Advice for minorities in uni choice

Cardiff is pretty much a cosmopolitan city as is Swansea and as said previously many of the students you will meet will either be English or International. Similarly that is often the case with lecturers. Some of the smaller communities in Wales you might suffer racism such as staring as it is rare to see black people there. That isnt the case in universities which literally have all races and cultures. If you do come across someone has a problem with your colour it is they who have a problem not you but it will be a tiny minority as there is everywhere. The Welsh people generally are far more welcoming than the English especially down south. It is part of the Welsh nature and many find the way the Welsh are as nosy. That is just how things are.

If the course is right for you in Cardiff then go there. It has a really nice indoor shopping area (mall) in the centre of the city. It has some of the best nightlife in the UK and has many major sports take place there including Ice Hockey. There is an indoor arena where concerts take place together with a theatre and a separate concert hall. It is bigger than the likes of Bath, Swansea and Kent but much smaller than Glasgow or London. It is probably the most friendly city other than Swansea. Everything is basically walkable in Cardiff and the university is less than 10 minutes walk to the city centre.

I hope this will have allayed some of the fears you have. Unfortunately there will always be people who are not happy but in all honesty Cardiff will be no more or less racist than anywhere else.

I have visited your country on many occasions and thoroughly enjoyed it but the racism shines through more there than you will find in Wales but dont be surprised if Welsh people ask you many questions. That is our nature.

Yes that was another reason I was looking at Cardiff. It seems affordable. It rains less than Glasgow right?

Say it as it is it rains all the time in Wales but OP will get used to it.

Thank you. This post made me even more excited to visit Wales. It seems to have a lot to offer. It is hot, flat and dry here. Wales looks much more beautiful by comparison.

Now as far as staring I don't consider that racism. I get that here all the time, and it doesn't bother me. I have a unique "fit" look so I get started at by even my own race at times. Even being the new person in places will make people stare regardless of race.

It seems I overreacted, and Wales will be similar to experiences I've already had. I'm a people person so I'll just be myself and not overthink every reaction. Thanks again for pointing out some things to look forward to.

My general impression, as a white American living in the UK for many years now, is that you will probably find the experience of racism in the UK more akin to racism in e.g. the more liberal parts of the midwest and northeast of the US. That is, it definitely occurs, but is maybe less overt - and often the people being racist do not believe or understand (or even refuse to believe) they are in fact being racist. This in comparison to the US south where there is some elements of more overt racism but also the majority of the population there will have interacted with people of colour regularly throughout their lives, and will not exist in a sort of white "bubble" where they believe they cannot be racist despite the fact the could count the number of people of colour they've had extended interactions with on one hand. The latter environment just sort of engenders a different sort of implicit racism....

I imagine you will find more major metropolitan cities with more diverse populations more similar perhaps to your experiences living in the south - that is, there is potentially more overt racism but also most people will actually know how to interact with a black person without making it "weird" - and smaller regional cities, especially in the south of the UK will be more like the northeast and midwest of the US, where there is potentially a lot more bigotry bubbling under the surface. I can't comment on the universities specifically though, as often universities can be their own microcosm quite distinct from the local area.

Mainly I am saying this because there is a widespread belief (among white people, anyway) that racism doesn't "exist" in the UK, as such when it certainly does, but unfortunately people here fundamentally do not understand (and often refuse to understand) that racism is more than outright saying the n word to a black person or lynching them...sadly though people here will for example bend over backwards to defend their right to dress in black face for "fancy dress" parties etc (citing "well it wasn't intended to be offensive! it's just fancy dress! I'm just a white man dressing up in black face as one of the only black female MPs in the country as a joke!"). There is also a widespread unwillingness to understand or learn what the concept of a microaggression is and it affects people.

So I feel like some context/a contrasting perspective may be helpful...I think you may find there to be less racism on the whole, and for it to be less overt (than anywhere in the US tbh), but it's definitely there and I think in areas where the population is not very diverse (either the academic or local population, or both), it is quite possible you will be exposed to more implicit bias or (ignorant) microaggressions than in more diverse locations.

Uh, really? Where in Scotland did you go? Both Edinburgh and Glasgow are extremely, extremely multicultural and diverse. I can't imagine that happening to anyone unless they went somewhere incredibly rural and/or if they had a very loud and potent American/English accent...

Most computer science courses in the uk teach you the fundamentals so it is beginner friendly but I would recommend looking at the module descriptions on the university website just to get an idea of what you will be learning.

