[OchyGTA]

A discussion for people applying to University in 2012. Previous and current students opinions would be greatly appreciated as I would like to get as much knowledge as possible about applying to Universities in England, although American's and European's are just as welcome. Also, if anyone's been to the University of Kent or UEA, it would be great if could pass me on some information about accommodation, night-life, studies etc.

[sivispacem]

What are you looking to study? That's far more important than what university you study it at; some of the worst (according to conventional ratings) universities have fantastic top-shelf ratings for certain courses that makes the Russell Group universities blush.

[OchyGTA]

QUOTE (sivispacem @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 17:19)

What are you looking to study? That's far more important than what university you study it at; some of the worst (according to conventional ratings) universities have fantastic top-shelf ratings for certain courses that makes the Russell Group universities blush.

History BA is what I want to do but for most of the places I'm looking at I need an A in history. I'm predicted a B at the moment but am resitting my unit 1 exam

[sivispacem]

QUOTE (OchyGTA @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 18:21)

QUOTE (sivispacem @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 17:19) What are you looking to study? That's far more important than what university you study it at; some of the worst (according to conventional ratings) universities have fantastic top-shelf ratings for certain courses that makes the  Russell Group universities blush. History BA is what I want to do but for most of the places I'm looking at I need an A in history. I'm predicted a B at the moment but am resitting my unit 1 exam

Any specifics as to what kind of history you want to study? The general "history" courses tend to be quite inflexible with regards to this, and all you ever end up doing is studying the whims and favourite eras of your lecturer rather than anything that you find particularly engrossing. I'm assuming you're looking at modern history? Sussex have got probably the best reputation-to-requirements ratio according to The Complete University Guide- they're ranked 12th in the UK for history, but float around the middle of the table in terms of the expected UCAS points. Reading is also a good bet- they're an all-round pretty good university and their requirements weren't especially high for history when I was working there. There's always Aberystwyth if you don't mind living in the middle of nowhere- they're very well regarded as a university but struggle to fill places as there's no night life to speak of and they're not exactly strategically placed.

Leicester are good for history too.

[Robinski]

My sister went to the University of Kent for her first degree (Anthropology) and really enjoyed it. The campus is really nice and seems like a real community place, especially compared to the city campus I have at my uni. I remember Kent, on the Canterbury site at least, basically has an estate of university-owned houses that are pretty much council house standard for just students. So you've got an estate of students, as well as a few traditional halls.

Can't say much about the academic side of it, we don't talk about it much, but she definitely had a good time. I don't much like the idea of people going to uni just "for the experience" though, so don't do anything rash just to go to a party school.

This post has been edited by Robinski on Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 17:33

[OchyGTA]

Sivispacem
Preferably modern history, post 1700 but I am swayed to some other more earlier history topics. Sussex is too close for me as I only live about 40 minutes away and am looking for a bit more independence than that. I am contemplating Reading but the grades are quite high. Aberystwth? I'm not going to Wales

Robinski
Did she ever mention the night-life and does that mean the accommodation is good?

[Robinski]

Canterbury's a pretty small town, as far as I know there isn't too many clubs, but a great number of pubs. From what I can remember (she went there about 8 years ago) she said most of the night life was nights at the union buildings and parties in the accommodation. The housing was a mix of traditional halls and houses that were pretty much standard council houses, so they weren't five star, but it was alright for student accommodation when I stayed there, better than what I had at Northumbria in my first year.

Like I said though, this was all back 7 or 8 years now. In all likelihood there's been some change.

[OchyGTA]

QUOTE (Robinski @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 17:44)

Canterbury's a pretty small town, as far as I know there isn't too many clubs, but a great number of pubs. From what I can remember (she went there about 8 years ago) she said most of the night life was nights at the union buildings and parties in the accommodation. The housing was a mix of traditional halls and houses that were pretty much standard council houses, so they weren't five star, but it was alright for student accommodation when I stayed there, better than what I had at Northumbria in my first year. Like I said though, this was all back 7 or 8 years now. In all likelihood there's been some change.

Ok cheers for the info, I'm partial to a decent pub.

Edit: Could I possibly get some Personal Statement advice of the guys who have completed one, I have done a first draft but it needs reworking

This post has been edited by OchyGTA on Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 19:28

[WF the Hobgoblin]

I keep thinking that I should go back to university and try to get a degree but thanks to my general lack of interest in anything, I always fall at the first hurdle which is trying to figure out what to study. I even had a look at the clearing places recently but nothing appealed to me.

