torn between QMUL and Loughborough

I've received all of my offers now and am stuck between QM and LB -- for context, the course i want to study is international relations. I've been researching a bit more, and have heard better things about loughborough in terms of rankings, but QM is closer to London and supposedly has a better nightlife. Could you be brutally honest and say which of the two is 'better'?

Loughborough is a smaller campus Uni - with an excellent academic reputation. It also has some of the best sports facilites of any UK Uni. There are no complaints about its social-life. QMUL is in the East End of London, not the best, or safest, area and certainly not if you are travelling home at night. Living in London is far more expensive than Loughborough.

Hi @sorayahdower ,
Congratulations on your offers 🙂
Loughborough is a top 10 University and is currently ranked 7th (Complete University Guide 2024).
If you haven't already I would recommend comparing the modules offered for your course and seeing which will suit you best. I found this particularly useful in helping decide which to pick. Take a look on the course page under 'What you'll study.
Although I don't study the same course I can give you some insight to Loughborough in general as I have been here for nearly 3 years. Loughborough is very much a student town and as you are on a campus it has such a strong community feel- I really love this as it is not as you tend to see a lot of people you know. People are really friendly and I have met some great friends. The facilities at Loughborough are amazing- particularly for sport but also for learning. During the week most social events happen on campus through the Student Union. For example, there tend to be 2 nights out in the week (Wednesday and Friday) and events during the day which differ week to week. Take a look at our student union website for more insight here.
At the weekends more seems to happen off campus. In town (which is walking distance from campus) there are multiple pubs, bars, cafe's, restaurants and nightclubs which tend to be full of students at the weekend. You do need to keep in mind that Loughborough is a town so can't offer what big cities can- particularly when comparing to London (another thing to consider is London is considerably more expensive then Loughborough). If we ever fancy a bigger city night out we tend to go to either Nottingham or Leicester on the train as they are both approximately 20 minutes away. The train station isn't far from campus and there is a campus shuttle which goes to the station, so this is pretty easy to do so.
There are so many factors to consider when making your decision- I would recommend looking at your own pros and cons to both and decide what your priorities are. For example my priorities were: I wanted to be on a campus and wanted the course and modules to be right for me. At the end of the day you need to pick somewhere you can imagine yourself living for 3 years. If you are able to I would recommend coming to see the campus (if you haven't already) to help in you decision making. Visit day information can be found here.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions please do ask 🙂
Alex