Manchester or SOAS for insurance?
I’m mainly wondering what people’s experiences have been like at these unis. I’m torn over these factors:
1. I like the courses at both universities (for Arabic), so that isn’t a deciding factor for me.
2. I’m unsure about going to SOAS because I live in London and really don’t want to have to stay at home and I’ve heard socialising is hard when you’re living at home AND go to a London uni (and my parents are strict — I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone unless it’s between school and home, which isn’t long, or the shops with a sibling, and I expect this will continue, on top of my siblings being very noisy at home).
3. I also feel reluctant about Manchester because of how far it is from home. I don’t want to be too far in case I’m needed at home and don’t want to have to move my stuff that far away.
4. I’m quite a shy person, so I’m wondering if Manchester is really a good idea because it’s incredibly big and I worry I’ll be overwhelmed by it.
5. What is the general atmosphere like at these universities? What are the staff like and administration? What is the accommodation like at Manchester? If I’m lucky to stumble across anyone doing Arabic at these universities too, I’d like to know what the teaching is really like and how cooperative and good at communication the tutors are.
6. I know universities shouldn’t be chosen for the name, but Manchester is admittedly more well-known and respected than SOAS, although SOAS is specialised in Arabic whereas I’m not quite sure about Manchester (although it seemed good to me during my interview with the main tutor there, and I liked the idea of being paired up with the years above us so we get support).
I am leaning towards insuring Manchester because I think the biggest thing for me might be the chance to live away from home and become more independent (especially as there’ll be a year abroad anyway). Manchester also has the lower of the two offers thanks to contextual stuff: BBB vs ABB for the absolute worst case scenario (firm is AAA).
Edit: Caused some confusion -- it's either Manchester or SOAS for insurance because I'm already firming Oxford. I just want to choose a back-up uni I'll also be happy going to just in case.
1. I like the courses at both universities (for Arabic), so that isn’t a deciding factor for me.
2. I’m unsure about going to SOAS because I live in London and really don’t want to have to stay at home and I’ve heard socialising is hard when you’re living at home AND go to a London uni (and my parents are strict — I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone unless it’s between school and home, which isn’t long, or the shops with a sibling, and I expect this will continue, on top of my siblings being very noisy at home).
3. I also feel reluctant about Manchester because of how far it is from home. I don’t want to be too far in case I’m needed at home and don’t want to have to move my stuff that far away.
4. I’m quite a shy person, so I’m wondering if Manchester is really a good idea because it’s incredibly big and I worry I’ll be overwhelmed by it.
5. What is the general atmosphere like at these universities? What are the staff like and administration? What is the accommodation like at Manchester? If I’m lucky to stumble across anyone doing Arabic at these universities too, I’d like to know what the teaching is really like and how cooperative and good at communication the tutors are.
6. I know universities shouldn’t be chosen for the name, but Manchester is admittedly more well-known and respected than SOAS, although SOAS is specialised in Arabic whereas I’m not quite sure about Manchester (although it seemed good to me during my interview with the main tutor there, and I liked the idea of being paired up with the years above us so we get support).
I am leaning towards insuring Manchester because I think the biggest thing for me might be the chance to live away from home and become more independent (especially as there’ll be a year abroad anyway). Manchester also has the lower of the two offers thanks to contextual stuff: BBB vs ABB for the absolute worst case scenario (firm is AAA).
Edit: Caused some confusion -- it's either Manchester or SOAS for insurance because I'm already firming Oxford. I just want to choose a back-up uni I'll also be happy going to just in case.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Pichi
I’m mainly wondering what people’s experiences have been like at these unis. I’m torn over these factors:
1. I like the courses at both universities (for Arabic), so that isn’t a deciding factor for me.
2. I’m unsure about going to SOAS because I live in London and really don’t want to have to stay at home and I’ve heard socialising is hard when you’re living at home AND go to a London uni (and my parents are strict — I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone unless it’s between school and home, which isn’t long, or the shops with a sibling, and I expect this will continue, on top of my siblings being very noisy at home).
3. I also feel reluctant about Manchester because of how far it is from home. I don’t want to be too far in case I’m needed at home and don’t want to have to move my stuff that far away.
4. I’m quite a shy person, so I’m wondering if Manchester is really a good idea because it’s incredibly big and I worry I’ll be overwhelmed by it.
5. What is the general atmosphere like at these universities? What are the staff like and administration? What is the accommodation like at Manchester? If I’m lucky to stumble across anyone doing Arabic at these universities too, I’d like to know what the teaching is really like and how cooperative and good at communication the tutors are.
