Nottingham has it's pleasant parks and the university is on campus, and thus a rather tranquil and relaxed setting. The city centre can be lively and fun, though in the British sense this does tend to mean soaked in booze.

However, it also has an unenviable reputation for crime, particularly gun crime, which appears to stem from Yardie gangs looking to make a quick-buck from drug dealing.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't go, as crime in the UK is still somewhat less pervasive than in other countries, but worth bearing it in mind.

Newcastle is also fairly 'rough', but in the sense of a rough diamond. It's a very friendly city, even whilst being - as you put it - 'blue collar'. Traditional industries such as mining and manufacturing have declined considerably in the North-East and you will find a lot of high-tech or service oriented businesses.

Personally, I prefer Newcastle, though if you like the quiet life, you won't get much of it there!

thanks all - Xenos your very funny. Well I guess if you can't beat em, join them.. thanks again to all for your advice. Now I am throwing a new idea out there - what about Glasgow? Now that has become an option for my study abroad. Any info about Glasgow? Thanks! Courtney (is it rough there?)

Scotland will be much cooler and wetter, also the shops in Glasgow aren't nearly as good as the other two - what advice does your present university provide on your options for study?

Glasgow would be fun but how does it rate academically against Newcastle. Personally I wwould not go to nottingham. If you are going for the study abroad experience the other two I feell are better options.

Pretty much everything said about Newcastle - coldish, hard-drinking, deindustrialised, great Victorian architecture, incomprehensible dialect, really sociable, - applies in spades to Glasgow. And Glaswegians have a terrific sense of humour - almost rivalling Liverpudlians'

Truly terrrific place to be.

If it's the University of Glasgow then I would go in a heartbeat. The university is very highly rated and it's an exciting, dynamic city; the university district is marvelous.

Last year the Guardian's rankings of universities by subject put Glasgow second in anatomy/physiology (thus pre-med in US terms) in the country, behind Sheffield. Newcastle was 4th, behind Oxford.

Strathclyde University is also good but for most (not all) subjects it is not in Glasgow's league.

It really sounds like I will be in good shape with Nottingham, Newcastle or Glasgow .....thanks again for your replies! I will post an email when I get my final assignment - you all have been great and I am so glad I came across this wonderful website and had a chance to talk to you. By the way if you have any questions about college in the U.S. just let me know! :) Courtney
p.s. does anyone know simon cowell? we LOVE simon! he is so cute! where is he from?!

Re m_k2's comments above - as a Glaswegian I'm obviously biased & I may be talking out of turn as I have only briefly visted both Nottingham & Newcastle. Nonetheless, I would be surprised if either had better shopping than Glasgow.

As regards weather, Nottingham probably would be the more pleasant option, but I wouldn't have thought there was an awful lot in it.

Jim

Just wanted to follow up and thank you all for your help. I'm going to Nottingham! Thanks again :)
Courtney