Edinburgh I had a few people stare. Dundee is where it was more obvious. Some guy almost fell off the escalator staring at me. It was pretty funny to be honest.

I realise that knowing you are from Texas but certainly from my visits there and having family members there I have no doubt that it is far more racist than over here especially in larger towns and cities. My son went to school with black and asian pupils and his school was a city centre school. Where I was brought up was very white but even then there were only a few who were racist but that is not a city area.

It rains more in Cardiff than Glasgow. Cardiff and Swansea are amongst the wettest cities in the UK but we dont get the extreme cold weather and snow you get in Scotland or Newcastle. You better get used to wet weather if you are coming to Wales. Cardiff is one of the most affordable student cities especially compared to Bath or London.

Well I imagine so but truth be told, I haven't visited Glasgow.

Cardiff is a great city though - I like it despite the rain and it's true it is friendlier than bigger cities like London where people keep more to themselves, but it's also lively and has good shops and stuff

I have never visited Texas but the heat and humidity in places like Tennessee or Florida is totally different to Wales. The big advantage over with you is the air con. We have very little of that here. Our rain tends to be continuuos rather than the torrential stuff for 1/2 hour you get out there.

I'm genuinely curious as to where you went in both Dundee and Edinburgh. I think you might've had extremely unlucky and rare experiences. Sorry about that. That said, please give Scotland a second chance; Edinburgh and Glasgow etc are awesome!

Oh gosh haha. I read an article saying Glasgow had the most rain in the UK. That is one of the cons on my list for that university. It's not forever so I'll live. It may not rain that much here, but we also don't have castles or mountains. Castles, mountains, and affordability are all on Cardiff's pro list 😊

Cardiff has a fantastic castle very close to the university. As far as rain it can be heavy but not the king of torrential rain for 1/2 hour and then drying up just as quick that you get in the southern states. We dont generally need air con but they do have them in many shops and offices. There are some hot days in the summer around 80 but it never gets as hot as where you are.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=student+video+of+cardiff&&view=detail&mid=2F9664E84DF0835F34192F9664E84DF0835F3419&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dstudent%2Bvideo%2Bof%2Bcardiff%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=student+video+of+cardiff&&view=detail&mid=947C77E166BC683E0F67947C77E166BC683E0F67&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dstudent%2Bvideo%2Bof%2Bcardiff%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

My very lovely black friend, she's a clinician, works for the NHS. On a few occasions she's been into Wales she's been pulled over by the police for things she hasn't done and she always complains that she thinks the Welsh are racist and rude to her. I am talking about driving. Is she comparing that to the town that we live in though?!

The Welsh can be rude to the English anyway, so whether that was because she was black or because she speaks with a soft Liverpool accent?

I'd hate to think that the UK is particularly racist, I certainly wouldn't let it make a decision on which university you go to.

I think your allegations sound unlikely .....I'm not black but "The Welsh can be rude to the English" - no, I've never experienced that and have English friends who went to Cardiff uni for 3 years and they consider the Welsh friendly so

I imagine you are exaggerrating as I find it quite unbelievable that your friend has been pulled over by the police every time she drives into Wales just for being black....it's not exactly unusual for black people to visit Wales

Hi all,

I'm in the final stages of choosing where to attend school in the fall. I'm doing a computer science conversion. I'm an international student from America and I'm also a minority. I've been accepted to sixteen programs of which the top affordable choices are: U of Glasgow, U of Kent, Newcastle, Cardiff, Loughborough, Queen Mary University of London, Swansea and U of Bath.*

I was pretty set on Cardiff or Kent due to the structure of the course, placement year opportunities and language learning program. Cardiff is a RG, so I thought it might be better. However, I keep seeing things about Wales being the most racist place in the UK. Is that accurate? It stinks that I can't visit the universities due to Covid, so I am asking for honest opinions here.

For reference, I'm from Texas in the US. I'm a black female in my late 20s. None of the schools I've attended from grade school through university were the most diverse. I have friends of every race. I haven't really experienced any major issues to be honest. I make friends easily. I've excelled at work and school. I have had more uncomfortable incidents in my adult life, but nothing extreme. My question is will it be similar in the UK? Would you steer me away from any of those universities? I don't expect everyone to like me, but I do want to have a positive university experience with minimal drama... Hate to even make this post, but it is a real concern of mine.