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Drowned in Sound

im having trouble finding somewhere that i think i'll like.

i'd quite like to do a course in politics (at the moment im doing a level music, history, english lit and politics) and i'd ideally like a city with a bit more culture than middlesbrough without it being ridden with nathan barleys (although if the actual nathan barley was there that might be entertaining for a while)

so far i've got edinburgh down, but i read on here and a few other places it's toss for gigs...the other options are manchester and glasgow so far but yeah, any advice?

elainepaige | 12 Sep '06, 10:27 | Send note | Report this | Reply



  • manchester or leeds

    safe bets

  • Well Middlesbrough

    ain't a city for starters.

    Erm...take a look at Sheffield, Leeds and Bristol.

    • whenever

      i've been to leeds i've always thought it was just like a huge mass of children drinking on the streets 24/7 - (like the boulevard a few years ago dalkin:P)

      • .

        sheffield is a good suggestion. manchester is quite cool but pretty hostile to outsiders.

      • Can't say I ever went

        down to the boulevard:)

        I just went and tried to get served in a pub instead. It worked sometimes.

  • I went to Bristol and loved it

    gigs are fairly good, the other good thing is that the uni is in the city rather than being campus. This makes it nicer if you don't like the awful student cheese nights/school discos.

    It's probably a it too southern for you by the sound of things.

  • You did the same four A-levels as me

    so you are automatically cool ;-)

    Both Edinburgh and Manchester are great universities. Personally I would rather live in Edinburgh but you'll get more on the gig front in Manchester. All depends what your personal priorities are.

  • I did Politics at Exeter

    I loved the course.

    I have nothing else to say on this now.

    • :)

      I think you'vehit the nail on the head there, i think i'd prefer edinburgh to live in, but manchester would be infinately better for gigs.

      saying that, im used to middlesbrough, surely edinburghs not that quiet on the music front?

      where did you go to uni smileadelic?

      My tutor was trying to get me to look at Bristol, it does sound quite good, but i think ill quietly agree it might be a bit too far down south for me (although im not sure why).

      • soup!

        what sort of politics course was it and what was it particuarly that you liked about it

        • It was your average run of the mill course I suppose

          But I had fantastic lecturers and tutors whom I was secretly in love with and who really cared. And because they really cared they offered quite demanding (philosophical/theoretical-based) modules in the 2nd and mostly 3rd years which were probably the most happiest times of my life.

          I have just read this back and I think I sound like the coolest cat ever.

      • lots of people just can't be bothered to go too far across the country

        it's fair enough, some people might accuse you of being scared or whatever, but I say just do what you're comfortable with if that's how you want to do it.

        The weather is better down south though.

      • I went to Southampton

        so no better on the not going to the South front! I think travelling distance is a factor - if only because you don't want to have to take an entire day to get home and back. Makes it very hard to get home for a weekend that way.

        I did apply to Bristol though and it seemed really good. I almost went there actually.

  • I'm doing politics

    at Queen Mary, University of London.

    It was a good choice.

  • York

    the politics department is good and there is a direct train link to the boro.

    leeds is a great city, although a touch scenestery in the music.

    what sort of grades are you looking at?

    • Just go to Liverpool

      as that is where I went - the University, not all the crappy other stuff there like John Moores etc - and don't go to to Manchester as that was my first choice and I didn't get the grades.

      I got a grant when I went - that must make me pure scum somehow?

    • im meant

      to get AAAB in that last year i got AABC but thats just my college predicting rather than anything else.

      • go to manchester

        i like it very much. there are lots of gigs and an ace primark. what more could you ask for?

        • im going down

          for a nosey around manchester in november i think ( around the time annie mac is doing the warehouse ) i've only been there twice i think but it's always agreed with me.

          the only other point is that i do prefer the idea of four years and a more varied degree in scotland than in england...

          • Glasgow Uni

            politics department is a good place. I didn't do it myself but lots of friends who did politics really enjoyed the courses.
            And it's a really good city as well.

            • my friend who did politics

              at glasgow uni hated it and said it was boring.

              i did politics first year at strathclyde, and i found it really interesting and enjoyable to learn.

    • York Disappointed Me

      So I rejected their offer to do Politics!

  • politics at edinburgh sounds really interesting, im applying

    and it's not toss for gigs here either. and glasgow's easy to get to

  • sheffield uni is great!

    the city also gets lots of gigs, but nottingham, leeds and manchester are all in reasonable distance if you need to travel.

  • no-one has mentioned Birmingham!

    I almost dismissed it when I was thinking of places to go to uni, and I was so glad I didn't.

    It's a big city, and there's lots going on. But it's also not too trendy (it is Birmingham, after all!) One stadium size venue, one arena, one medium venue, loads of little venues, good record shops, at least 3 ace indie clubs, two arts galleries, loads of theatres, one of the top 10 orchestras in the world, diverse communities, little animosity between 'town and gown', three universities, loads of train stations, good public transport, an airport, beautiful architecture, everything you'd need in a city but under 10 miles away from lovely countryside.

    I miss Birmingham.

    • a few

      people have suggested birmingham as well actually, you describe it as quite a rounded city as well, i think i might go and check it out seeing as at the moment my only experiences of birmingham are traffic jams on the way to the NEC.

    • I'm going to Manchester this weekend

      and am going to miss Birmingham a lot

  • Manchester would be a fun place to go to uni.

    Any major city really if you wanna have a good time while you're there.

  • I did History

    at Nottingham.

    First Year is amazing because its got an amazing campus. But the second and third years wern't so good as its a bit of a scummy city (like the rest of the midlands). The music scenes pretty good like.

    Other cities/unis I like:

    Leeds
    Edinburgh
    Oxford
    Newcastle

    Other cities/unis i dislike:

    Durham
    Bristol
    York
    Leicester
    Birmingham
    Warwick

    • Agreed

      Run down industrial estates mixed with horrendously rich students who don't know their own worth - fun times!

  • I did Politics at Portsmouth because I'm scum.

    I would recommend the course but obvo your cleverer than I so can onto a Red Brick.

    The Uni for what it's worth is a continuation of school culturally speaking. Some good alternative clubs/pubs/gigs though.

    Some being the operative word.

    • If you're into art and galleries

      Manchester isn't the best but museums, there's a few and it's a good city but I don't think it has any sense of community not like Liverpool has. Liverpool is pretty close-knit and fun. Manchester is best for cinemas, shops, music, club nights - monthly rather than weekend ones. I think this might be one of the hardest cities to make friends in though.

  • bristol

    close to london, tons of good gigs/venues, decent uni, lots of housing at pretty good prices.

  • if you want to do politics

    go to Hull. its ace.

  • SUSSEX

    As well as boasting what (I've been led to believe) is the best Politics course outside of Oxbridge, the following things are true :

    1 - It's just outside Brighton, Brighton being the best city in the UK by miles.

    2 - They let me in to do Politics even though I only got BCCC which was nice of them.

    3 - The course is really easy if you want it to be. I mean, the work is there if you want to do it, but if you don't, they don't really mind, making it incredibly easy going, and allowing you to focus on having the time of your life.

    I wouldn't and couldn't have wished to be anywhere else in the country. At least come and have a look yeah?

    • i just

      did Ctrl + f to make sure noone had put Kingston. Sure, I had a good time, but i didn't intend to go there....accidental y'see.

      i'd feel pretty gypped if i had planned it all along.

  • sussex by the sea

    Join the DiS community of two.