[Waqqle]

I am in my mid-20's and planning to attend a university for my master's degree in the UK because my current situation makes it more advantageous to do it in the UK rather than in the US. I have not decided which city yet but, so far, I have narrowed it down to:

Belfast
Glasgow
Liverpool
Nottingham
Newcastle
Norwich
Canterbury
Cambridge
Leeds
Sheffield
Bristol
Bath
Chester
York
Leicester
Bradford

I am primarily interested in living in an interesting city and having plenty of opportunities for recreation such as sports, martial arts, nature, easily accessible nearby cities to explore, hobby clubs, etc. Additionally, I am not sure how much of a thing cars are in the UK but I do not want to need one. The more walkable a city is, the better.

As for women and game, I tend to gravitate more toward non-white and mixed girls but I have gone for white girls in the past as well. I of course would prefer an advantageous gender ratio as I am sure anyone would and, if there is a place where an American accent will give me a leg up, that is always a plus. Personally, I tend to lean mostly on daygame and social circle game which is one reason I want to live in an interesting and historic city. It is always easier in my experience to make friends if there are many activities to engage in and local stuff to talk about.

Are the cities I have listed here generally good and, if so, which of them could be considered the best? If there are any that I have forgotten, please do mention them.

Thanks very much for any advice.


*Not sure if this question was asked and answered already but I was unable to find it when I searched.

[Conquistador]

Not from UK but I'd imagine that your race might be important to include. I have heard of British and Aussie accents come off as attractive in the US, but have never heard of American accent being attractive anywhere. Also, why is Cardiff not in the running? It has four universities and a fairly large population.

[Waqqle]

(12-06-2018 11:16 PM)Conquistador Wrote:  

Not from UK but I'd imagine that your race might be important to include. I have heard of British and Aussie accents come off as attractive in the US, but have never heard of American accent being attractive anywhere. Also, why is Cardiff not in the running? It has four universities and a fairly large population.

I'm white. American accents are definitely considered attractive in most non-English speaking countries in my experience because, if you are American, you are exotic and many people want to practice their English with someone who has a clear (to them) accent so you tend to get automatic points with those who do speak some English but I do not know about Anglophone countries. As for Cardiff, I did not know that it was a university city. Does it have a pretty young and active population then?

[Bienvenuto]

Forget Bradford.

Unless you are a fully paid up Syed Farook imitating American, full beard, female slaves and AK and all.

Its a shithole.

If you are merely an easy-going American muslim you would hate it.

The same could be said of Birmingham EXCEPT that whilst its an absolute hole to live in, its meant to be awesome as a student town. Graduate, live there.. and you will hate it - unless your life revolves around race wars with local Sikhs and attending madrassas.

But everyone I know who studied there loved it.

I hear really good things about Sheffield. I actually spent time there to see if it was a place I wanted to live. Cool city built on hills. Apparently the student scene is awesome.
One thing though, the women are the ugliest I have ever seen in the UK. It was like living in Scotland. I stayed in a hostel with teams of electricians, plumbers, staying there and we all agreed on the same thing.. the ugliest selection of women, local or student, we had ever seen in England.

Belfast, Glasgow and Liverpool are the cities in the UK with the most distinctive accents, people and character: but they are all 3 'tough towns' with lots of poverty and violence. You could apply that to lots of British cities but Glasgow, Liverpool and Belfast stand alone.

As a student you might not see it as all three have gentrified to a certain extent but these are towns where foreigners are still stabbed and killed for .. being foreign and where sectarianism and gang warfare are real things.
Still, nothing on the scale of American inner cities.
and if you're an optimist then you could take your American identity as something that will give you a lot of exotic flavour to the local women you meet there.
But if you are into mixed race women you won't find that many in Glasgow or Belfast.

I studied in Manchester for three years in the mid 90s and again in 2004/5.
Its like Leeds and Birmingham in that it has 3 or 4 major unis all in the town centre so the student scene is huge.
I hear good things about Leeds.
Manchester is great for sport and martial arts and the local landscape outside the city is awesome (same with Sheffield).
When I was there in the mid 90s it was known as Gun-chester and my student house was broken into three or four times a year.
Home invasions with guns happened to friends, pitched battles with local gangs at house parties and pubs, other friends were jumped and beaten unconscious so badly on their way home that they needed plastic surgery.
A great student town apart from the crime and violence but that's where locals do prey on vulnerable students.
I went back in 2004 and because I was a mature student keeping my head in the books then I didn't see it as much but I still was involved in violence with local muggers that could have ended up in court had the allegations not been dropped by all sides. And for every altercation there was night after night of walking the gauntlet and being taunted all the way home through the backstreets.

When I was considering returning to Manchester I did check out Cardiff and, in fact, everybody said 'Cardiff is much better'. It seemed a pretty cool town and very good student scene, all basically in walking distance. You might wanna consider there.

