Zoology degree help

(Original post by OxFossil)
As Gwilym101 says, it depends on what you mean by "better". Obviously, the three you mention are "upper-middle" ranking in terms of most of the overall league tables. If you are concerned about league tables, then there are obviously at least 27 "better" unis to consider! By and large, the upper places on these tables are occupied by Russell Group universities.

In recent years, "zoology" as a distinct subject has been in decline (and "botany" has almost disappeared!) in favour of the more inclusive "Biology" or "Biological Sciences". In practice, this doesn't make a lot of difference, as the same stuff is being taught - you can't really separate animal and plant biology when it comes to evolution, genetics, ecology etc. So I wouldn't necessarily rule out considering Biology degrees, if you like the look of the Uni.

That said, I would strongly recommend making a shortlist and then visiting as many as you can on Open Days. It might be an effort, but if you are going to spend 3 years there, and spend tens of thousands of quids, it is worth making that effort.

In terms of the course itself, my key question would be how much maths is required on this course (what zoologist doesn't hate maths?). But otherwise, I suspect you will find most courses are flexible enough to accommodate a variety of topic options. More important will be finding somewhere that suits your social preferences - for example, some people would love the close-knit Falmouth campus at Exeter, others would find it claustrophobic; some would love a cosmopolitan city life like at the central London unis, others prefer to be closer to the countryside etc. Another reason for going to an Open Day before you choose would be to collar a PhD student and ask for a frank assessment of how happy a place the Department is. Avoid ones where the PhD-ers groan and say "I've made a terrible mistake!"