Swansea Uni - but only if Singleton campus

[Swanseaquestions]

DS is investigating universities at the behest of his school (he is lower sixth).

He is keen on Swansea at this stage but only if he can live on Singleton campus (where his course is taught) rather than on Bay campus - which looks absolutely lovely but is 30-40 mins bus journey away in peak hours (DS course has lots of contact hours too so he would need to be on Singleton a lot).

From Swansea’s website, it seems accommodation is not confirmed until after results day - so he could firm Swansea, get the grades but then be allocated Bay, which he categorically does not want to go to. I have suggested this therefore rules Swansea out as one of his five choices but just checking I have not misunderstood.

I don't think getting the accommodation you want is usually a problem at Swansea, DS got his first choice (Bay!). Bay campus is lovely though. I think it's quite easy to cycle which might be quicker than the bus & I'm sure you could swap fairly quickly after the start of term.

@cookerhood cycling is a good idea actually. Bay accommodation looks a lot nicer than Singleton (plus direct access to the beach there!) but I know my DS - he will not make early lectures if there’s a long bus ride! Is your DS enjoying Swansea? My DS thinks it looks amazing and he doesn’t want the pressure of a RG Uni even though he is likely to get AAA predictions. He’s now booked himself in for an open day

dd was looking at swansea.
Bay campus houses all the maths and computing students (I think) and so they will be the ones wanting to live on Bay campus.

It seemed like you got the accommodation you wanted (at least you got which campus you wanted) unless you were through clearing.

“It seemed like you got the accommodation you wanted (at least you got which campus you wanted) unless you were through clearing.”

If this is the case, it rules Swansea IN. DS would either firm or insure it. Crossing fingers you are right @steppemum

Have you thought about some of the private companies for student accommodation in the SA1 area? My dc lived at student roost from 1st year and loved it there. Easy access to the city centre for the night life and half way between the two campuses.

My son is in his final year at Swansea and has loved every moment of it even though the first year was in Covid. His course is based at Bay and he had a fantastic room on Bay in the first year with a huge shared kitchen. They would often catch the reliable bus service into Swansea but also walked back on several occasions after nights out.
For second and third year he has lived in the Uplands area near Singleton and travelled easily to Bay. Happy to answer any questions.

My DS is at Swansea and I can confirm that at least when he started they all got accommodated where they wanted so he was in geek city with a flat full of Maths/Computing/Engineering students down in the lovely bay campus and has barely spoken to anyone not doing a science degree since .

As a mum I would like to put a big vote of support for the uni as a whole. When other places were charging for food etc when students had to isolate they were given a huge amount of food, people did their laundry for free and they had visits from student services to check up on their mental health. I know those days are (fingers crossed) over but I think it speaks to how they care for their students as a whole. DS is loving his time there, it's been the absolute making of him.

My Dd did two degrees at Swansea University, just wanted to say she absolutely loved it there.

Although judging from the comments here he might get what he wants, but he seems to under a bit of a misapprehension about his ability to call the shots in this process.

There's no guarantee he will get an offer: you need to set the expectation that there many very well qualified students applying for courses and he will be lucky to be offered a place at great university like Swansea. He needs to accept the place as firm before he can apply for accommodation. And there's no guarantee he will get what the accommodation he wants. If he then decided he wanted to reject his firm offer because he didn't like the accommodation, he would have to wait for clearing to find a new course. Which would probably be a not so prestigious course and could potentially have a worse accommodation situation than a 30 min bus ride in Swansea.

Personally I think he should give his head a little wobble. Choose the course for the course and the city, not the accommodation. Hope to be lucky, be prepared to be flexible if he's not.

DS is predicted AAA minimum. 7 grade 9s at GCSE plus one 8 and one 7. Swansea want BBB. He wants to go there despite his school urging RG and he being on their Oxbridge programme. No head wobbling required, thank you

Mellicauli, it is entirely up to the student to set their own parameters as to what is important to them though. The 'best' course isn't the best course for you if you will be unhappy with the accommodation set-up, or it's too far away, or the actual city/campus doesn't appeal.

