Cardiff or Bristol?

I'm like a pendulum between these two :frown:

Cardiff is cheaper... Bristol has a better reputation... I felt less claustrophobic in Cardiff... and yet there's something quite sweet about Bristol that attracts me.

I could go on forever but in short, I'm just stuck, and each Uni has different good points.

My courses consist of History and English Literature at Cardiff, and straight History at Bristol.

I slightly prefer the course at Cardiff but it doesn't make that much difference either way to me to be honest, they're both good.

:banghead:

Agh! Any help appreciated... :smile:

Reply 1

noodles!

14

Go for the Uni and course you'd prefer, the cities are so close anyway...

Reply 2

Denny Crane

13

ill go with bristol, if i were you, just because its bristol.

Reply 3

talespirit

15

Education's an investment....cost can't be that much different (you are home student right?) Can you come up with a particular criteria for what you look for in a uni? perhaps we can go on from there.

Reply 4

malleablegrace

OP

13

Well location is always a big thing - Cardiff is the nicest city by far, but there's something quite endearing about Bristol :p:

though I do feel a bit claustrophobic there. The people at Bristol seem more "my type" but I also feel a bit more comfortable and less "argh" at Cardiff... I don't really have criteria, just random feelings which throw themselves around when they feel like it, heh. I much prefer the HoR at Bristol.

This isn't really helping anyone :biggrin:

Reply 5

hk4free

talespirit

Education's an investment....cost can't be that much different (you are home student right?) Can you come up with a particular criteria for what you look for in a uni? perhaps we can go on from there.

she isn't a rich international student like you..

Reply 6

Je$$ica

hk4free

she isn't a rich international student like you..

how is this comment in any way related or useful?

Anyway.

I had a similar choice - unfortunately the reputation stigma won, which i'll probably regret, as i love Cardiff as a city. And it's *so* much cheaper than Bristol! Would you prefer to do english lit with history or not?

Reply 7

talespirit

15

hk4free

she isn't a rich international student like you..

I am aware that the OP is not an international student, thus i do know that they would pay 3000 regardless of where they end up in uni, the only difference would be the living expenses.....if you're gonna pay 3000quid for both tuition fees, might as well get the better out of that amount.
By education being an investment i mean that on the shortrun it may be costly, but on the wrong run, better education may mean better job, thus better pay, you will be able to breakeven with the amount you put in for education anyway.

I'm an international yes, but i'm not 'rich', my parents chose to invest (in so doing suffer the opportunity cost) in my education instead of a better car or a bigger house. Investing in education is a decision anyone can make regardless of wealth...there are student loans for home students or even scholarships....

Reply 8

malleablegrace

OP

13

Argh... okay, no I'm not a home student or an international student, I went to one of the worst state schools in the county and my parents weren't that bothered about investing anything into my education: glad that's sorted :wink:

I'm quite sensible with money though so even though Bristol is a bit more expensive I'm pretty confident I could make it work, mainly because I'm on a gap year at the moment and I'm trying to save up all I can.

As awkward as it is, I'm not that bothered whether I do English Lit with History or not :s-smilie:

I did 2 months at Uni last year doing Eng + Hist and found History much more interesting. I tend to enjoy English mainly because I've always been fairly good at it. Obviously it'd be an advantage to have a joint honours as I could go either way with it; but at the same time, it'd also be an advantage to go somewhere with a rep like Bristol and just do the subject I find more interesting.

I really like the course content at both Uni's though, so that's not helping :rolleyes:

Argh

Thank you for your comments so far though everyone, they're all helpful :smile:

Reply 9

Je$$ica

well, where do you honestly envisage yourself being the most happy for three years of your life?

Reply 10

hk4free

talespirit

I am aware that the OP is not an international student, thus i do know that they would pay 3000 regardless of where they end up in uni, the only difference would be the living expenses.....if you're gonna pay 3000quid for both tuition fees, might as well get the better out of that amount.
By education being an investment i mean that on the shortrun it may be costly, but on the wrong run, better education may mean better job, thus better pay, you will be able to breakeven with the amount you put in for education anyway.

I'm an international yes, but i'm not 'rich', my parents chose to invest (in so doing suffer the opportunity cost) in my education instead of a better car or a bigger house. Investing in education is a decision anyone can make regardless of wealth...there are student loans for home students or even scholarships....

