i.e. I check the league tables (The Guardian/Times etc) for the top 20 or so unis for my subject.
The actual course - how it is taught (how much contact time, how many smaller classes and seminars etc), the content (the units etc) and how generally interesting it sounds matter.
The city/location matters a lot to me too. I want somewhere that feels nice, that offers a lot to do and enjoy, somewhere with culture and variety among other factors.
Other factors may be taken into consideration if stuck between a couple of places e.g. employment prospects, my chances of getting in, university reputation as a whole, the teacher to student ratio etc.
That's my rough criteria for choosing where to apply.
Or did you mean choosing where to go after application?
First, the academic standards of the course and students i.e. I check the league tables (The Guardian/Times etc) for the top 20 or so unis for my subject.
The actual course - how it is taught (how much contact time, how many smaller classes and seminars etc), the content (the units etc) and how generally interesting it sounds matter.
The city/location matters a lot to me too. I want somewhere that feels nice, that offers a lot to do and enjoy, somewhere with culture and variety among other factors.
Other factors may be taken into consideration if stuck between a couple of places e.g. employment prospects, my chances of getting in, university reputation as a whole, the teacher to student ratio etc.
That's my rough criteria for choosing where to apply.
Or did you mean choosing where to go after application?
Since legal careers are so competitive, it was the reputation for me. The law course is more or less the same in most good universities, so that wasn't a factor at first, although my insurance was chosen on the basis of how good the law with Spanish course was. Really I wanted to study law with Spanish, because I love the language and the culture, however, since Cambridge gave me an offer, I was willing to sacrifice that for the reputation of the university.
Reply 5
Course for me. Nowhere else did the ratio of practical:theory that I wanted or modules which matched my own interests so closely.
Reply 6
Well reputations mainly, not so that I was obsessed with 1 or 2 places up the league table, but I want to apply to Top 30ish Unis.
Then I had a look at entry requirements, if they are achievable I order a prospectus, then I decide on which 5 Unis are most appealing to me based on Rep, location and entry requirements. My chosen course wasn't really an issue as it most likely to be similar in whatever institution I go to.
Then I had a look at entry requirements, if they are achievable I order a prospectus, then I decide on which 5 Unis are most appealing to me based on Rep, location and entry requirements. My chosen course wasn't really an issue as it most likely to be similar in whatever institution I go to.
Reply 10
Course. everytime.
However, quite often a good course comes with a uni with good reputation.
Not really sure how you can judge a uni on social life and people you can relate to before you start, this changes all the time and you have no idea who else is applying and what theyre interests are.
Location: although very important, I think that there is a certain location for all your uni types, e.g. Small City, good rep Oxford, York, Durham. large City good rep imperial, Manchester.
Many overlapping, but it should be down to, does the course fit your interests and aims.
However, quite often a good course comes with a uni with good reputation.
Not really sure how you can judge a uni on social life and people you can relate to before you start, this changes all the time and you have no idea who else is applying and what theyre interests are.
Location: although very important, I think that there is a certain location for all your uni types, e.g. Small City, good rep Oxford, York, Durham. large City good rep imperial, Manchester.
Many overlapping, but it should be down to, does the course fit your interests and aims.
Reply 12
For me it was rep of the uni, as it surely should be. I then found that the quality of the course tied in with this. Also, where it was situated didn't really matter to me as im sure I could get used to anything. Just so happen to love the big city anyway.
Reply 13
Opps looks like i'm getting all my priorities wrong.....
My number 1 criteria is always position – for example we live NE of London and going west means crossing London, the time/distance ratio stinks. I suggest being close enough to the parents and friends that you can choose to go home but far enough away to stop them from popping in! Once you have narrowed down your choices you can see where the unis are on www.hero.ac.uk/uk/universities___colleges/index.cfm
Next up was the course - don't necessarily get bogged down in something too highfalutin you got to study it for 3 or 4 years, but do keep a weather eye on your future career i.e. media studies might not be the best course for someone who wants to be a serial entrepreneur (Doctors, lawyers etc ignore that comment - you should go for the highfalutin!).
The great thing about today’s unis are the huge number of double majors and minors. Why not look for a degree that appeals to more than one sense. www.uni-uk.co.uk has a course search that returns all the majors and minors around one subject
Have a look at open days and see if you can get to some of the unis www.opendays.com has some open days or if you can get hold of a copy of Loud Mag they have a list on pages 16 and 17 (if you don’t have a copy try requesting one or seeing it on line at www.loudmag.co.uk/index.php (and a chance to win a sony PS3 at the moment))
Once you have narrowed it down to a few then have a look at UCAS for a lot lot more info
One word to the wise, in my experience website info is rarely if ever fully comprehensive. Most Unis now have on line prospectus or you can order a hard copy so a bit more work is needed
Good luck - you have till early Jan
My number 1 criteria is always position – for example we live NE of London and going west means crossing London, the time/distance ratio stinks. I suggest being close enough to the parents and friends that you can choose to go home but far enough away to stop them from popping in! Once you have narrowed down your choices you can see where the unis are on www.hero.ac.uk/uk/universities___colleges/index.cfm
Next up was the course - don't necessarily get bogged down in something too highfalutin you got to study it for 3 or 4 years, but do keep a weather eye on your future career i.e. media studies might not be the best course for someone who wants to be a serial entrepreneur (Doctors, lawyers etc ignore that comment - you should go for the highfalutin!).
The great thing about today’s unis are the huge number of double majors and minors. Why not look for a degree that appeals to more than one sense. www.uni-uk.co.uk has a course search that returns all the majors and minors around one subject
Have a look at open days and see if you can get to some of the unis www.opendays.com has some open days or if you can get hold of a copy of Loud Mag they have a list on pages 16 and 17 (if you don’t have a copy try requesting one or seeing it on line at www.loudmag.co.uk/index.php (and a chance to win a sony PS3 at the moment))
Once you have narrowed it down to a few then have a look at UCAS for a lot lot more info
One word to the wise, in my experience website info is rarely if ever fully comprehensive. Most Unis now have on line prospectus or you can order a hard copy so a bit more work is needed
Good luck - you have till early Jan
Reply 14
Course and location went hand in hand for me as there are only a few places that offer my course and I didn't want to move to the other end of the country.. by luck (more than research) the reputation for my course is very good indeed, so I am happy with that too!! Social opportunities weren't even a factor as I expected most unis would have access to some sort of social scene, that isn't a big part of what I came for though (although I enjoy it!)
I said reputation/league table, largely because so many unis offer History so if I wanted a good degree the best way to choose a good uni was based on it's league table position/reputation etc. Course was a close second as I like a good variety of module choices.
Location isn't so important as a pull factor, but for some universities it did put me off (St. Andrews, for instance). Deep in last was social life, because it's just how I am. I tend to make a small number of close friends where-ever I go and going out partying all the time just isn't why I want to go to Uni.
Location isn't so important as a pull factor, but for some universities it did put me off (St. Andrews, for instance). Deep in last was social life, because it's just how I am. I tend to make a small number of close friends where-ever I go and going out partying all the time just isn't why I want to go to Uni.
Reply 16
combination of all the factors! if you miss out on one it might affect everything else well slightly not majorly!
Reply 17
Location, followed closely by reputation.
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