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Would I be mad to choose Sussex over Edinburgh?!

I have offers from:

UEA, Sussex, Edinburgh and Manchester to study International Development with Anthropology and variations of.
I am really leaning towards Sussex as it is a small campus, in a cool little place like Brighton and is near the IDS (Institute of Development Studies). But, the Edinburgh offer is ringing in my ears a bit as it is such a well respected university. The course is not as good and the main focus is on anthropology and not development... but "University of Edinburgh" definately sounds better then "University of Sussex".
Plus, Edinburgh is four years and I am already going to be just 21 when I go.
Any general thoughts??? Anyone out there looking to so International Development/Anthropology courses?
Am thinking definately not Manchester as the city and university just seem a bit too mad, and am still waiting on SOAS but think an offer from them is unlikely.
I went to University of Manchester this year to study English Lit, but dropped out for several reasons, one of them being that I really didn't care about English Lit(!) so I need to make the right decision this time.
Any help greatly appreciated! :eek3:

Reply 1

Wilkin

I think you should go to a University that YOU like, not necessarily to a place that just "looks good" on a CV. Besides, Sussex has a rapidly growing reputation, consistently ranking in the top 10 in a lot of its courses. You dropped out of Manchester because of the area (among other things) if I understood correctly, so make sure you get a good balance of University location and degree course, and Sussex sounds like a good compromise between the two.

Mind you, I also have an offer from Sussex, and I've visited it twice now, so I may just be a TINY bit biased here :P

Reply 2

adilmorrison

12

No, you wouldn't be mad... University reputation is only really significant in a small number of areas... Sussex is really well respected for Anthropology (I don't know about Edinburgh), and by the sounds of it, you're only really even considering Edinburgh on the basis of it's reputation. As you've said, you've already left a university, so go somewhere you'll enjoy spending the next three years...

Reply 3

andysmith25

10

Sussex is a brilliant uni, and as others have said, you've got to look beyond reputation - now I may be biased, but imo, Sussex has it all, very well-rounded - great area, nightlife, campus, and it is actually very good academically. If you prefer the course at Sussex as well, I'd say definitely go for it!

Reply 4

artorscience?

11

caffee

The course is not as good and the main focus is on anthropology and not development... but "University of Edinburgh" definately sounds better then "University of Sussex".
Plus, Edinburgh is four years and I am already going to be just 21 when I go.
Any general thoughts???

At Edinburgh you would be studying Social Anthropology + 2 outside subjects for your first two years and wouldn't do any Development until 3rd and 4th year, you can see the course structure here. If you are certain that you want to do development then Edinburgh's course clearly isn't the course for you and you would be doing the right thing going to Sussex. But if you'd like to spend your first 2 years studying a wide range of subjects before specialising in the direction that you chose when you have been at university for a bit then Edinburgh has more for you than Sussex. Your age and it being a 4 year course are fairly unimportant (as far as I'm concerned) but if you are self-conscious about how old you'll be/ you are then it is an important consideration.

Both universities are well respected, it's most important that you pick the university that you'll be happy with and the course that you want to do.

Reply 5

caffee

OP

2

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I think i should forget about reputation, for the few words typed on your CV, an uncertain 4 years is a bit of a waste I suppose! I think I will choose Sussex then... I just needed people to clarify that I wasn't mad! Especially after some comments from people like "are you nuts?! Edinburgh is AMAZING" etc etc.
And I didn't realise that about Edinburgh.. no Development until 3rd and 4th year?! Definately not good for me... Hmm! Thanks guys! :yep:

Reply 6

WokSz

17

Everyone has different priorities but Edinburgh is definitely a far better University and city life there is amazing!

Reply 7

Sophie K

To be frank, yes, you'd be completely crazy to choose Sussex over Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a very prestigous university and has a much better repuatation than Sussex amongst employers than Sussex. You'll reget choosing Sussex over Edinburgh.

Reply 8

Haps

1

Manchester is head and shoulders above the rst, you'd be mad to pass on it. Manchester is going to be in the top 25 universities in the world by 2015. The city is awesome you'll never have a boring night out there.

Reply 9

Absurd

16

I agree with most of what has been said above. You would not be crazy to pass up Edinburgh in favour of Sussex if it is the right course for you.

Haps

Manchester is head and shoulders above the rst, you'd be mad to pass on it. Manchester is going to be in the top 25 universities in the world by 2015. The city is awesome you'll never have a boring night out there.

Whereas Edinburgh University is already there? :tongue:

In the grand scheme of things, world rankings don't really matter that much.

Reply 10

irishgirl17

This is really weird im in a really similar situation....applied for anthropology at sussex, edinburgh, manchester and lse, i got my application in fairly late and ive only got an offer from sussex so far but i think it looks like a really nice place to study and the course sounds brilliant. i'm also gonna be 21 starting and i dropped out of an english lit course in trinity college in dublin, which is a highly respected uni and supposedly the best in ireland, but the course and the place really didn't suit me so im not going to choose based on the reputation this time! i think sussex is going to be my firm because i way prefer the sound of the course there.

