university of nottingham vs university of exeter

I have offers from both university of nottingham and exeter. The course I’m doing is media and communications. I am conflicted on which one I should firm as they are both very different with many factors to include. Exeter has a very nice campus, near the beach, good accommodations, good ranks, and if I firm them and achieve 1 grade below my offer of ABB, they guarantee to confirm my place. However I’ve heard that exeter is not very diverse which is not ideal for me as I am mixed race, lots of stereotypes around the students being very “posh”, and the nightlife is apparently not too great. With nottingham the campus is nice, nightlife is supposed to be very good, they have a hollywood internship programme, very diverse, in a bigger city so more to do, accommodation is nice, good ranks. However, the course is a bit different to normal media and communications with some focus on politics which is the opposite of what I want to do, campus isnt as nice as exeter, less safe than exeter, very far.

Hi there!!
Both unis are great with very different atmospheres like you mention! I go to UoN and am in my final year of psychology, and my best friend goes to Exeter (studies accounting). My experience of UoN is amazing- I have really enjoyed it!
Sure, its not by a beach or have as nice of a campus as Exeter, but the nightlife is plentiful, and has a lower cost of living in my experience (Uber prices, cafes etc)! Coming from London, things are cheaper, I imagine Exeter will be similar if anything only slightly less expensive than London, compared to Nottingham. Accommodation and subsequent 2/3rd year housing costs will most likely be cheaper in Nottingham if cost is a factor in your decision.
If the politics part is not a core module, there's an option where you can take out-of-course modules! Check which modules are compulsory etc, if you wish to do something outside of media and comms then you can certainly try and do that; i know many people who have done that in first, second and third year here.
From my friends experience, I have heard that the students in Exe are 'posh' and nightlife is scarrrrrceeee (and expensive, and tickets are hard to get for clubs). Having said that, there will be people in Exe that do not fit this stereotype, and there are most likely many societies to take a look at. Of course, if nightlife is massive for you, Nottingham is an easy choice. It's closer to big cities like Manny, Sheffield, Bham if you want to go to events there as well. Nottingham is also extremely diverse, with over 350 societies- something for everyone. In terms of safety, I feel quite safe here. It's a heavily student occupied city, with both trent and uon students in surrounding areas like Lenton, Beeston, Dunkirk.
If there's any specific questions, please ask!
Aimee, UoN Student Rep.

Thank you so much for replying!! This was very helpful!

I have offers from both university of nottingham and exeter. The course I’m doing is media and communications. I am conflicted on which one I should firm as they are both very different with many factors to include. Exeter has a very nice campus, near the beach, good accommodations, good ranks, and if I firm them and achieve 1 grade below my offer of ABB, they guarantee to confirm my place. However I’ve heard that exeter is not very diverse which is not ideal for me as I am mixed race, lots of stereotypes around the students being very “posh”, and the nightlife is apparently not too great. With nottingham the campus is nice, nightlife is supposed to be very good, they have a hollywood internship programme, very diverse, in a bigger city so more to do, accommodation is nice, good ranks. However, the course is a bit different to normal media and communications with some focus on politics which is the opposite of what I want to do, campus isnt as nice as exeter, less safe than exeter, very far.

Hi anonymous,
Firstly, congratulations on receiving both of your offers!
I appreciate you've now got a tough decision to make, and you're doing the right thing in trying to research and compare your different choices. I'm a current University of Exeter student (although I study at the Penryn Campus in Cornwall), and I shared some of the same concerns about stereotypes and not fitting in before I started. For context, I'm originally from a state school background from the West Midlands and would never describe myself as being "posh".
Since actually studying as a student here I've found the university student body to be much more diverse than I expected, not just within the UK but also internationally as well. I think that is one of the really great things about university is the range of different people you'll meet, with different backgrounds and perspectives. Regardless of background or socioeconomics I found almost everyone I met to be incredibly friendly and welcoming, and I was surprised at just how easy it was to make friends. Between your course, different sports clubs and societies it's really easy to find like-minded people who share the same interests as you do.
Although I study at the Penryn Campus in Cornwall, I've been to the Streatham Campus lots of times over my degree with work as a Student Ambassador or to visit friends. Exeter, although smaller than large cities like London or Manchester, does have a wide range of nightlife and something for everyone - including not only nightclubs, but also cocktail bars, more old-fashioned pubs, theatres, board game cafes, music venues and lots more. You're also not far from Bristol if you wanted a bigger weekend out or to go and see bigger bands. Certainly if you want to be out clubbing every night of the week until gone 5am then it's probably not the right choice for you, but it definitely still has enough going on as a vibrant student town with over 20'000 students.
If you want some actual data on this topic, the Times do a great job of collating information on this as part of their annual league table - which you can explore here. If you search under the 'Social Inclusion' drop down menu, you can compare universities on different metrics - such as % of ethnic minority students, or % of state school admissions (perhaps a crude proxy for what you describe as being "posh" or not). For example, 16% of Exeter students belong to ethnic minorities, which is comparable to other universities like York and Newcastle, but less diverse than Nottingham where the figure is 36%. Ultimately which course and university is the right choice for you will be a personal decision, but at least this might give you the information to make sure you're well informed to make it.
In your position, I'd recommend you to try and visit each university at their offer-holder open days, if you're able to. I know for Exeter they should be taking place over the next few weeks and you should've received information about this via email shortly after your formal offer. When I was in your shoes looking at different universities I found that actually visiting them, talking to academics and current students, and getting a feel for the nearby town/city (including the nightclubs and bars if that's important to you!), was the best way to really get an understanding of if that university was the right choice for me.
I hope that's helpful, but please get in touch if you have any further questions I can help with.
Kingsley
University of Exeter Student Ambassador