Newcastle or Exeter for Modern Languages

I don’t know if this is too late but I’m in the exact same situation I applied for spanish german and portuguese and I’m stuck between Exeter and Newcastle I got a reduced offer from Exeter if I firm it and an unconditional at Newcastle. I really liked both courses equally but the prestige thing really bugs me. I refused to apply for Oxbridge Cos of the atmosphere and I personally found the courses to be boring and outdated. I’m gonna go to offer days for both but I feel newcastle is just a better place to be, especially given Exeter is known for being oxbridge reject central injected with a bit of daddy’s money and I’m not quite sure that’s up my alley.

I’m still torn. I haven’t made a final decision yet but I’m going on offer days so hopefully that will help. Obviously we are studying different languages so your concern about Chinese partners doesn’t affect me at all, but your comment on prestige is interesting. I’m torn as all my school life I’ve been told to apply oxbridge by my school (never ever by my parents) and I didn’t in the end, and this idea of prestige really bugs me. Is Exeter that much more prestigious? I don’t even know. Does it even matter? Again I don’t know. I was equally impressed by the Newcastle and Exeter courses in terms of their content which I can’t say the same for Leeds and Sheffield. I’m also from the South so I get your point about family though ultimately I could and would live in most places (within reason!) but maybe that’s just the linguist in me idk.

I would say that Exeter is for sure slightly more prestigious than Newcastle but Newcastle is still a good uni and so it doesn't matter much but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter at all - I chose not to apply to Oxbridge despite the prestige because I didn't like the sound of the language courses there so at the end of the day where you want to go is way more important if you weren't persuaded by the Oxbridge prestige. I think that it depends on what you want to work in because I want to work for the civil service and even if I don't I think I would prefer to work in the London south-east area not up north or move tp Germany lol - I just thought the graduate prospects for Exeter students seemed slightly better, like with salary and the kinds of jobs people went into compared to Newcastle but yeh for me it was mostly that slight bit of prestige - generally the lower the uni offer it means they are less 'prestigious' so like Exeter doesn't give out unconditional apart from to students who have done their A-levels already - but at the end of the day, they are tiny differences. and as you said my main reason for picking Exeter doesn't apply to you, and Newcastle is a really cheap place to live, both have benefits just for me when it came down to it I saw Exeter as slightly better (i.e. I know the partner uni thing doesn't apply to you but the reason it has a better partner uni than Newcastle is because its more prestigious worldwide therefore if you wanted to work abroad employers are more likely to have heard of it)

Am also applying to Exeter for french and chinese but really dont know whether to firm it or not (between Exeter/Edinburgh/Manchester) I’m gonna go visit them all again on offer holder days and see which I prefer best, I am with you guys though, I really have no clue which to firm

See and that’s the problem i feel like if I go to Exeter I’ll get caught up in cliques again and my current sixth form is incredibly cliquey, but it does have a good reputation/is prestigious. Whereas Newcastle is much more diverse I feel like and isnt cliquey but then I worry I’ll come out of uni and won’t be able to get a decent job. Idk what I wanna do yet but I do worry that if go Newcastle the prestige thing will mater. But then will it matter or is it just scaremongering, or rather to what degree does prestige matter. I know newcastle has campuses in Malaysia and Singapore so it must be internationally recognised right? Idk lol

I also got an offer from Edi but it was much higher than Exeter so for peace of mind I went with Exeter also I just liked it more but yeh going to see is defo important

It was much higher!? I haven’t had a response from Edinburgh yet (yikes), what was your offer if you don’t mind me asking?