Tell me about your uni days

[Laaaaa]

I spoke to someone who graduated in 2020. I felt ancient. I qualified in 2000, I had moved from Glasgow to Manchester and it was a shock Initially. I lived in nurses accommodation, all girls, it was wild, lots of drinking, random lads and that freedom of being away from home.

Times when we all fell out and it was really bitchy. Only in contact with 2 of them now.

Uni in the late 90's was the best

Was a slightly older student in the early 2010s. London uni so didn't live on a campus. I think because of this, plus coursemates being younger (only a few years but it felt like a lot) I made great, enduring friends outside uni, mainly at my bar job and house share so it was a lovely fun time but to be honest, I wasn't very engaged with university life. Going back to do medicine as an even more mature student though so am quite keen to see how this goes!

Graduated 1994 from Manchester. In selfcatering halls in my first year with 7 or 8 other girls...one was my best friend from school but the others were all random people put in together, we mostly bonded really well and had great nights out as a flat. The whole corridor of flats had 2 or 3 payphones between them and the phones were in the corridor too so there was no privacy for calls...sometimes if another flat was expecting a call, and they answered a call for our flat, they'd just say "sorry she's not in" and hang up :( or we'd get a note on the front door "X called for Y in flat 3 room 2". The flat had a communal bathroom with bath, shower and 2 loos all separated by partitions which stopped a good 6 inches from floor & ceiling so absolutely no privacy...Lots and lots of going out clubbing, mostly indie nights, 50p entry before 11pm...Cycling everywhere and almost no one wore a helmet back then. Cycling home along one of the really busy main roads absolutely blind drunk after a party. Can't believe I did that now, I could hardly pedal let alone ride in a straight line. We could get some sort of electronic printout for reference searches in the library but it came on a big length of paper with a strip of perforated holes on each side. I spent hours revising in there and hunting for obscure textbooks on the shelves. My course was long and very demanding so i had to do lots of study, it was very unforgiving and any exam fails meant you were pretty much off the course no excuses...there were a lot of extremely confident people on my course and only much later did I realise that many of them had been to private school, they just had that level of polish and confidence which I did not have and probably still don't. My grandad died during my course near exam time and when I asked if this could maybe be taken into account I was told no because he was only my grandad and some people would have lost their parents...I don't think that comment would be allowed to pass unnoticed now. Very patchy "student support" I would say, if we found a sympathetic lecturer we could talk to them but there was no pastoral care as such.
I remember us dancing on the table at my graduation ball to D:Ream "U R the best thing". The song which summed it all up for then. Happy times. Lots of hope. I still keep in touch with a few people from my year who became close friends and I hear of others mentioned if they have stayed local over the years but I wasn't really one to make loads of friends within my course. I don't think there's ever been a reunion arranged, not sure if I would go if there was one.
I still keep in touch with a few people from my year

Studied law from 1995 til 2000 (bachelor's and masters abroad). Worked 3-4 a week (nights) at a burger place to pay the rent/fees as parent's wouldn't / couldn't contribute. Got drunk and blacked out way too often. Was incredibly easy to give in to boys. Had two different groups of friends: the ones from work who I'd used to party with and the ones from my course. Was living two different lives: serious and shy student by day and working/party girl by night. Never made out with a guy while sober. Constant stuggle for money: often no money left at the end of the month. Computers only available in the uni library (you had to book them in advance) and in IT shops. When I had to gather references for my study abroad, one professor refused it as he couldn't say anything nice about me (even though my grades were ok and I was involved in the student board of the faculty). I don't see anyone anymore from my student days as I feel (rightfully) ashamed about myself back then.

Looking back I can see how difficult it was. I was the first ever to study in my family, I had no support/guidance on anything. When I was 17 my mum kicked me out of the house as she didn't trust me, thinking I was going out with boys/drinking/smoking which I had never done. Well I made up for that during my student years ...
I am ashamed now about how 'easy' I was (when drunk) and about many stupid and risky things I did. I'm now surrounded by people who were very privileged when growing up and who did all the right things: the right associations, the right student sports clubs, the right part time jobs to get experience, erasmus years abroad, etc. I will definitely fight to give my kids all the 'proper' experience!

