Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 4, UCAS & offers (and thinking about exams)

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Following on from the previous thread.

I just think it all looks fine compared to my student days (ok it was a long time ago).
I started of in a ‘faulty towers’ type guest house in Bournemouth, we then all had to find private accommodation after about 6 weeks, lots of massive Edwardian houses split into flats, amazing big rooms, but freezing with shit furniture, useless kitchens and freezing bathrooms that you couldn’t afford to fill the massive baths, oh and gas fires and gas meters you had to put money in !
Halls look amazing to me 😂

My DS didn't like the Zigs either but he really liked the Village, so that will be his accommodation preference (he has firmed UEA already) with campus ensuite his second choice.

"I guess some of these 60s campuses haven't been updated much!"

The campus at Campus West at York looks like a 1960s council estate. Some of the buildings are truly hideous. DD didn't warm to York at all.

Private accommodation was (and probably still is) shocking but I'd expect better form a university now, must say. I'm beginning to wonder if you saw the same rooms I did. I am not a tidy person and never clean and my DS lives in squalor but the Ziggurats just seemd bleak and the kitchen was so inhospitable. I had a horrible , tiny room in my first year at York (split doubles, anyone?), next to the toilets and with only the back of a wardrobe dividing my room from shagging Andrea the girl next door so I can slum it . But Ziggurats reminded me of that.

They had TVs and nice sofas in the kitchen at Hull!

I'm not anti UEA; I would have liked him to have applied. But, everywhere we go now, we always say 'well, it's nicer than Ziggurats!'

What I loved most about UEA was the attention paid to students academics. They even have two sets for Maths within the degree. The lower set for those who didn’t do A’level Maths including those who got below a B in A’level Maths. I’m not sure this is a good thing at degree level but thought it was quite thoughtful of them. They also do one toones if you haven’t understood something during lectures.
Now some might think this is too much handholding but thought the support was very good, something DS would benefit from.

We’re off to see Cardiff next. Has anyone been before and is there anything we should prepare ourselves for?

Just seen your post about York, ironically lonicera. they haven't apparently updated the campus since I was there! But, in those days you didn't apply. You took what you were given and there were no Open Days so, an interview at Oxford aside, I had nothing to comapare it with. York's setting is lovely, though and the city is such a great place that I could forgive it anything! They did have good policies in my day (like no females on the ground floor) and some better accommodation in newer blocks.

I think Vanbrugh B Block may be the same badge of honour as Ziggurats!

My father still goes on about how horrible my room was at Lancaster in the early 80s. I thought it was fantastic , shared kitchen and bathrooms no problem.

Mind you they get their bins emptied in rooms, kitchens cleaned twice a week and en-suites once a week at UEA, lots of other places we’ve looked at certainly don’t get cleaners (especially not their en-suites).

Oh really? That is unusual nowadays.

I've told DS not to get an en suite because he simply won't clean it. But I'm not sure anyone would want to share a bathroom with him.

They even have two sets for Maths within the degree. The lower set for those who didn’t do A’level Maths including those who got below a B in A’level Maths. I’m not sure this is a good thing at degree level but thought it was quite thoughtful of them

That's what they did back in the day in my chemistry degree for the maths subsid. I'd have thought it was pretty much essential in any subject within which some fields are very mathsy, but which don't have a good maths A level as a requirement. Otherwise either the maths will be way too hard for some, or just a recap and not go far enough for others.

I see your UEA Ziggurats and raise you Uni of Essex tower blocks. Worse than the kennels in which our dogs spend their holidays 🙁

@Piggywaspushed I was Wentworth C block, single room, start of the 90's. It was basic, but a lot more people sharing two shower rooms and a basic kitchen than even in the Ziggurats. I loved it though.. I think they have knocked down/redeveloped Wentworth now.

Yeah, they have apparently! To make room for the Law and medical stuff. Wentworth was definitely the fanciest one then (in terms of accommodation, that is: Derwent was for the posh people!) I used to loev Wentworth Bop! I think we had 9 people to one shower...and then a bath, which a homeless man once made himself comfy in overnight and ate all our soup! I assume security has improved!

@Piggywaspushed blimey I haven't thought about the Wendy bop in years! We definitely thought of ourselves as the poor relation to the Derwent lot though! It was a shame my DS didn't considering applying - they didn't do the course he wants - so I haven't revisited for years. Here's hoping DD may give it a go in a few years time!

Enjoying reading your stories father places. Errol I didn’t know setting was a thing at university level, I think my concern is do they then end up covering the same material by the time they graduate?
Vancleef Essex was DS’s fifth choice . He was called for interview but didn’t go in the end. Thank goodness He never saw it!

“Stories of other places”.

I seem to remember setting of some form being mentioned for MFL at Oxford Brookes,a dn it si mentioned on the Bangor information about languages, too. they separate out native and fluent speakers (just for teaching!) from non fluent speakers in the first year which definitely makes sense.

I think my concern is do they then end up covering the same material by the time they graduate?

Not necessarily- but degree courses often have a lot of different options to choose from anyway, some which need more maths than others . E.g. in a chemistry course, everyone needs some statistics and basic calculus but only some specialisms need eg complex numbers and Fourier analysis. Similar differences will occur in other subjects, I'm sure.

OTOH DDs first maths course at uni came in a slower and faster form, which covered the same ground but in more or less time, but that was on a course where they would all have a good maths A level and nearly all FM too, not a range from nothing upwards.

Errol only problem is it’s Computer science we’re talking about, where mathematics is a core module. DH said quite frankly if you need to be put in a lower set perhaps you shouldn’t be studying CS🤷🏻‍♀️, I’m slightly cautious. I think DS will insure it though.

Shimy Essex very well regarded fir DD subject, a ground breaker back in the day. After going to Open Day she too refused invite fir interview and withdrew her application. Very grim.

Van that is such a real shame though. Do they even realise to what extent their environment is impacting on their numbers? Despite the fact DS declined interview they still turned round and made him an offer 3 grades below their advertised offer and DS’s predicted. I think Essex could be a really sought after university if they would just revamp its buildings. They rank 34 for Computer science.

I think Essex probably misses out on attracting lots of good candidates for one reason or another.

I can see your DH's point, Shimy. I'd have thought good CS courses would tend to be like engineering or physics where decent A level maths is a requirement, and if the student doesn't have that then they'd need to do a foundation year.

Bizarrely, the Tower Block accommodation gets rave reviews on Student Crowd and is in their top 10 uni accommodation list. Whatever floats yer boat...

shimy the thing is that the tower blocks are unbelievably cheap and my impression* from the open day was that there were a lot of “first time buyers” there from London who might be attracted by that. It was the glitziest of all the open days I’ve been to with 2 kids now, it slightly smacked of desperation

• yes, borderline snobby and applying stereotypes before anyone says something 😉