This is which Russell Group uni each Inside Out character would go to based on their vibes

Sadness would definitely go to Edinburgh


I’m just about recovered from watching Inside Out 2 (after sobbing for a good 30 minutes in the cinema and getting weird looks when I left). Maybe it’s because they’re literally named after emotions, but I really resonate with all the characters. The second film is somehow even better than the first, so naturally, its time to answer the question on everyone’s lips – where would each of our favourite emotions and human characters go to uni?

Here’s a definitive rundown of all the Inside Out characters at Russell Group unis.

Joy – Exeter

via Pixar

Joy gives off horse girl vibes for some reason, and what better place for a horse girl than Exetah. Joy would absolutely be a BNOC, the type of person who knows literally everyone wherever they go, and is somehow in about 10 friend groups. She’d probably study psychology and manage to go out every night yet still make it to her 9am the next day, over-caffeinated and slightly smug about it.

Sadness – Edinburgh

via Pixar

Call it pathetic fallacy, but Sadness would absolutely go to Edinburgh just for the gloomy vibes. Not even in a romanticise your life kinda way, she just likes the rain. She’d probably study English and actually read all her set texts, coming up with the most depressing take on each book, as if seminars weren’t bad enough. No way Sadness would be caught dead in a club, although I feel like she’d come into her own doing slam poetry or something.

Fear – York

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Between the hordes of geese on campus and hordes of tourists in town, York is a scary place. Fear would 100 per cent study medicine or law and always be behind on work. He’d try clubbing once, get claustrophobic and have to leave early (although is he missing much?). He’d also be on a million society committees as the one person who actually knows what they’re doing when planning socials, though would manage to stress everyone out in the process. He’d also develop a debilitating phobia of geese after being chased by one during Freshers’ Week.

Anger – Leeds

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Anger would be a rugby lad without a doubt (we all saw him playing hockey), and spend his entire maintenance loan in Spoons in the first semester. He’d study economics ready for a future career as an angry finance bro, or law so that he could win in arguments against your shady second year landlord. No way would he actually attend classes, but somehow he’d still come out with a 2:1 by the end of the year.

Disgust – Bristol

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Disgust would rock up to Bristol fresh from her gap yah somewhere abroad and immediately become the it girl on campus. She’d be absolutely terrifying in seminars if she actually turned up to them, but would usually ditch for a gig or a trip to a niche cafe no one’s ever heard of except her. She’d study politics and become hockey social sec in her second year, and secretly run a confessions account to get all the campus gossip.

Anxiety – Oxbridge

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Only someone with Maya Hawke levels of organisation and planning could handle Oxbridge. Anxiety would study medicine and have the most detailed studying system you’ve ever seen, and would never leave the library come exam season. On top of that she’d be part of the Students’ Union and president of at least three societies, with no time for anything else (and that includes sleep). Everyone’s slightly terrified of her but by the end of uni she’d learn how to chill, and maybe drop one of the societies in favour of a normal sleep schedule.

Envy – Durham

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Sorry Durham students, but this one is obvious. Envy would apply to Oxbridge, and then as soon as the rejection came through pretend she never even wanted to go and act as if she’s only ever wanted to go to Durham, while obsessively stalking all her classmates who did get in for the next three years. She’d be in the club every night and try her hardest to be a BNOC, yet never quite make it. I feel like she’d be known on campus as a fashion icon, though.

Ennui – Warwick

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Ennui would be the flatmate that you meet five weeks into uni and then never see again, so what better place for them than Warwick – the middle of nowhere. They’d study French (obviously) but have shocking attendance, not that you’d know what they study because they’d always be in their room. They’d probably be in a band or something but would show up late every time, and would low-key be hilarious if you ever managed to drag them to the pub.

Embarrassment – Cardiff

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

You’d have to talk Embarrassment out of dropping out of uni within the first week, but once he stuck around he’d actually enjoy it. He’d thrive somewhere chill like Cardiff and come into his own after joining some really niche society with only three members. He’d go to all his lectures and seminars without fail yet never say a word, but end up being the lifesaver person who speaks when he can tell no one else knows what they’re doing.

Riley – any London uni

inside out 2 Russell Group unis

via Pixar

Now onto the human characters. Riley would absolutely go to UCL or King’s College thinking she’d find her best friends for life within the first 24 hours, then immediately get overwhelmed and have a crisis a la the first movie. The first semester breakdown is a rite of passage, however, and eventually she’d settle in and find her place by joining uni hockey. She’d be known as a ray of sunshine on campus and would always be down for a cute trip into the city.

Bree and Grace – Newcastle

via Pixar

We couldn’t go through all the Inside Out characters at Russell Group unis without mentioning Bree and Grace. Riley’s friends would go somewhere hours away from Riley, sparking her inevitable identity crisis when she realises just how far away they are, and how spenny the train ticket is. Riley would probably try to transfer to Newcastle to be with them but they’d manage to talk her out of it. They’d make sure to visit each other fairly regularly so they don’t drift, and bond over the struggles of balancing hockey with uni work.

Val – Manchester

via Pixar

Val would obviously go to Manchester after her gap year and be effortlessly cool and trendy the whole time. She’d be president of uni hockey and have a hundred Riley-esque followers wanting to be like her, and be absolutely lovely and patient with all of them. She’d never set foot in the library but manage to do well in her degree in astrophysics or something equally intimidating, and would spend most of her time when she isn’t playing hockey at really niche indie bars.

Nostalgia – none of them (anymore…)

via Pixar

Sorry for the reality check, but unfortunately uni doesn’t last forever. It doesn’t matter where Nostalgia went, it’s the best uni in the world in her eyes, and she’ll forever be looking back on her silly clubbing days through rose tinted glasses. Don’t judge, we’ll all be Nostalgia someday – can’t be a silly fresher forever, after all.

For more fun stuff like this rundown of Inside out 2 characters at Russell Group unis, like The Tab on Facebook. 

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Featured image via Pixar