Can't speak to the race-ratios of the females though.

[Marmite]

I am from Liverpool, and it is a decent city to live in. Plenty of nightlife, and a decent student scene. Three main universities in the city, and another on the outskirts.

Do you know what you're going to study, and which universities offer the course you want?

[Nordwand]

Both Cambridge and Bath have a reputation for prohibitively expensive real estate, and are both known tourist traps, so you may find that they will cost you more, day to day, than other locations.

As per the other poster, forget Bradford. Also, avoid Belfast, unless you're well versed on the history and are aware of what you're getting into.

Birmingham, doesn't offer as much as you would think, given it's size.

[WalterBlack]

Nobody gives a shit about American accents in London - there's a tonne of American tourists walking around central London all the time.

Outside of London would be a different story...

[Waqqle]

(12-07-2018 12:27 AM)Bienvenuto Wrote:  

Forget Bradford.....

Wow, thanks a ton for all of that info! I really appreciate it and it has helped me shorten my list. I'm ok with living in a pretty ethnically homogeneous city as the most diverse ones seem to invariably be the most ratchet and/or boring as well like East London, Bradford, and Wolverhampton (according to a news report I watched). I'll just have to content myself with white girls for a year. I've certainly endured worse in life and I'm sure I'll find a way to manage.

As for Belfast, Glasgow, and Liverpool, is the crime and violence there mostly related to long-running feuds and such or is it mostly indiscriminate and not confined to any particular part of the city? In the US, the rule is generally that the north side of a major city is the nicer side and south side is where most of the crappiness is. I guess what I am asking is whether I as an out-of-towner would be able to avoid all that for the most part if I lived in a certain region of town or just did not step on anyone's toes.

I've heard a little about Nottingham but not much other than that it is a college town and there is a fairly substantial amount of crime there.

Manchester sounds pretty hardcore. I definitely do not want to have my place get burgled or get shanked.

How do the smaller but picturesque cities stack up in terms of lifestyle and all? I've seen photos of Bath, York, Chester, Norwich, and Bristol and been very impressed. It looks like Durham is a good place for nature hikes and things like that as well which could be very nice during my off time when I am not in the books. I really like having nature be accessible and I think it is good for the psyche to go on hikes or row a rented kayak down the river every now and then. I also feel myself gravitating more toward one of those smaller towns because I want to get a proper British experience with the architecture, making friends, learning history, visiting nearby historic cities and towns, maybe learning a few local recipes to save money on eating out, etc. I do not know how any of those cities are lifestyle-wise though and, if possible, I would prefer to avoid a Sheffield scenario where I am surrounded by untouchable women.

This may seem a ridiculous question but are gyms popular in the UK? I have lived in Asia for a number of years and it can be tricky in some countries to find a decent gym and, if you can find one, it is usually pretty pricey. Is this the case in the UK as well?

How do all of these cities compare in terms of average living costs, assuming that I am renting a 1-room studio apartment near campus, cooking most of my own meals, and not drinking much (I don't drink unless it is 1 or 2 beers for a social event once or twice a month)?

Thanks again!

[Waqqle]

(12-07-2018 01:04 AM)Marmite Wrote:  

I am from Liverpool, and it is a decent city to live in. Plenty of nightlife, and a decent student scene. Three main universities in the city, and another on the outskirts.

Do you know what you're going to study, and which universities offer the course you want?

I'm intending to get a master's in TESOL so I can have better options career-wise as an English teacher. I've worked in the field before and I like it but I want to move up and get those sweet university jobs in the future. I'm getting my CELTA in March and having a TESOL on top of that basically makes it so that I will never have to drag myself back to the US again.

[Waqqle]

(12-07-2018 01:24 AM)Nordwand Wrote:  

Both Cambridge and Bath have a reputation for prohibitively expensive real estate, and are both known tourist traps, so you may find that they will cost you more, day to day, than other locations.

As per the other poster, forget Bradford. Also, avoid Belfast, unless you're well versed on the history and are aware of what you're getting into.

Birmingham, doesn't offer as much as you would think, given it's size.

I suppose that is not too shocking. Bath and York definitely deserve the tourism. They are beautiful. What city might they be comparable to in terms of cost? Surely they would not be on par with London?

My experience with very big cities has been that I tend to just stay in one area of them because they mostly look the same in all areas so it winds up being as if I had stayed in a boring small town with higher crime, higher costs, and no nature or historic architecture. That being as it is, I figure I might as well choose a smaller city with historic architecture and lower crime that I can walk around in and easily access nature and other towns from.

As for Belfast, I am vaguely aware of the history between the Protestant Loyalists and the Irish Catholic Republicans and the tensions that exist between them but I do not know what the gang situation is in the city. Is the Catholic/Republican and Protestant/Loyalist divide the main issue I would need to keep in mind or is the gang and crime situation much more complex than that?

