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Duration
at BRGS Sixth Form: :
2004-2006 |
Previous
school: BRGS |
| Subjects studied: |
Date of submitting these answers: |
| » Art
& Design |
June 2009 |
| » Biology | |
| » History |
|
| » Chemistry | |
| University you are at, why you chose this university, and give one interesting fact about your university: | |
| I went to the University of Manchester because it is quite local but also very well recognised with a large and modern Life Sciences faculty. The John Rylands Library is one of the best resourced libraries in the country with over 4 million books! | |
| Best things about your university city: | |
| The
university is huge with lots
of new people to meet. It also offers a massive
range of courses. The Arndale Centre is of course great for shopping. Public transport in the city is cheap (especially around the uni) and it doesn't cost too much to get back to Rossendale when you need to. Being so close to home means that it is possible to commute into uni instead of living there if you wanted to. The best thing about Manchester is definitely the nightlife. |
|
| Worst things about your university city: | |
| It's quite expensive to live in Manchester (rent wise) and the weather is still as dismal as Rossendale. | |
Social scene/nightlife in your university city?: |
|
| The
nightlife in Manchester is amazing, with so
many different types of clubs. There are also organised festivals (such as Pangaea and Mad Ferret) throughout the year. |
|
| Popular activities at your university/ in your university city?: | |
| Rowing, football, netball and rugby are very popular. More diverse clubs include the Scuba club, the climbing club and what I think is extreme frisbee (or something similar) - if you do a sport there will be a club for you join at Manchester! There are also a lot of religious, political and debating societies. | |
| Favourite places to shop | |
| The Arndale Centre without a doubt. That said, getting to the Trafford Centre is quite straight forward and does make a nice change. | |
| How much on average per week do a) Halls of Residence, b) Renting a house, cost in your university town/city? | |
| Halls
of residence seem to have gone up a lot in
price since I lived in them. A standard single
room (no frills, no en-suite) now costs about £70
a week while the nicer en-suite rooms
can cost up to £100. Obviously the catered halls are more expensive again. Renting a house is slightly cheaper at £65-75 a week but with the added cost of paying all your own bills and renting for the full year (halls are only term time) it ends up working out more expensive. |
|
| What is the accommodation like in your university town/city? | |
| The halls of residence in Manchester range from pretty shabby to quite swish. The older halls of residence are currently being refurbished. The halls are spread over four areas - North Campus (near Piccadilly Station), on campus (literally on the doorstep of the uni buildings), Victoria Park (10 mins walk to uni) and Fallowfield. I stayed in Whitworth Park which is on campus - which was its best quality as I could literally get up 5 minutes before lectures. The buildings in Whitworth Park are split into flats of 6-9 (normally single sex) and are single study bedrooms with a shared kitchen and living room and a bathroom (2 toilets, 2 showers). Most of the uni owned halls take on a similar format. | |
| How much on average do you spend on food shopping per week? | |
| Too much. I have a nasty habit of buying food and wasting it because I ended up eating out. In first year it was probably £30 a week, now I would say it is £50. | |
| What is the course you are studying? - Was it your original choice when applying for university? | |
| BSc (hons) in Anatomical Science | |
| How many years does your course last? | |
| 3 years | |
| What you enjoy most about your course/ what impresses you about it?: | |
| There was a lot of dissection (yes human) in my course which was the most interesting element. The way the life science faculty works at Manchester means that the course is quite diverse with which units you learn. | |
| What you enjoy least about your course, and what could be improved : | |
| Some units were compulsory and unfortunately these were often my weakest ones. Being warned that when you sign up to anatomy you are going to be exposed to a lot of genetics and developmental biology would hopefully stop people getting such a big shock! | |
| How
do you rate the teaching standards on your
course, and do your tutors/lecturers/the university give you the right support for your studies?: |
|
| Very good. | |
| What A Level Grades/UCAS points did you have to achieve to be accepted onto your course? | |
| ABB with the A in Biology and a B in Chemistry | |
| Why did you choose the particular course you are studying? | |
| It looked interesting and biology was my favourite subject | |
| Best thing about being at university: | |
| Meeting new people, learning new things and becoming independent | |
| Worst thing about being at university: | |
| It's very very hard work | |
| What do you plan to do after you graduate? | |
| I start a PGCE (teacher training) at Manchester in September 2009 | |
| If you were to recommend going to university, what would you say? | |
| Do it! You'll always wish you had done if you don't! | |
| Do you get homesick? If so, how do you deal with it? | |
| I came home most weekends for the first two years so never got homesick. | |
| Do you think you made the right choice? Or looking back, would you have gone to a different university/started a different course? | |
| I would have probably done straight biology at Manchester instead of specialising so that I had less compulsory units | |
| What have you achieved whilst being at university? | |
| A 2:2 and a lot of freedom | |