Reply 11

caffee

OP

2

irishgirl17

This is really weird im in a really similar situation....applied for anthropology at sussex, edinburgh, manchester and lse, i got my application in fairly late and ive only got an offer from sussex so far but i think it looks like a really nice place to study and the course sounds brilliant. i'm also gonna be 21 starting and i dropped out of an english lit course in trinity college in dublin, which is a highly respected uni and supposedly the best in ireland, but the course and the place really didn't suit me so im not going to choose based on the reputation this time! i think sussex is going to be my firm because i way prefer the sound of the course there.

Ahh freaky! Well, maybe I will see you at Sussex... they are like 5th in the country for Anthropology (although I guess league tables = :s-smilie:

sometimes). Good luck anyway, I am definately starting to question how much reputation actually stands for, I thought Manchester was a terrible university!!

Reply 12

caffee

OP

2

Haps

Manchester is head and shoulders above the rst, you'd be mad to pass on it. Manchester is going to be in the top 25 universities in the world by 2015. The city is awesome you'll never have a boring night out there.

I started at University of Manchester and frankly thought it was an awful University. And I don't really care about 5th Ave, Tiger Tiger or that other huge club!! I appreciate that the city is rather cool though, being someone who loves culture etc. I thought Rusholme was fantastic... but that was about it... :rolleyes:

Reply 13

CatexW

13

A couple of people thought I was mad for choosing the University of Manchester over the University of Edinburgh but I didn't care. Go where you want to go!

Reply 14

dogtanian

16

Sussex has a truly excellent Anthropology dept. As does Edinburgh.

I'm not about to say which one you should go to. I love both (Edinburgh was my firm, but I ended up at Sussex and loved it), but people who are saying that Edinburgh is better, end of, clearly don't know that Sussex is very well respected for your subject, as is Edinburgh.

Choose your university for you. Sussex is a good university, you won't be mad to pick it. But it's up to you. Visit both, make your choice.

Reply 15

dumbus_blondus

6

i reckon definitely go for sussex, you're not keen on the course at edinburgh, if four years unspecialised isn't what you want then don't go for it! last year i turned down exeter which gave me a 3 A offer for sussex (AAB) because although i could meet exeter's offer and it's more reputable, i loved sussex to bits! and i agree with what other people have said, it's not about just ranking, it's about the university experience as a whole, and sussex has it all, more so than edinburgh (where also if you're worried about the age thing, which you shouldn't be, remember they all start at 17 i think, so have more trouble with ID etc...)! pick sussex, you won't regret it, because you'll be somewhere you want to be and really like for three whole years.

Reply 16

crazydaveuk

I won't lie, Edinburgh has a better overall rep, especially for more traditional subjects.

BUT Sussex is huge for development and anthropology. It's very well respected in that field, trailblazing even, and its students are certainly visible on campus. I always saw them campaigning, protesting, about something... :rolleyes:

I studied philosophy at Sussex, which I applied to largely because of my love of Brighton. It's a fantastic place, especially if you're any kind of scenester / clubber. I miss it a lot. But Edniburgh is a fantastic city too... it's not like it's Bognor, or Hull or something!!

Also don't forget about travel issues - I somewhat indiscriminately didn't apply to anywhere "oop north" and as a result enjoyed the ability to easily pop home whenever I wanted...

I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you.

Reply 17

Sophie K

CatexW

A couple of people thought I was mad for choosing the University of Manchester over the University of Edinburgh but I didn't care. Go where you want to go!

But that's different because both Manchester and Edinburgh are top excellent unis and are about the same level academically (although Edinburgh may edge it by a whisker). So in that case you were right to choose the unviersity where you thought you'll enjoy spending 3 or 4 years at. However, there's light years between Edinburgh and Sussex in terms academnic reputation. Anyone who chooses Sussex over Edinburgh is quite frankly barking mad in my opinion.

Reply 18

irishgirl17

caffee

Ahh freaky! Well, maybe I will see you at Sussex...

I know it's like ur me!! :smile:

The thing with the leauges and that is that they're so broad, Trinity is always top here because it's harder to get in than anywhere else, even though their graduate employment is lower than some of the ITs here. Its all statistics really, and the name of a uni at best is going to get an employers attention, but its not going to gaurantee you anything, so its better to go somewhere you like and you'll get more out of, especially if like sussex they're really highly ranked for your subject. plus doing a lot of extra cirriculars is a really big help to future prospects, and it can be easier to get involved in a smaller uni i think. but thats just me :smile:

Reply 19

Grapevine

13

I don't think you'd me "mad" at all. The situation would be different if it were, say, London South Bank or UCL, but the difference in overall academic performance/standards between Edinburgh and Sussex isn't as great as that.

You sound like you prefer the course at Sussex and Sussex/Brighton in general so I would pick that if I was you. As long as you think it through you can be sure that you did what was best for you. And as some others have said, uni reputation doesn't make a huge amount of difference when applying for jobs - only in some industries.

Would I be mad to choose Sussex over Edinburgh?!

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