English?

Hi, I'm going to be applying to read English at uni in 2005. (Doing my A-levels this summer but taking a gap year and applying in the autumn.) Which places would you say have the best reputation for English, apart from Oxbridge (not my thing), London (can't afford it) and Nottingham? I'd just be interested to know what you think. I'm predicted AAAA in English Lit, Music, French and Law, and should get at least AABB. I've got a few prospectuses, and so far I like the look of Warwick and Newcastle a lot. Any thoughts? I'm just confused because all the league tables seem to give you conflicting information. A uni can be no.7 according to The Times and no.32 according to the Guardian etc....you know how it is! Anyway, I'd appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks =)
Katie

Reply 1

slowjamz

Friday's Child

Hey Katie!

I'm doing English at Bristol from this September. Having gone through the application process and knowing a few others who have too, I'd say the general consensus is that the best places for English are Bristol, Warwick, York and Durham, plus Notts and UCL which you already mentioned. You also really can't go wrong with any good uni like Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham or Southampton. And don't pay too much attention to league tables as they usually don't tell you a whole lot :wink:

Best bet is to visit as many unis as possible, decide which you like, and go over the course details and see where would suit you best. Good luck! :smile:

Reply 2

kcpoopoo

anyone know what sheffield is like for english? :redface:

Reply 3

eternalsunshine

No but when I was applying I loved the look of Sussex but ended up preferring london unis.. I was biased because my bf is in london and it was too tempting, but if that hadn't been a factor at all I probably would have gone for Sussex.

Don't worry too much about reputation, you'll find that the course content does vary quite a lot place-place and that might help with your decision making..

Reply 4

Leachboy

I gotta recommend York and Warwick out of solidarity, as they are the two that made me offers :rolleyes:

Best thing to do is open days, it can´t be said enough. I went to open days for both of the above, really helped make up my mind. Talk to people who are at uni as well, though remember one mans chalk is another mans cheese, or something like that.

I´m going to Warwick, great course (hoping to blag my way onto the English and Creative writing course when I get there), and an obscenely well stocked campus. Only problem is you are next to Coventry. Bummer :wink:

But, Warwicks for me, might not be for other peeps, just gotta go there and check it out!

Reply 5

Friday's Child

My boyfriend's at Warwick and it looks really nice....I kind of messed up this year and want to reapply. I got 4 offers, 3 from good unis, so you'll probably think I'm mad for wanting to do this, but I picked the wrong courses, and the only course that looked good was Nottingham. Yeah, I know, people are desperate to get into Nottingham, but I just really didn't like it when I went to visit. Warwick, Manchester and Newcastle are looking particularly good at the moment, and I'm also interested in Southampton and Cardiff. Don't know where else though.

Reply 6

jammyd

My friends at bristol and she loves it.

Reply 7

F. Poste

Be careful though and make sure you put down one or two "insurance" courses (i.e. lower applications :tongue:

laces ratios than normal) at unis you like, because competition is always tough for English and it may be worse next year as fewer people will take gap years to avoid top-up fees.

Reply 8

Friday's Child

Yeah I know, that's a worry......I'm predicted AAAA in English lit, music, French and law and I'm doing English AEA. Hopefully if I get those grades or near enough I'll be at a bit of an advantage anyway, but there's no guarantee! Safer for unis to make unconditional offers to people who've already got the grades. Also, I'm hoping to teachEnglish abroad for a few months, so that will be relevant, surely! Where would be a good place to put as a backup choice?

Reply 9

F. Poste

My back-up choices were Oxford Brookes and Reading- Brookes has a good rep for being one of the best new/ex poly's, but if you're predicted 4 A's then that probably won't appeal. Reading is an old-redbrick so has a better reputation and some of the course options were interesting, but I turned it down because it was too campus-y for me, but if you're thinking of Warwick then that probably wouldn't bother you.

Most uni things went out of my head after I got my first choice offer so sorry that's not much help!

Reply 10

Friday's Child

F. Poste

I actually turned down an offer from Reading this year, so maybe that's not such a plan!

Reply 11

Friday's Child

Just realised I was mentioned my predicted grades twice over. Sorry, I know it's annoying when people go on about all their As, I just forgot what I wrote originally!

Reply 12

F. Poste

Friday's Child

I actually turned down an offer from Reading this year, so maybe that's not such a plan!

Did you go to the English open day there?

Reply 13

Friday's Child

No, I didn't. I would have done, but 3 out of my 4 choices had open days on the same day. To be honest, Reading is a bit close to home. It's only 15 minutes from where my dad works. I suppose if it was only a backup choice that wouldn't be much of an issue though, and it is still a good uni. My mum did her PGCE there after a languages degree from Southampton, so she's got a soft spot for both. I like the look of Southampton, but it would be a bit weird because both my parents went there.

Reply 14

F. Poste

I wasn't trying to convince you :biggrin:

I was just wondering if you were put off too by the person who blabbered on about the obvious for at least ten minutes...

Who was that?

I can't remember who they were, they just went on and on about things I'd read a billion times on message boards like this and HE websites..

Reply 17

~Sam~

Friday's Child

Yeah, I really like the look of Reading for English but it's too near. I go there all the time and I want a change. I'm thinking of UEA and Sussex for my insurance unis as they only want BBB