6. I know universities shouldn’t be chosen for the name, but Manchester is admittedly more well-known and respected than SOAS, although SOAS is specialised in Arabic whereas I’m not quite sure about Manchester (although it seemed good to me during my interview with the main tutor there, and I liked the idea of being paired up with the years above us so we get support).
I am leaning towards insuring Manchester because I think the biggest thing for me might be the chance to live away from home and become more independent (especially as there’ll be a year abroad anyway). Manchester also has the lower of the two offers thanks to contextual stuff: BBB vs ABB for the absolute worst case scenario (firm is AAA).
1. I like the courses at both universities (for Arabic), so that isn’t a deciding factor for me.
2. I’m unsure about going to SOAS because I live in London and really don’t want to have to stay at home and I’ve heard socialising is hard when you’re living at home AND go to a London uni (and my parents are strict — I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone unless it’s between school and home, which isn’t long, or the shops with a sibling, and I expect this will continue, on top of my siblings being very noisy at home).
3. I also feel reluctant about Manchester because of how far it is from home. I don’t want to be too far in case I’m needed at home and don’t want to have to move my stuff that far away.
4. I’m quite a shy person, so I’m wondering if Manchester is really a good idea because it’s incredibly big and I worry I’ll be overwhelmed by it.
5. What is the general atmosphere like at these universities? What are the staff like and administration? What is the accommodation like at Manchester? If I’m lucky to stumble across anyone doing Arabic at these universities too, I’d like to know what the teaching is really like and how cooperative and good at communication the tutors are.
6. I know universities shouldn’t be chosen for the name, but Manchester is admittedly more well-known and respected than SOAS, although SOAS is specialised in Arabic whereas I’m not quite sure about Manchester (although it seemed good to me during my interview with the main tutor there, and I liked the idea of being paired up with the years above us so we get support).
I am leaning towards insuring Manchester because I think the biggest thing for me might be the chance to live away from home and become more independent (especially as there’ll be a year abroad anyway). Manchester also has the lower of the two offers thanks to contextual stuff: BBB vs ABB for the absolute worst case scenario (firm is AAA).
Firm Manchester
Generally in their specialist fields SOAS is much better known, particularly internationally, than other UK unis. This may make a big difference depending what you want to do. They also have very intensive language courses which means their students get good levels of proficiency very fast, but this can make things more stressful, especially if the students are competing for year abroad places which can make some departments potentially a bit toxic (although so far I only know of this being the case for Japanese).
Obviously the living at home vs away from home is a big decision otherwise though, and I expect will be the major deciding factor for you. But purely academically I think for a subject like Arabic SOAS is likely going to be better than the vast majority of alternatives except for the strongest courses at Oxbridge etc. However I can appreciate it may not be feasible simply due to the living situation you describe...
Personally at SOAS I've had a very good experience with teaching and my lecturers, however the modules I've taken have mostly been very small (Sanskrit, mainly) which may skew my experience - Arabic is a much bigger subject I gather and so likely has some benefits and downsides to that. In the LCL welcome sessions the Arabic/Persian lecturers seemed very friendly though
Obviously the living at home vs away from home is a big decision otherwise though, and I expect will be the major deciding factor for you. But purely academically I think for a subject like Arabic SOAS is likely going to be better than the vast majority of alternatives except for the strongest courses at Oxbridge etc. However I can appreciate it may not be feasible simply due to the living situation you describe...
Personally at SOAS I've had a very good experience with teaching and my lecturers, however the modules I've taken have mostly been very small (Sanskrit, mainly) which may skew my experience - Arabic is a much bigger subject I gather and so likely has some benefits and downsides to that. In the LCL welcome sessions the Arabic/Persian lecturers seemed very friendly though
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Anybody applying for Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies?
- Official Anthropology Applicants Thread 2024
- URGENT! My UCAS application has yet to be accepted or rejected by my FIRM SOAS!!
- Studying Japanese studies next year
- King's or Queen Mary for Insurance Choice?
- Korean/Japanese Studies 2024 Applicants
- Advice on which uni to apply
- Kings Or SOAS ?
- SOAS Accomodation
- UCL or SOAS - Masters
- Modern Languages Applicants 2023
- the best university for studying law
- should i retake my a level exams??? pls help
- Law Ranking
- GCSEs good enough for Econ and Econ history?
- Can a law graduate at SOAS apply to MSc Politics and International Relations at soas?
- applying for uni
- Questions about BA Japanese
- Best Environment & Development MA?
- Uni Options
Latest
Trending
Last reply 2 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%Trending
Last reply 2 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%
