Picking a University

Ant is now at the stage of trying to decide which Universities to apply to. It’s very different from my day, when there were fewer universities, fewer applicants and so on. I never visited any of them until I was interviewed, whereas Ant and her peers are expected to go to a range to see what they are like.

It strikes me as a slightly bogus exercise, and (along with student fees) encourages a consumer mentality which I sure is not the healthiest way of looking at Higher Education.

Reading all the prospectuses, it is hard to distinguish between them: does she choose an institution dedicated to excellence in research and teaching, or one dedicated to excellence in research and teaching and engagement...?

She’s looking at Sheffield this week as it has the best climbing wall in the country. It seems as good a criterion as any...