[Waqqle]

(12-07-2018 01:53 AM)WalterBlack Wrote:  

Nobody gives a shit about American accents in London - there's a tonne of American tourists walking around central London all the time.

Outside of London would be a different story...

That makes sense. I certainly want to steer clear of other Americans as much as I can. a handful of them at university is fine but I don't want to see them all over because I don't want to get dragged into conversations about the old country and how things are more familiar and logical there. If I'm going to be in the UK, I want to be in the UK, not in some colonial exclave of New York or California.

[hv123]

Belfast - don't know it heard it can be dodgy
Glasgow - shit hole/decent arts
Liverpool - good fun city, people funny,
Nottingham - mediocre/shit hole
Newcastle - top party city/some parts shit hole. people nuts/appear to speak a different language, lots of students
Norwich - fairly isolated
Canterbury - small. nice though.
Cambridge - good place for students but ££ lot of students obviously
Leeds - good night out - many parts shit hole - relatively cheap
Sheffield - as leeds, better access to countryside (need car though for that). but less to do in the city.
Bristol - good night out. Put it on a par with newcastle, natives marginally more sane
Bath - nice place, pretty compact. Not big though
Chester - don't know it that well, but fairly small
York - good place for no car - compact, near the country, very historical. A uni city
Leicester - shit hole mainly, decent night out I guess
Bradford - terrible shit hole, near to leeds. Near the countryside though.

There's no gap between Leeds and bradford, it's one conurbation.

Depends what your budget is. Everywhere "nice". I,e York, Bath, Cambridge etc is going to be expensive. Bradford not, but you'd be insane to settle there. All big cities have nice parts though. There's a lot of money in Leeds. York and Bath have chavvy parts.

I think of those places, york would be my preferred. The campus isn't central though (obviously plenty of buses). It is on the "main" trainline to london and scotland.

[sterlingarcher]

I'd say Bristol or Bath would be good student cities.



I haven't been back to either for a while though...

[hv123]

Cars a definitely a thing in the uk. The roads are among the most congested in the world.
https://www.driving.co.uk/news/britain-a...ffic-jams/

With that being said cars are cheap to buy second hand. It amazes me what piles of shit are worth in the USA. You can get a reasonable car for a few hundred, if you are not bothered about style. However, insurance is going to be your problem as it's expensive generally and very expensive for non nationals, from what I understand. If you live in a studio it's unlikely that you will have parking. Britain is way way less car orientated in terms of parking etc than the USA, although everyone has a car.

[MrTickle]

Try Guildford. It's a campus uni so everything is compact, they do nursing there too. About 30 mins by train into London.

[tylerdurden1993]

I can give you some information about Newcastle as I've lived near there.

They have two massive universities there Newcastle and Northumbria so I'm sure there's plenty of sports clubs etc.

Newcastle's got good train links to other cities in the UK. It's about 20 minutes away from Durham a beautiful city, about an hour away from York/Leeds, a couple of hours to the Scottish cities and about 3.5 hours from London.

Newcastle's got very good public transport, its got a metro service that runs from about 6am to 11pm. That will get you to most places in the city and the surrounding areas its pretty cheap as well about £5 for a day ticket.

Newcastle is pretty much white working class demographically, I would imagine an American accent would be a positive though.

Newcastles' got plenty of good nightlife as well both in the city and out in the other areas. Gyms are quite popular up there as its part of the whole 'geordie shore' culture which means in some places male competition is high i.e. certain nightclubs.

If you want to read more about the city there's an excellent datasheet here
thread-38752.html

[Bienvenuto]

Glasgow datasheet.

thread-36485...ht=glasgow

Guy had a positive attitude and positive experience.

[hv123]

(12-07-2018 05:06 AM)tylerdurden1993 Wrote:  

I can give you some information about Newcastle as I've lived near there.

They have two massive universities there Newcastle and Northumbria so I'm sure there's plenty of sports clubs etc.

Newcastle's got good train links to other cities in the UK. It's about 20 minutes away from Durham a beautiful city, about an hour away from York/Leeds, a couple of hours to the Scottish cities and about 3.5 hours from London.

Newcastle's got very good public transport, its got a metro service that runs from about 6am to 11pm. That will get you to most places in the city and the surrounding areas its pretty cheap as well about £5 for a day ticket.

Newcastle is pretty much white working class demographically, I would imagine an American accent would be a positive though.

Newcastles' got plenty of good nightlife as well both in the city and out in the other areas. Gyms are quite popular up there as its part of the whole 'geordie shore' culture which means in some places male competition is high i.e. certain nightclubs.

If you want to read more about the city there's an excellent datasheet here
thread-38752.html

Newcastle is a way under rated city. I'd forgotten about the metro. That's very convenient. You can live for relatively cheap out somewhere decent like Jesmond and get the metro in to the city centre.