[K^2]

What can you actually do with a BA in History? I might be a bit biased, but keeping the fact that time-line is non-unique, a Historian is pretty much just a glorified Folklorist. And it's not that there is anything wrong with either if you enjoy that sort of thing, but it seems like a poor career move to just study History. There has got to be something you enjoy studying, perhaps closely related, that would be more useful in terms of finding good employment.

[OchyGTA]

QUOTE (K^2 @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 20:13)

What can you actually do with a BA in History? I might be a bit biased, but keeping the fact that time-line is non-unique, a Historian is pretty much just a glorified Folklorist. And it's not that there is anything wrong with either if you enjoy that sort of thing, but it seems like a poor career move to just study History. There has got to be something you enjoy studying, perhaps closely related, that would be more useful in terms of finding good employment.

I believe that history is a very respected degree and it is a subject I love, I might as well study something I enjoy while I try and figure out what I want to do. I considered law but its so over studied and I don't particaurly enjoy economics although I'm good at it. History has elements of English in it and shows good management skills.

[Mockage]

I have a question: is going to community college for 2 years, and then transferring, a good idea? I'm only wondering, is all.

[Torcidas]

I'm in my third year studying Computer Science & Mathematics at the University of Toronto. If you have any questions related to the fields I'll gladly answer whatever I can!

As for some school advice:

-apply to lots and lots of schools.
-think deep on what you want to do. I've changed my major once, and it's cost me a full year of tuition
-if you're an average Joe, the "best" schools aren't exactly the best choices. The competition is very stiff, and achieving good grades can be difficult.
-do not skip lectures. the only ones you "can" kind of skip are math/stats related ones, because these imo they are very concrete and you can teach it yourself through any means if you'd prefer.
-make friends on your very first day.
-chose a broad range of courses during your first year if space permits. You might fall in love with a subject you were curious about.
-don't cheat. Even though university students are mature as it is, you'd be surprised at how most good schools handle it. Expulsion. It's happened.

Good luck on making an important life decision


@Mockage, if you aren't admitted directly into school, that is indeed a good idea. Some unis will grant you transfer credits so you don't need to repeat some classes, and some community colleges even have direct admittance programs after you finish a year or two.

[E.A.B.]

Choose a major that is marketable

can't really see you getting anything with a Historian degree. You have to think of the job market.

And for the love of God don't do a ''liberal arts'' degree. I may be a freshman, but even *I* know that its a fools choice

[K^2]

QUOTE (Mockage @ Thursday, Sep 22 2011, 17:39)

I have a question: is going to community college for 2 years, and then transferring, a good idea? I'm only wondering, is all.

You get what you pay for. It's definitely better than just getting an associates from community college and calling it quits, but if you can afford four years at a uni, you should go for that.

[OchyGTA]

QUOTE (E.A.B. @ Friday, Sep 23 2011, 06:41)

Choose a major that is marketable can't really see you getting anything with a Historian degree. You have to think of the job market. And for the love of God don't do a ''liberal arts'' degree. I may be a freshman, but even *I* know that its a fools choice

http://www.alec.co.uk/free-career-assessme...story-major.htm

[lloydo]

Howdy, i shall be applying for 2012 soon. Can anyone give any insight as to the leniency of universities in regards to results?

[OchyGTA]

QUOTE (lloydo @ Friday, Sep 23 2011, 16:03)

Howdy, i shall be applying for 2012 soon. Can anyone give any insight as to the leniency of universities in regards to results?

Ha I asked this very same question to a mate at uni yesterday. I think if its reasonably close then its all right. e.g. if they want ABB then you could probably get in with ABC.

[Robinski]

Most places are pretty competitive these days. When the economic downturn (specifically, unemployment in the 16-24 age group) combined with the already increasing number of people going to university, numbers of applicants skyrocketed. Years ago, you'd probably get in if you missed out by one grade, or 20 or 30 UCAS points, but these days the margin is closing rapidly. With less popular courses you'll get a bit more leniency, but popular ones will probably be filled by people who met or exceeded the offer conditions.

Just make sure you apply to as many places as possible, the environment is quite competitive. I got just flat out turned down from one uni, despite being a targeted A*BB student (with the A* in an extremely relevant subject), grades which I achieved. That was probably due to my personal statement though, the importance of which can't be stressed enough. Go over it with a personal tutor a number of times to get it looking good. I rushed mine and it probably cost me that place at Sheffield.

[lloydo]

Thankyou for the advice. I will probably apply for various places, god willing they'll pull through.