I had two interviews at Nottingham and on both occasions they were pretty damned rude to me: both virtually spitting with laughter at the fact that I'm a Birmingham Uni graduate and current postgrad. So that put me straight off them, the last thing I need is a snobby supervisor. But that's a personal thing.. apparently Nottingham is the best Uni in the UK for Medicine (apparently, I say as I'd always thought it was Oxbridge... ???) and I would also "rank" it above the others as well.... then again I reckon a decision should be made on a number of factors as well as which is the "best" Uni.

I'm a current PostGrad at Nottingham Uni. Excellent reputation, excellent facilities and support - In particular a great graduate skills department running free courses in anything from molecular computing to presenting to peers. I've been here nearly a year now and have no complaints at all. Obviously depends on your supervisor as to the experience you will have.

@mambo, how rude of the prospective supervisor to pooh-pooh Birmingham. In many respects, I'd put Birmingham above Notts. Of course, maybe you should have ask him why he wasn't based at Oxbridge - snobbery is all relative .

On a general note, while Nottingham has a lovely campus, the general off-campus areas of Nottingham are not so nice. Whereas, just outside central Sheffield, there is a very nice surburban student area (I forget the name, but it's the equivalent of Newcastle's Jesmond).

As for gun crime, I just read on the BBC website that the North West of England (Liverpool & Manchester) has the highest levels of gun-shot injuries entering casuality units. The article was attempting to place the recent stabbing rates in London in perspective with the rest of the country.

I studied for a year at Notts Uni (although it was in 2001) and I had a great time. I found that they were very organised and ofeered a lot of support to their students. I also liked the city a lot.
The choice is yours but Notts is nice.