I realise the lostinwales comment about only talking to science students was a humorous one, but DD is considering Swansea, it looks fab, but she is slightly put off by the segregation of students. She isn't geeky, she just likes maths! She would like to be on Bay Campus, but is a bit wobbly about the two campus set up.

I went to swansea uni back in the days before the bay campus was a twinkle in the university’s eye! And my daughter is seriously considering it now too (very different subjects!). She is also only interested in it if she can be on the campus where her lectures are (singleton) so I think it’s a very valid question. That main route in and out of swansea (so between Bay and Singleton) gets mega busy with traffic. I would hate to have that as my commute every day.
We went to the last open day & it was fab. My daughter is mostly interested in the proximity to the beach! 😂 They were very clear on the open day that grades were not a massive issue in getting in. I would be very surprised if straight A students didn’t get a place there. I’m sure this is different for different courses but even the Vice Chancellor said it in his welcome talk.
Enjoy the open day!

I wouldn't worry about the two campus set up - although they should be under no illusion that Bay is actually in Swansea, it's not! As long as she gets involved in societies she will mingle. The society DS is heavily involved in originally said they would operate across both campuses, I'm not sure if that really happened, & then along came Covid. Most people live in the centre of Swansea after the first year & commute out to Bay.
DS says almost everyone he knows got in to Swansea through clearing! Not a great advert for the uni but he has enjoyed it & his course is respected.
They told DS to contact them if he wanted his offer lowering (!). He did & they did & I think in the end it was an unconditional offer even though it was his second choice.

I went to Swansea before the bay campus and most of the first year accommodation wasn't on campus it was 3 miles away. The bus service was good. From the 2nd year there is loads of student accommodation in brynmill and the uplands.

My DS was like the OP’s son. He chose Swansea, accommodation on Singleton & went onto achieve AAA. His accommodation was confirmed on results day. Yes, there are many who had Swansea as insurance or came in clearing. My point being, he was allocated the accommodation before they were. I would be highly surprised if someone in his position did not get first choice accommodation. Incidentally, Swansea offer a scholarship of £1k a year if you get AAA (as long as you maintain a 2:1 average).

@Felicitywindpower It was tongue in cheek as he joined a sports society that has made him lots of friends all through the uni but due to very good fortune in the flat mates he was first assigned they are still mostly together about to go into a fourth year of sharing houses together so are a very maths based household! Any questions about applying for maths there feel free to DM me, would particularly recommend attempting the scholarship exam because it can be the source of unconditional offers if you don't achieve a scholarship.

Sure, but I was pointing out the parameters he has set up for himself are not within his control and if he follows will almost certainly work out to his detriment.

Sorry, the head wobble comment was misjudged

I do think you need to be aware that son is demanding guarantees where none exist:

"Please note that the guarantee is for a room in halls of residences, we are not able to guarantee specific rooms, blocks or residence sites as some residences are very popular and heavily subscribed." University of Swansea accommodation https://www.swansea.ac.uk/accommodation/applying-for-accommodation/guarantees/#undergraduate-students-home-and-international=is-expanded

And having grades well above the desired entry level does not necessarily guarantee an offer.

Universities they need to send the right number of offers out to fill their spaces. They will have offers from people who want to firm them and others who want to have them as insurance. The university will offer to a proportion of people predicted to meet their grade expectations (as they are likely to firm them) and a proportion of people who are aspirational (who would be more likely to have them as insurance and will probably reject them or use them as insurance).

To offer to too many aspirational candidates is a risky strategy because you could end up with too many insurance candidates, not having enough people to run the course and having to pick up candidates with grades below your target in clearing.

It's easy to go into university applications thinking that you are a great "catch" but there are more factors at play than you think.

Anyway, hope it all turns out well for him.