First degree. I hated it and wasted my time. I didn’t enjoy university as much as sixth form. I had a full grant so had money for the first time in my life. I budgeted that I had £7.50 a week left to live on, after bills. I left without an overdraft by simply never going out.
The course was awful but it never occurred to me that I could change it, or leave. I absolutely loathed living in a built up area with noise, bustle and street lights.
This was the mid 90s so I did enjoy messing around on the internet. Apart from that I basically did nothing except sit in my room listening to radio 4.

Second degree. Not a Russell Group uni this time, but a former poly. Their second site, which looked like my old 1960s comp.
Proper teaching, actually learned something. Practical elements, loads of work experience. Got little pockets of funding from all over the place and had a job. Was 36 weeks pregnant when I left, which was interesting...

I should have added, I am eternally grateful to have done all my stupid teen/uni years before the advent of mobile phones with cameras and things like Instagram. Facebook didn't even exist till I was partway through my PhD. Thank fuck everything wasn't constantly documented!

Absolutely loved it. I was homesick for the first couple of weeks then was fine. True freedom for the only time of my life. I did a professional course so while on placement etc I was working hard and we did have to pass all coursework etc. But aside from that, I had hours and hours of time to spend with friends which was mostly in the pub or doing sport. No responsibilities. Hangovers no big deal as always the possibility of catching up on sleep at some stage. Without a doubt the best time of my life. So lucky to have pubs, restaurants, bars, sport, music all on tap and at cheap prices.

I would turn back time and do it again in a heartbeat (disclaimer that I love my kids and life as a mum now too).

It was the era of pound a pint and cheap student nights. Campus uni so total relaxed freedom. I feel so sorry for the students of today whose courses are nothing like that because of Covid.

Graduated from Durham in 1996. True to its reputation, nearly all of my group of friends married someone from Durham (me included). I loved my Uni days. I also remember queuing to use the phone in our college and printing being quite a challenge.

Now that my son is looking at universities, in my heart of hearts I hope he doesn't engage quite as enthusiastically in the heavy drinking we did. Not double standards at all.... But my uni friends are still my best friends, we're godparents to each other kids and meet up regularly. It was a fantastic time.

Graduated 1996, Oxbridge, very well looked after, very well supported, a million miles away from scruffy student houses and tins of beans for tea.

We lived in college for three years at very moderate cost, had housekeepers who made our bed every morning and cleaned our rooms, and did no cooking as we ate all our meals in a medieval hall (on special occasions sometimes by candlelight and be-gowned). All the facilities were top notch, we were taught by leaders in the field.

I did a subject where basically you wrote an essay a week and had a one to one supervision on it each week - the rest of the time you were reading in the library. Of course we did nothing for four days of the week and then manically tried to fit all the work into days 5 and 6 before supervision day.

Other subjects worked MUCH harder though.

It was an incredible three years although not without difficulties - falling in love then breaking up, adjusting friendship groups, and for people who are usually very competitive and perfectionist, having to accept that in that environment where everyone has all As at A level you are nothing special. Quite character building really.

I graduated in 1985. First time living away from home and It was wild, absolutely wild. Parties, drinking, boys and inbetween we were expected to work hard too... some nights we would party until 6am, have some breakfast then go to our lectures - no idea how we stayed awake.

We were staying in a terraced house - 3 girls. One of the girls left mid way through her course and we found a replacement - a girl with a Mohican, piercings and tattoos - not at all shocking these days but back then.. the landlady took one look at her and said NO, she didn't rent to that kind of person!

Graduated from a Poly in 1984. Got a full grant the first year then a partial grant which my parents topped up for the next two years. Fees paid by the Local Authority. Lived in halls the first year which was basically a dozen flats each shared by groups of 12 single sex with a communal tv room which would be packed out for TOTP on Thursday evenings.
Then a shared house for the next two years. Occasionally hear from friends back then but haven’t seen any of them in person since my wedding.
Loved the first year as there were loads of people around but found the final year a bit lonely as people divided into couples.
No IT to speak of apart from a single lesson where we got to log on to the university computer. All work handwritten apart from the dissertation which had to be professionally typed and bound.
Graduated with no debt unlike my own DC.

