I\'m new here so sorry if similar questions have been asked before, but basically I\'m lost trying to make up my mind on which Universities to chose for a general LLM. Rankings do matter a lot to me, but what I really look for the most is to have a great University experience and social life. Having said that, my biggest issue is that I have never been to any of the Universities I applied to and won\'t be able to come either, which makes it extremely difficult to decide where to go. Prospectuses and Internet Sites all look equally good but I\'m worried I might end up in a totally different place than I imagined.
So here are the Universities which gave me an offer so far.
University of Nottingham
University of Leicester
University of Southampton
University of Exeter

Any ideas on the University life, cities and prestige will be very appreciated!! Thanks

Notts is by far the best law school there..

Yeah, it's a no-brainer on the prestige issue. Nottingham has an excellent law school. If you like the big city experience then it's probably the best too.

Exeter is a good university but I don't think its law school is one of its strengths. By all accounts it's a pleasant place to live though.

Southampton has a good law school and it's meant to be a decent place. It possibly lacks the prestige of the previous two but has a better law school than Exeter.

Leicester is surprisingly well-regarded for its law school. That said, it's nowhere near as good as Nottingham. Geographically, it's not too far from Nottingham but Nottingham has more to offer as a city. One of my best friends started her bachelors degree there years ago and ended up transferring to Newcastle after a year.

Thanks for your opinions! Panthro, so in your personal view, it would be best to chose Notts right? Do you know anything about the city and where the University is located in the city? I was told that Nottingham is a really dangerous city and now I'm having doubts..Don't get me wrong, I love big cities and all the opportunities they bring along in terms of social life, careers etc, but I don't want to have to be worried for being mugged all the time:P Is it that bad or do people just exaggerate?
If I would decide against Notts, which out of the other three (Leicester, Exeter, Soton) would be the best with regard to International reputation?
As far as I understood from your opinion is that all three are quite equal. I don't know how far these Unis are known outside the UK and if future employers really look at specific rankings.
Location wise, I thought Soton made a great impression, as it is a campus uni and it is placed in a fairly nice location, although a rather small city. Then again Exeter's Campus looked very beautiful as well. Leicester did not have that much appeal to me, at least from their pictures.
Yeah so as you see, I'm really confused in my decision;(

No worries. Yeah, personally I'd go for Nottingham. It's a class apart from the others in your list. In recent years Nottingham has gained a reputation for gun crime, though you should bear in mind that the UK has very strict laws on gun ownership etc in comparison to the US, so it's more heavily publicised. Plus, the very rare instances - and believe me, they are still rare - of such crimes occur in the more deprived areas on the outskirts of the city. In this respect it's no different to London, Manchester or Liverpool, which have all had similar publicity in the past 20 years. If you're a student it's unlikely you'll end up living in those areas.

I suppose it's a matter of personal taste with respect to Southampton and Exeter. They're probably in the next tier. Exeter perhaps has a slightly better overall reputation than Southampton at the present time but when I was looking for universities to apply to I had picked Southampton and ignored Exeter because the law school was so much better for the modules on offer. I think Southampton's law school performs better than Exeter in rankings tables though. The only reason I haven't submitted an application to Southampton is that the first offer I've received is for one of my two first choice universities.

Nottingham is one of the very top law schools. It sits among others like UCL, LSE, KCL, QMUL, Durham, Warwick etc. which in the UK are renowned as the very best after Oxbridge. In terms of your long term prospects, Nottingham should be the only one you consider. Don't allow some media reports to put you off. My cousin is at Nottingham and she feels totally safe - and she's quite a nervous person usually.

Leicester has a good law school but I think you're right to discount it. It isn't as good as the others you have applied to and the city isn't the best.

@ Panthro, Your post was really helpful, thanks so much! Out of curiosity, where are you headed?

I guess I will go with Notts:)
I'm not too much of a nervous person, but still, I will make sure I get a room on campus or at least in one of the better areas:D

Now I'm still waiting for SOAS,Queen Mary, UCL, although I'm not having too many hopes since I applied rather late. But it's good to know I have a decent Uni secured :)

I'm glad I could help. I think you've definitely made the right choice.

With the caveat that I haven't received my official offer letter yet but have been informed that admissions are recommending I'm made an offer, I will probably be off to Durham. I put a few applications in but they were largely insurance offers in case I got rejected from Durham and UCL.

Still waiting on the others, and if I'm offered a place at UCL I'll be faced with a dilemma, as when I compare the two there are aspects that I prefer at each, but I'm just really pleased to get into a really good university with a strong law school.

I also applied to SOAS, QMUL, Kent, Nottingham, and was about to complete applications for Southampton and Bristol but I think it's probably best for me to withdraw those applications now.