[Cuchulainn2016]

Agree with what people say about Newcastle, I have many friends who rate it highly.

Crime wise, Belfast/Northern Ireland is probably the safest out of most major cities. Avg. to low Murder rate and serious crime rates and very low petty crime rate (though petty crime rate is increasing).

Another thing to consider is which university you want to attend, some are much more recognised than others, and it can depend on specific disciplines.

I recently completed another MSc (I have a few!) at Queens University Belfast. So here are my thoughts:
Housing : very cheap compared to the rest of the UK cities
General costs expensive compared to rest of UK (pint of beer £3.50 to 4, plenty of student discounts though)
Lifestyle : plenty of bars, clubs, within walking distance of uni areas, run the gamut from amiable shithole, to stuck up champagne swilling. Can be very quiet during weeknights, but lots of "student nights"
University : well respected worldwide (in my field anyway)
Women: mostly the same as the rest of the UK, lots of ugly butches, but some stunning Celtic lasses, a lot of eu and worldwide students too.

Legacy of "Troubles" : broadly, the troubles caused the low crime crate within northern Ireland (apparently during the most murderous year of the troubles, there were more murders in Liverpool!). There may be a couple of days of low level riots per year, but these are kept to the usual shit hole areas. Most young people (especially students) don't give a fuck about the past, more likely to get upset over brexit. Foreigners are generally given a pass over misunderstand the troubles, and there is a tourist industry built around the history of the troubles. However, Americans, especially "Irish" Americans may be slightly less tolerated. And the few red-pilled citizens may make their displeasure known. This is because the funding for the majority of terrorism came from America, primarily new York, Boston, Chicago.

Can't say about other cities, cause any long term stays as a student are from too long ago.

Best thing is to draw up a shortlist, and visit those cities student areas. You can even rent a uni room for a short time in some unis.

[Irn Bru Protein]

Glasgow is a great city

Fantastic nightlife and a thriving music scene.

Friendly as fuck.

Lots of gyms.

Two of the biggest supported football teams in Europe with one of the most intense derby games worldwide.

Lots of hills to climb just outside the city if you’re that way inclined.

Cheap rent if you’re willing to look out with the student orientated ‘west end’

50 miles from Edinburgh as well

[Mikestar]

Newcastle or Leeds if you like partying hard with white chicks who love the American accent.

[Bikal]

(12-06-2018 09:49 PM)Waqqle Wrote:  

Are the cities I have listed here generally good and, if so, which of them could be considered the best?

Why are you basing it on city, this is university and something that can have a major impact going forward.

What are you expected to achieve in your A-Levels? Are you good enough for Oxbridge or is it a Russell Group uni for you? Perhaps you can't get RG either but you can still get into a decent university.

What's your intended major as well, unlike the US we don't have some liberal arts BS, you pick a major and you study that plus a minor if you so wish.

Out of the cities, I'd pick none from your list, I'd go with London or Birmingham, two hubs, lots of students, lots to do although Birmingham has shit universities as Uni of Birmingham is 84th in the rankings.

[RedKurrant]

I’m from Cambridge and know the city very well.

Pros: compact city (cycling is preferred choice of transport as its so flat around here), plenty of parks, has a nice albeit small historic core which lots of tourists frequent, city is surrounded by a number of quaint villages and unspoilt countryside, a lot of female student, as well as those who work in the growing tech industry, are from around the world so you have a nice mix of poon, the uni societies and their parties are incredible and completely different to the nightlife that is on offer for local (although we do have very nice pubs), you’re one hour away from London by train... and most importantly, you’d be getting a degree from one of, if not the best university in the world.

Cons: Very expensive - in fact so expensive it’s the third most unaffordable city to live in the U.K., because it’s a small city it can get boring (although this is offset by the university societies which offer lots of fun socials), local women are grim (but that’s the same all over U.K.), public transport around the city and surrounding area is shite (you’ll need a bicycle).

Apologies for horrendous formatting but am at work atm so will tidy up later

[Teedub]

Not sure why Bienvenuto mentioned Sikhs... they are on our side, he probably meant Muslims.

Also, Manchester isn't anywhere as bad as made out by someone previously. Ask Constitution45, he visited me recently and was very impressed with it. If anything, it's becoming too upmarket for my tastes. Plus, as a student, not much beats it. It's also cosmopolitan so your tastes will be met.

Avoid Bradford like the plague. Sheffield, Liverpool, Oxford are all good shouts. Though American accents aren't super rare in Oxford. I think for your diversity requirements/American accent uniqueness, Manchester is your best bet. When you're here, give me a shout and I'll show you the sights.

[Saweeep]

Always go bigger.

Most of those "cities" are only there because they have a cathedral (the english definition of what makes a city a city).

Manchester or Birmingham.