Hi all

I am hoping to start an MPhil/PhD in Social Studies this year.
I have been offered a place at Nottingham University. Any comments welcome. I have asked for an appointment to meet my named supervisor but thought I would seek some "neutral" feedback first.
Also, I have "unofficial" offers from Surrey and Sheffield. comments on them would be useful as well.
Cheers.

Nottingham is a great university. From the three uni's you mention, Nottingham definitely comes top.

Of course, I'm only talking generally here. Obviously the specialisation of your dept/quality of supervisor should be the deciding factor for which uni you choose (before looking more generally at the reputation of the university).

However, that said, I would be reluctant to opt for somewhere like Surrey (a non-red brick and non-RG university) when Sheffield and Notts are on the table.

Thanks for the opinion.
What's RG?

Russell Group.

Does your university being a member of The Russell Group really make that much difference to a PhD student?

Excellent advice by the way.

It depends upon your field of research. Mine is new and so is my university - red-brick universities have very little credence or research standing in my field.

"Does your university being a member of The Russell Group really make that much difference to a PhD student?"

Well RG universities tend to have the best international reputations, the most funding, and, consequently, should offer the best facilities and best academics. Basically, it's just the traditional universities defining themselves as the best. The press are dubbing the RG as the British Ivy League, and therefore, it is gaining a growing reputation of being the creme de la creme of British education. Although this has now been qualified again by the 'Golden Triangle' (Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE, KCL, UCL). One wonders who sits down and comes up with these categorisations!!

All that said, I don't attend a RG university. I chose another university (over Cambridge) because I was offered better funding and the leading expert in my field. Although I'm glad my other degrees are from RG universities, as some companies will only recruit from the RG list.

But as I said, reputation/ranking can only represent one element of your decision. For instance, I'd be swayed towards Notts because it has a lovely campus whereas Sheffield is very urban.

Equally, I would be swayed away from Surrey because of the exorbitant cost of living in Guildford.

One reason to not go for Nottingham (if you were stuck between Sheffield and Nottingham) is having the highest crime/gun rate in the country.

I forgot to ask, is it University of Sheffield or Sheffield Hallam?

It's University of Sheffield that have offered me a place (unofficially at the mo). But Sheffield Hallam have entered me one of their studentships, so I could end up with a place being offered from both Sheffield Unis.
I will not be moving to any of the areas (starting off doing part-time), so cost of living etc isn't an issue. I live in MK so the commute to sheffield is 2 hours, Guildford 2 hours and Nottingham 1 hour.

H go get the stats right actually, its a big myth that Nottingham has the higehst gun rate/crime rate in the country. Im not from Nottingham and so i am not biased so id choose notts

Hi guys
Just to throw another spanner in the works, I may well be being offered a place at The Tizard Centre (University of Kent). This is a completely different research area but one I am very very passionate about. So what are your thoughts on that???

Ok, I apologise, it has ONE of the highest (4th or 5th).

Whereas Sheffield has one of the lowest.

If the OP isn't even relocating, then it doesn't matter I guess.