\n<\/p>\n
C<\/span>hoosing which university to attend based on social scene alone probably isn\u2019t the wisest idea, but that doesn\u2019t mean it shouldn\u2019t rank high on your list of priorities. Not only are sticky dancefloors and blinding strobe lighting a sort of rite of passage, a good night out can foster the sense of connection and friendship that is key to a student\u2019s wellbeing.<\/p>\n \u201cThree years minimum is a long time in your life, so you need to be happy in the environment you\u2019re in,\u201d says Joe Woodcock, head of community at discussion platform The Student Room. \u201cStudents who are not happy tend to be the ones that aren\u2019t able to finish. Being a happy student is so important for getting the best out of your university education.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s all budget bottles of vodka and arguing about whose turn it is to pay for the Uber. History and politics student Joseph Thomas, 21, chose the University of York because the city\u2019s nightlife seemed \u201ca bit more down to earth and a bit less rowdy\u201d than his second choice \u2013 Coventry\u2019s University of Warwick. \u201cA campus university was right for me because all the students are in one place.\u201d His idea of a good time is playing communal Mario Kart on a projector and discussing music over a couple of pints with the university album society.<\/p>\n Similarly, Rachel Tong Ng, who has just graduated with a degree in business and management, chose Durham University over Manchester for its \u201cmore peaceful vibe\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDurham has a collegiate system, which I\u2019d researched before, so I think it was a lot easier to make friends,\u201d says Ng, who preferred society events and on-campus sports team socials \u2013 both of which her chosen city had in abundance \u2013 to pubs and clubs.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t believe everything they tell you about gen Z, says Katie Kirwan, the head of brand at booking platform Design My Night \u2013 they\u2019re as partial to a party as their predecessors \u2013 they\u2019re just more discerning about where they choose to blow their student loan.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple of years ago we started covering a lot of nights based around musicians \u2013 so we had a ton of Taylor Swift nights, and we\u2019ve seen a huge increase in searches for western-themed nights following the release of Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Cowboy Carter album,\u201d says Kirwan. \u201cBritney [Spears] nights have also made a comeback. Nostalgia\u2019s big: gen Z are now discovering all the bands that I used to listen to when I was their age.\u201d<\/p>\n Demand for activities-based nights out, including pottery painting and crafting, is also skyrocketing \u2013 with their fixed cost one of the main draws, says Kirwan. As well as a 14% increase in searches for \u201cclasses\u201d in the past year on the platform, she\u2019s seen a 43% increase in searches for \u201caffordable\u201d activities.<\/p>\n The eye-watering cost of going out now means that the time-honoured student tradition of cramming into the communal kitchen for pre-drinks is alive and well. \u201cA lot of us do most of our drinking before we go to the club,\u201d says 19-year-old animation student Kami Thomas, who chose the University of Westminster so they could take advantage of London\u2019s LGBTQ+ clubbing scene. They have also used holiday work to give their bank account some breathing room: \u201cI knew I wanted to go to university in London, so I saved \u00a33,000 over the summer so I could enjoy my first term.\u201d Ng\u2019s number one rule for affordable student socialising is setting a budget before she goes out, and refusing to overspend \u2013 even if that means one less drink.<\/p>\n So which universities make the grade for their social scenes? \u201cA city like Sheffield ticks all the boxes for diverse, great nightlife,\u201d says Woodcock. This shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise. The University of Sheffield\u2019s student union is frequently ranked best in the UK, while the city\u2019s DIY music scene continues to thrive. \u201cPlaces like Liverpool and Cardiff, which are cheaper than London and the south-east, also offer the best of both: a campus-centred social scene and city nightlife,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n For live music, Kirwan recommends Leeds, which has \u201call the flavour of Manchester\u201d with a cheaper cost of living. Ng, though, doesn\u2019t think it matters where you go \u2013 provided you try to enjoy yourself as much as\u00a0possible. \u201cYou only get the university experience\u00a0once.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Choosing which university to attend based on social scene alone probably isn\u2019t the wisest idea, but that doesn\u2019t mean it shouldn\u2019t rank high on your list of priorities. Not only are sticky dancefloors and blinding strobe lighting a sort of rite of passage, a good night out can foster the sense of connection and friendship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[8384,12909,5088,2651,12977,393,781],"class_list":{"0":"post-21142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-guide","9":"tag-nightlife","10":"tag-partial","11":"tag-party","12":"tag-predrinks","13":"tag-student","14":"tag-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}