IanSurvive Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) Hello guys,I am an international applicant from Hong Kong. I have received offers from Universities of Warwick, Birmingham and Edinburgh. I believe I will be firming Warwick (Management). But I need help in deciding which to insure.Both courses at Birmingham and Edinburgh are 'International Business with Japanese' (1 year abroad in Japan). In terms of reputation, the winner has to be Edinburgh? Many people also tell me Edinburgh has great city life, but that's not an issue as I don't particularly enjoy going out drinking, partying and getting drunk...I just want somewhere where I will be taught well and able to meet a close group of friends who enjoy Japanese culture and anime. Warwick particularly appealed to me for its large population base of Hong Kong students; meaning after graduation I will still likely be in contact with them/meet them in Hong Kong.Music is also an important factor for me. Warwick shines in this aspect as to having a music center (with piano practice rooms). Since there are no music degrees at Warwick, everyone has equal rights of renting a music room for personal use/no prioritizing one person over another.Can anyone with insights/experience suggest me what to do? Thanks.P.S. Oh also, Birmingham's offer is 35 points overall (with no subject points requirement other than 5 in English). Whereas Edinburgh is 34 points overall (555, meaning I need a 5 in Math HL). Since it's an insurance, should I expect the worse case scenario of not achieving a 5 in Math HL? That would mean I should choose Birmingham over Edinburgh? Thanks. Edited January 26, 2014 by IanSurvive Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Edinburgh is a great student experience, but actually so is Birmingham. Birmingham is the second biggest city in the UK, over twice as populous as Edinburgh and with a newly re-vamped centre, lots of shopping and cultural stuff to do. It's also a more multi-cultural city in itself. So I think you'd have a great time in both places, to be honest, people love being students in both those cities. Personally I'd go for the insurance that didn't require a HL Maths grade of 5, just because... well it's HL Maths. Anything can happen! Unless you're fairly confident in your Maths skills, and you may well be. Then again, what is your Warwick offer? If Warwick is asking for the same point total as Brum then if you miss out on one, you miss out on both, so it's probably worth going for Edinburgh as they're asking for less. The other bonus of going to Birmingham is that it has good train links with London (so does Edinburgh to be fair, but it's a long way!) and the rest of the UK and actually as a student here for several years it's good fun to travel around. It has great train links going up North and also good trains to Wales. I'd definitely put Edinburgh on your list of places to travel if you don't end up going there! Also London is obviously a good place to go if you're big on music in terms of listening to it, going to concerts etc. as there are a lot of big music venues with opera, classical music, the Proms, pop music... really you name it. Edinburgh isn't too bad for music either though, they also have some big events throughout the year I don't know how helpful that is in helping you make a decision, but anyway it's just something else to think about. Good luck deciding! 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanSurvive Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Edinburgh is a great student experience, but actually so is Birmingham. Birmingham is the second biggest city in the UK, over twice as populous as Edinburgh and with a newly re-vamped centre, lots of shopping and cultural stuff to do. It's also a more multi-cultural city in itself. So I think you'd have a great time in both places, to be honest, people love being students in both those cities.Personally I'd go for the insurance that didn't require a HL Maths grade of 5, just because... well it's HL Maths. Anything can happen! Unless you're fairly confident in your Maths skills, and you may well be. Then again, what is your Warwick offer? If Warwick is asking for the same point total as Brum then if you miss out on one, you miss out on both, so it's probably worth going for Edinburgh as they're asking for less.The other bonus of going to Birmingham is that it has good train links with London (so does Edinburgh to be fair, but it's a long way!) and the rest of the UK and actually as a student here for several years it's good fun to travel around. It has great train links going up North and also good trains to Wales. I'd definitely put Edinburgh on your list of places to travel if you don't end up going there! Also London is obviously a good place to go if you're big on music in terms of listening to it, going to concerts etc. as there are a lot of big music venues with opera, classical music, the Proms, pop music... really you name it. Edinburgh isn't too bad for music either though, they also have some big events throughout the year I don't know how helpful that is in helping you make a decision, but anyway it's just something else to think about. Good luck deciding!Thank you for taking the time to write this! Warwick is 38 points overall (with no subject point requirement) in case you wondered. I don't think I'd get lower than a 5 in Math HL but as you said, anything could happen in the finals and I think I should consider the worst case scenario. But man, everyone (at school) tells me how Edinburgh is so gorgeous and famous . . . etc. And unfortunately, Edinburgh shows detailed descriptions of its course modules offered while Birmingham doesn't (so I can't really comment which one I like more). Do you think the fame of Edinburgh is worth all the risk?Coming from Hong Kong, a place full of skyscrapers and such, I'm not too sure whether I'll like the location at Edinburgh (full of castles and ...etc.). Basically, the fame of Edinburgh over Birmingham is what makes me struggle in this decision. But at the same time, Edinburgh seems to be too lenient on international applicant offers; I've browsed through other forums and it seems most international applicants receive 34 points offers, and it slightly bothers me... Anymore opinions/suggestions are welcomed; really appreciate them~ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrowhead Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Edinburgh isn't a "risk" tbh. It's a pretty fantastic uni and seeing as your desire is (1) To be taught well (2) Meet some people you could later hang out with in Hong Kong, I think that would be possible at either university as both B'ham and Edinburgh have sizeable international populations.B'ham does have more of a 'city life' from what I've been told as compared to Edinburgh, but you would be able to get a great education and make said friends at either uni.Edinburgh does have much more name recognition than B'ham outside of the UK, this is true.So the question for you to answer is: Is a typical city university experience more or less important to you than your university's international reputation? If more important, go for B'ham; if less important, go for Edinburgh.(If I was in your position, I'd go for Edinburgh, personally, on the off-chance you wanted my opinion.)Best of luck with whatever you decide!PS. You do know that Warwick is quite opposite to a city university, right? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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