Which Uni?

Flaevius said:
I can't vouch for the calibre of the course, however my other half went to UEA. She enjoyed both the University and living in Norwich, which is compact and has good transport links. Has an excellent music venue on campus too, so positive from a social and nightlife perspective. Main negative is the aesthetics - the campus is a bit of a concrete jungle. I visited twice and felt much the same. Enjoyed Norwich, felt comfortable both in the city and on campus. That info is a few years old though.

CUG table ranks Warwick ahead for law. A similar table by The Guardian has Kent ahead, but all 3 Universities within the top 30 (out of 101).
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We got bussed in on the open day and the first thing you see is the concrete jungle - immediate disappointment :( But then we saw the Law building/accommodation which is away from the main area and a completely different aesthetic (thankfully!)
 
Macky said:
What sort of experience does he want? Lively, sociable, serious, campus, sports, etc. I don't have personal experience at any of those unis, but I imagine the experience will differ greatly.

Purely for reputation I'd imagine Warwick is top of the list.
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Sociable, friendly, no interest in sports and no interest in getting wasted (at the minute!)
 
Another here to suggest Warwick.

Its a nice campus, nice areas around to explore and live later, good connections with companies. Lots of social clubs to join.

Tell him to make the most of it, life is never as easy after. I hope he enjoys it!
 
I would have Warwick as the first choice, with Kent as my second choice out of the options given. The way you framed your situation, it's almost impossible to suggest another top choice!

Warwick is outrageously good for its size, age and budget for traditional subjects. Your son will be challenged while having the benefit of a campus uni to get him started living away from home. Big cities are nearby if he gets bored in later years.

For a standardised subject like Law, the quality of teaching and university reputation will play a significant effect on your son's time at uni and latter skills and career (reputation of uni is more significant if aiming for big global employers and working in London). Basic life skills can be picked up along the way, so I would put the need for a quiet bubble and proximity to parental home secondary for unis with a different profile to Warwick.

However, if your search took you as far as UEA and Uni of Kent, why not consider Nottingham as a reasonable backup choice? Not as intimidating a city as Birmingham or Manchester. Cost of living should be alright too. Good for Law.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
  • Warwick - has an e-sports centre + an hour and a half away from home (attended open day).
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"has an e-sports centre" LOL :D

Come on, be serious...

Warwick is a total no-brainer here regardless of the other stuff, it's just not even close.

A relative of mine went to Warwick, she ended up at a top London law firm earning a ridiculous amount (pay at these sorts of firms has gotten even more ridiculous these days with US firms paying £150k starting salaries in London). She also got sponsorship for her LPC. Plenty of her uni mates from Warwick ended up in decent jobs too.

I doubt grads from the other two courses would be competitive for those sorts of roles. Not that he necessarily will want to end up working in a big fancy firm in London but he might as well have the option to do so and/or be as competitive as possible for various other areas.

SPG said:
Tell him to find a apprentice ship or graduate scheme instead.
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How's he going to get on a (relevant) "graduate scheme"* without first completing a law degree?

(*relevant here would surely be trainee solicitor position or pupilage.)
 
dLockers said:
I wouldn't worry about mum washing clothes etc. A lot of Chinese students would have legit slaves back home; everyone is in a differing stage of culture shock. They'll soon figure it out and lol on the days of not showering and eating super noodles 3 meals a day.
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Wanted to say something similar to this. I've eaten two large Pork Pies and washed them down with a couple of cups of tea today. Third year PhD student... it's par for the course.

I'm not Law so I don't know what the rankings are (easy to find out), but picking a Uni like Warwick which has a good name and is a reasonable distance from home would be a good call. Just to echo what others are saying, the choice of the Uni can be a huge factor in employability come the end of his degree, so that needs to be accounted for. Alongside this, the quality of the teaching will improve with those ranked higher, and based on the location and what is there that suits his interests, the experience outside of Uni is also a key factor to enjoying the time there. Whilst there you can work hard, but equally, play hard and enjoy the experience.
 
dowie said:
"has an e-sports centre" LOL :D

Come on, be serious...

Warwick is a total no-brainer here regardless of the other stuff, it's just not even close.

A relative of mine went to Warwick, she ended up at a top London law firm earning a ridiculous amount (pay at these sorts of firms has gotten even more ridiculous these days with US firms paying £150k starting salaries in London). She also got sponsorship for her LPC. Plenty of her uni mates from Warwick ended up in decent jobs too.

I doubt grads from the other two courses would be competitive for those sorts of roles. Not that he necessarily will want to end up working in a big fancy firm in London but he might as well have the option to do so and/or be as competitive as possible for various other areas.
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We don't know Unis', so the league tables were the main focus, but the fact it had an e-sport centre put another tick in the 'for' box as this is something he relates to.

Very useful other info too - ty.
 
dLockers said:
It is fairly dumb, normally you check the rankings before you go :cry:
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Well looking back i went because i was interested in computers and the idea of learning to programme was interesting so that sold it to me. I’m not from an academic family so i wasn’t pushed to go to uni at all let alone one of the prestigious ones.
 
I've worked with a few startups from Warwick and have done a few guest lectures there. Nothing to do with Law. But anecdotally it felt like a fun and safe place with a good academic record. Probably doesn't help much but certainly from my sector I've had strong graduates from Warwick.
 
Kreeeee said:
The UK job market seems to have a weird aversion to apprenticeships.
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They seemed to drop off a cliff somewhere around maybe 1997 or so - before that they used to be pretty popular. There seemed to be a lot of dodgy goings on with GNVQs and HNDs, etc. around that time as well which might be related.
 
Another vote for Warwick here. Two of my three kids went there and had a fab time. The campus is great and the surrounding areas where the off-campus accommodation is (like Leamington Spa) are also nice.

Degrees from Warwick are very well regarded. My daughter was able to follow-up her Biochemistry degree at Warwick with a PhD at Cambridge and is starting a research scientist role at a biotech startup. My son did a Maths Masters in Warwick and walked into a Risk/Actuary job in London.
 
Warwick and UEA were both on my shortlist so I visited them.
Warwick seemed like a grey depressing soviet bloc out of town. Decent reputation.
UEA seemed friendly, Norwich is a nice town. I wasn't convinced about the calibre/reputation of the uni though, their entrance criteria seemed pretty low (can't remember exactly, BCC or something like that).

In the end I didn't pick either but was quite impressed by UEA.
 
From the 3 Warwick sounds the best.
I'm sure he will get on fine in any of them.
Id be so glad to be going to Uni on campus now, with all this covid BS behind us....
Kids are gonna be wild now, finally a bit of freedom
Make sure he gets a halls place the first year, you meet a lot of people and maybe even some people to house share the year after.
You dont wanna live with people off your course you'll be in each others faces 24/7 can get too much and you get to meet a wider set of people too.
If he doesnt have a GF/BF tell him to get with the 1st person that shows interest and then dump them when better prospects come along...
Dont let him get any credit cards.
dont let him commute home with dirty laundry, nobody likes those kids.
 
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