Cheapest university accomodation in Bristol: 5711 pounds for 38 weeks (self-catered)
Cheapest university accomodation in Cardiff: 3450 pounds for 38 weeks (self-catered).
=6783 pound difference in 3 years.
=105137 HKD difference in 3 years.
which means that the difference in accomodation costs, in Thai baht, is approximately 530000 Baht.

Perhaps the OP has more siblings? perhaps her parents don't earn anywhere near as much as your parents do?

And, FYI, you are under the impression that student loans are an easy way to university. Trust me, they really aren't.. :rolleyes:

Anyway, to the OP, at the end of the day its down to all factors.. finance, choice of city, course etc. My brother received offers from both Cambridge and Imperial for Medicine and he decided to study at Imperial simply because he was offered a scholarship there which made his fees a third cheaper than that of Cambridge.

MY OWN preference: I personally would go to Cardiff, as i've visited both cities and Cardiff is 2 times better than Bristol.. in Hong Kong, one of the three biggest commercial cities in the world (Hong Kong, London and New York), excluding me, most of my friends haven't even HEARD of bristol University.

Reply 11

Je$$ica

Well i think that student loans are an easy way to university...

Reply 12

talespirit

15

hk4free

Cheapest university accomodation in Bristol: 5711 pounds for 38 weeks (self-catered)

where'd you get THAT figure? On the accom prospectus i've been looking at, the most EXPENSIVE (catered) isn't even that high...(5100 something for a single en-suite at Wills)....the Cheapest in Bristol is a single-with-basin self-catered student house 2888 pounds. If you want a cheaper option than that it's be 1976pounds for a shared room....now look who's more expensive?

Perhaps the OP has more siblings? perhaps her parents don't earn anywhere near as much as your parents do?

And, FYI, you are under the impression that student loans are an easy way to university. Trust me, they really aren't.. :rolleyes:

they sure are easier than using your own money :rolleyes:

and what exactly do you have against my parents and their earnings? I have siblings, they work for their money just like your parents or the OP's parents do, we don't have a gold mine in our back yard. I know money's a big factor and i would've made the same decision as your brother if i was offered that same scholarship....but if you're not willing to make that extra risk, you won't get that extra gain "can't get the cub if you don't enter the tiger's den" as confucious say.

MY OWN preference: I personally would go to Cardiff, as i've visited both cities and Cardiff is 2 times better than Bristol.. in Hong Kong, one of the three biggest commercial cities in the world (Hong Kong, London and New York), excluding me, most of my friends haven't even HEARD of bristol University.

And that proves what exactly? In the US (oooo world superpower), half the people don't even know Cambridge (more know Oxford cuz of the dictionary)[source: TSR]. No one in myschool (excluding the brits) even considered Cardiff or heard of it, doesn't mean it's a bad uni. Even my teachers (most of whom are British, coinsidentially) never suggested Cardiff as an option for uni application to me.

The OP had visited both cities as well, i'm sure they can make their own judgement on how many times 'better' any of them is in whatever respect. I'm not trying to swing the OP's judgement or anything, and i can't say for a fact what Cardiff is like cuz i've never been there or done any research into it, but reputation wise, Bristol is way ahead and really if the OP did make the decision to apply to Bristol afterall, that means they should be able to afford it (otherwise why apply?).

Reply 13

hk4free

where'd you get THAT figure? On the accom prospectus i've been looking at, the most EXPENSIVE (catered) isn't even 5000 pounds

Bristol website itself. Includes all sorts of fees.. washing service, internet etc.

and what exactly do you have against my parents and their earnings?

ummm... nothing?

The OP had visited both cities as well, i'm sure they can make their own judgement

Did I not explicitly express, MY OWN preference?

half the people don't even know Cambridge (more know Oxford cuz of the dictionary

so? we're talking about Bristol and Cardiff here =.=

Lastly,

TAKE. A. CHILL. PILL.

Have a nice day :smile:

Reply 14

Angelil

19

It sounds like you want to be in Cardiff more OP. You could always change to single hons History after the first year if you decided you were unhappy with the English component of your course too.

Reply 15

talespirit

15

hk4free

TAKE. A. CHILL. PILL.

Perhaps you'd like to take one, see as you're the one going all capital-letter-ing on me and advertising Cardiff like you're a recruitment officer~* :wink:

EDIT: oh by the way...you don't have to apologize for accusing me of neg-repping you. I understand how you can't help making these kind of assumptions.