Moving over in September, and I need your help!

Hi everyone!

My name is Caroline. I am a 21 year old student living in/near Boston, MA. I've been lurking for a bit, reading various topics, and heeding all your wonderful advice.

Here is where you could all really help me, and if this is in the wrong place, mods, I apologize, I just really want this to be read.

I am planning to get my Master's degree next year in the UK. I've gotten into 6 schools so far, but unfortunately cannot visit before I arrive. Yep. I have to pick one sight unseen and it is SCARY. So any information you have on the following schools/areas would be SOOOO greatly appreciated.

1. University of Aberystwyth
2. St. Andrew's (Fife, Scotland)
3. University of Newcastle
4. University of Nottingham
5. University of York
6. University of Warwick

And the 2 I haven't yet heard from but think I love:
7. University of Bristol
8. University of Edinburgh



I'd love to know what the town is like, how close the campus is to said town, how life generally is in the area....anything at ALL that you can tell me!

Thanks so much everyone,

Caroline

welcome, Caroline!  I haven't lived in any of those areas (just visited a few) so I can't give lots of advice, but to help you make your decision, I would start with which schools you'll get the most out of academically, then move to what kind of area you'd like to live in (Aberystwyth is a very different vibe from Edinburgh!) and hopefully that will narrow down the list some.

Hi, welcome to the forum .

What subject will you be studying for your Masters? I think that all of those universities are pretty good, but if you can look at the league tables (if you haven't already), you can see how each university is ranked compared to the others, both generally and also in your subject area (you can find tables here and here).

I have only personally been to two of the universities you mention - my best friend was doing her PhD at Warwick and I visited her once; and I did my own masters at Bristol.

Warwick University is a nice campus, with lots of modern buildings and space to move around in. However, it is pretty much located in the countryside and is actually much closer to the city of Coventry than it is to the town of Warwick!! It's about 3 miles from the centre of Coventry and about 8 miles from Warwick. The campus is pretty self-contained, although I believe there's a bus service to Warwick and to Coventry.

Bristol University is a non-campus institution, so the campus buildings are scattered amongst the shops and residential roads in the city. However, it has some lovely buildings (my department (tall building at top of hill)) and I would definitely recommend it if you get an offer from them - although I might be slightly biased since Bristol is my home town, I attended the university for a year and two of my friends are PhD students there .

Not sure about life in Warwick, but Bristol has a lot of variety . Just fifteen minutes' walk from the university is the Broadmead/Cabot Circus shopping centre with hundreds of shops (Cabot Circus is brand new) and I heard last year that there are 400 clubs, pubs and bars within a 1-mile (or maybe it was 2-mile) radius of the university!!

Hi and welcome!
It really depends on what you want to study.  Most, if not all, of the universities you list are good in most areas, but some have better social scenes than others.  It's best to first exclude the ones that aren't close to your subject area before trying to look at the social aspect.

I agree with the others that it's best to choose the uni that has the best program in your subject area - especially as many MA/MSc programs are just one year, and even if you don't love the location you can probably deal with it for a year to get the best degree possible.

I visited Warwick University in the mid-1990s and found it a bit bleak and run down - but of course a lot could have changed since then. I remember two things in particular - extremely depressing, grotty student halls and a student union bar that was fitted out to look exactly like an airport departure lounge. It really did, too - it was hilarious!

I know a guy who did an MA at York and loved it. He said the university was just outside the town centre but easily accessible, and that he liked the university and his experience there (he didn't go into much detail, though). York itself is lovely - but not a huge town. Depending on what you're after it might start to feel small after a while. It is nice, though 

Hi Caroline!  I am looking to do a Masters as well.  I visited the University of York and I was very impressed with the school, facilities, and the staff.  I will be looking to do a Masters in Medieval Literature.  I have been to St. Andrews and it was beautiful; but, I haven't actually looked around the university proper (but, it is next on my list).  I second what Springhaze said about choosing a school based on an academic perspective first and area second.

However, I can offer a bit of information about York.

University of York has some campus buildings literally right outside the medieval city walls.  The rest of the campus is a short bus ride from town centre.  I find York a lively and beautiful city.  It is steeped in history and the countryside surrounding it is breathtaking.  Leeds is close by train and also offers a good social atmosphere.  York does become a bit full of tourists at certain times of the year; but, if you can handle that, it is a lovely place to be (I haven't lived there yet.  However, I am adding some info from people I know who have).  It is a very walkable city (at least the main portions inside the walls) and does have a decent public transit system. 

Looking around on rightmove.co.uk, it seems that apartment rental prices are a bit less expensive than down south; but, a bit higher than the smaller areas in Yorkshire.

If you can let us know what you are doing your masters in, we can provide a bit more guidance on the schools themselves.  Good luck!