1984-1988
Northern. CND marches (Bruce Kent came to speak and took the organizers to the pub for a pie and a pint) Miner's Strike marches and picket lines, Silent Night bed factory strike marches. March against the Tories in Blackpool.
Student accommodation- girls' house in first year where I met my lifelong best friends. Student university owned house in second year. Year abroad all paid for (stopped attending lectures there after about a fortnight) Fourth year, grotty flat in the local precinct.
Alcohol- yard of ale, "bucket" (bottles of everything poured into a bucket) Beaujolais Nouveau night.
Lectures, some excellent, some very hit and miss. Exams- as pp has said, all down to your performance in those last few weeks. I had something like 6 X 3 hour written exams for the two languages, then 4 X 3 hour written exams for the options, then orals for interpreting etc. Dissertation. Loved my dissertation.
Band Aid, then Live Aid. U2 playing at the uni and people going "who?" Gary Glitter playing and everyone going "yay!"
80s music, 80s hair. Running the World to Tears for Fears.
Rag Week. I didn't like it so stayed at home and made hearty broth for everyone else for when they got back.
House parties- obviously held so you got the big haired boy you fancied back to your room for a Hobnob. Boys that made you cry. Boys from home that you made cry. The queue for the phone boxes (with the green phonecard)

Best of days.

Graduated Cambridge mid 90s. Amazing time but completely different world for me being first from my comp to go there. My college was about 80% male and 80% public school. Dining hall was like a church hall and we wore gowns and had pictures of old Masters all around. Some dinners were by candlelight with very old port etc, even the normal ones were very fancy compared to what I was used to.

Lots of parties, not that much work and lots of fun events.

Best three years of my life. Graduated 1997. There is one Crowded House song that immediately takes me back to my first nights in Halls, lying in bed listening to it on my brand new CD player, having met a great group of hall-mates, had my first night drinking in the JCR, met my future DH (though didn't know it then!), it was just the fredom and opportunity of the whole experience being away from home. Loved it.

Graduated in 96. Catered halls in first year, can't remember ever washing clothes..... met dp in 2nd year, he was/is a local lad, so visits to his mum and dad's and their freezer was very welcome! Moved in with him and his flat mate half way through 3rd year - spent about 6 months in a single bed.....

Graduated 1995. I'm from Liverpool and didn't want to leave home completely at 18, so the plan was I would go to Uni in Liverpool but live in halls. It was all sorted and then a few weeks before the term started, they wrote to say they needed the halls for out of towners and as I was local could I stay at home. That felt unfair, but I agreed. They offered me halls in the 2nd year but I didn't see the point by then. I enjoyed uni and made good friends but living at home I don't think I got the full uni experience. The friends I made were all local themselves and we did go the balls etc but it's difficult to join clubs etc when you're not living on campus. My friends were good friends during uni but we drifted afterwards and we're not in touch now. On the flip side, I had a lovely home life, very comfortable with lots of spare cash for clothes etc, I had a pt job in a pub that was part of my social life too. I'm close to my family and had a full. Life. Of course, I probably would have had more of a uni experience if I'd got in halls originally, should have dug my heels in there! My ds is 15 and if he goes to Uni wherever that may be I will ensure he lives in halls.

The notes on the door!

My room was better kitted out than my house. Fridge, tv, video, toaster, toastie maker.

I was so Rich too! Labour and the smell of hope. Oasis in the charts!

Ah yes, the notes on the door were legendary (I kept some).

Also raiding my FIL's stash of luncheon vouchers to spend at a Pizza Hut buffet.

We also had a funny but really quite offensive college magazine published every term detailing various rude exploits and league tables (voted for by college members) with categories such as "ugly but bubbly", "beautiful but bland" and college "slapper" (male or female). I would bet a lot of money that these no longer exist either...