The Student Room Group

Help me decide which uni to put as my firm and insurance choice

I applied to 5 universities (UEA,Bath, Warwick, Cambridge (withdrew my application tho) and Surrey) to study maths, computer science or maths with computer science and received offers from all of them. UEA and Surrey were my insurance choices just in case I didn't get offers from the others but now that I've heard back from all of them I'm having a hard time deciding between them.

Bath and Warwick are my top choice at the moment but I cannot decide between them. I prefer the course at bath plus they have the option of doing a placement year in industry which sounds pretty good but Warwick has better societies, campus and support in my opinion.

TL;DR when choosing between unis should I go for the course I prefer or the better atmosphere / social life?
Have you visited any of the unis on open days? That might’ve helped you to decide based on the feel of them. I’d say the course is quite a big factor, if you don’t enjoy the course what’s the point of paying that much to study it? The year in industry would definitely help give you more career prospects too. There’s probably still good things about the social life at Bath, I hear Warwick uni itself is kinda isolated and in the middle of nowhere.
Reply 2
why did you withdraw your application from cambridge?
(Original post by Blake Halliday)I applied to 5 universities (UEA,Bath, Warwick, Cambridge (withdrew my application tho) and Surrey) to study maths, computer science or maths with computer science and received offers from all of them. UEA and Surrey were my insurance choices just in case I didn't get offers from the others but now that I've heard back from all of them I'm having a hard time deciding between them.

Bath and Warwick are my top choice at the moment but I cannot decide between them. I prefer the course at bath plus they have the option of doing a placement year in industry which sounds pretty good but Warwick has better societies, campus and support in my opinion.

TL;DR when choosing between unis should I go for the course I prefer or the better atmosphere / social life?
Lots of sensible TSR advice on choosing Firm and Insurance choices here : https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/apply/firm-and-insurance-choices
Year in industry is one of the most beneficial aspects of a degree, if you receive a relevant placement, which within computer science and maths there are many options.

But if you really don’t enjoy the atmosphere of Bath university don’t go for it, however, you should maybe go to an open day if you haven’t yet or talk to some bath students about the social life there.
(edited 5 years ago)
Its worth looking for at the Open Day films on You Tube.
I'm pretty sure you can take a placement year at Warwick, they call it an intercalated year: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dcs/teaching/courses/intercalated/
Original post by Blake Halliday
I applied to 5 universities (UEA,Bath, Warwick, Cambridge (withdrew my application tho) and Surrey) to study maths, computer science or maths with computer science and received offers from all of them. UEA and Surrey were my insurance choices just in case I didn't get offers from the others but now that I've heard back from all of them I'm having a hard time deciding between them.

Bath and Warwick are my top choice at the moment but I cannot decide between them. I prefer the course at bath plus they have the option of doing a placement year in industry which sounds pretty good but Warwick has better societies, campus and support in my opinion.

TL;DR when choosing between unis should I go for the course I prefer or the better atmosphere / social life?

Firstly do nothing yet. You dont to make a decision until May. Go to visit/ applicant days and get a feel for the place and the course then make your decision in April. You may well change your ind before then so leave the decision as late as possible. I assume the Warwick offer is the highest then probably Bath. By April you will have a better idea of your likely grades. I think you should go where you feel you will be happiest wherever that may be.
Original post by troian
why did you withdraw your application from cambridge?


When I went to the open day for the departments and colleges I didn't really like the colleges (they were nice to look at but didn't look comfortable to live in). Plus the fact that they only have three 8 week terms a year (meaning its a lot more fast paced) and having to take STEP 2 and 3 definitely factored in as well. Basically, there wasn't much I actually liked about the uni apart from the bragging rights and weight the name would have and neither of those two things seemed worth it.
Original post by swanseajack1
Firstly do nothing yet. You dont to make a decision until May. Go to visit/ applicant days and get a feel for the place and the course then make your decision in April. You may well change your ind before then so leave the decision as late as possible. I assume the Warwick offer is the highest then probably Bath. By April you will have a better idea of your likely grades. I think you should go where you feel you will be happiest wherever that may be.


That makes sense yeah. There's no point rushing this decision as you said. I have an applicant day for Warwick later this month and should be having one for bath at some point relatively soon so hopefully, that will help me make up my mind.

Only thing is if I put Bath down as my firm choice then there's not much point putting Warwick down as an insurance since it has higher entry requirements but that's something I'll deal with at a later date
Original post by Blake Halliday
That makes sense yeah. There's no point rushing this decision as you said. I have an applicant day for Warwick later this month and should be having one for bath at some point relatively soon so hopefully, that will help me make up my mind.

Only thing is if I put Bath down as my firm choice then there's not much point putting Warwick down as an insurance since it has higher entry requirements but that's something I'll deal with at a later date

The real issue is go where you want to. Dont worry about Warwick as an insurance. If you prefer Bath go there. Warwick would be unlikely to accept you if you miss their offer anyway so is no good as an insurance.
Original post by Blake Halliday


Only thing is if I put Bath down as my firm choice then there's not .point putting Warwick down as an insurance since it has higher entry requirements but that's something I'll deal with at a later date


Agreed but if you prefer Bath, you could put it as Firm and not have an Insurance (if you have changed your mind about Surrey and UEA). Then if Bath reject you, you will automatically be entered for Clearing and there will be lots of good Unis with vacancies for Maths/CS in Clearing, including Russell Group.

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