Anyone have DC at Queens University Belfast?

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Cross-posted from Craicnet:

Just wondered if anyone has any experiences or advice they can share re: QUB? DS is thinking about applying for Computer Science. We live in England and have been over for the open day.

DS has concerns around possible low contact hours and is unsure how engaged the tutors are with undergraduates. He's emailed Queens with some questions, but their responses have been vague or not very helpful.

TIA.

I know people who did CS at Queen's. They had no major complaints.

But the things your son has concerns about - low contact hours and a lack of supervision from tutors - are going to be the case at any Russell Group university.

There will be study skills and maths support services he'll be able to avail of, but he will be expected to become a more independent learner than he is at A level.

No but as someone else said, low contact hours can be common. I’ve one at Bath and one at Leeds both doing stem subjects and despite being a lower ranked university, Leeds offers more contact time and more tutorial support.

I should add if helpful that we are in another part of UK and know quite a few who have gone to Queen’s and are very happy there in subjects ranging from languages to natural sciences.

More support offered if lower entry tariff. That’s fairly normal. Ex polys often similar. Other top unis have identical high achieving cohorts.

What’s the advantage of going to Belfast? Is he wanting to stay there? It’s very much a university for NI students.

This
As someone who grew up in NI went to school here etc.. i found QUB VERY parochial

@GinaandGin I also found the same as a student there and lived in NI from birth until an unexpected move late in life.

However they do incentivise students from other parts of UK now. Not sure what’s still on offer but accommodation discount, flight home in first year and some funding is attracting students from my part of the UK. I know about 10 students from where I live now there currently who love the uni and life and one stayed right through degree to PhD. Depends on course obviously and it is a flight away….

You may find things are changing.

Yes, because loans are not normally available for NI students to study elsewhere in the UK many/most will stay at home. But:

• QUB has become an increasingly popular option for those from the Republic as the cost of living in Dublin soars.
• students from elsewhere in the UK have started to recognise that QUB offers 'value'. An established RG university with a lovely setting in a vibrant city, but with relatively accessible entry requirements.

It was suggested to DD when she was applying for medicine a decade ago and we knew a couple of people who went. Less competitive than some other medical schools but with a strong academic tradition. Since then QUB seems to have become an increasingly popular option across the full range of subjects for those from elsewhere in the UK and from overseas. Not least because rents and other costs compare well with other major UK cities.

Oh that's good to hear

A quarter of a century after the peace agreement and Belfast seems to be having its moment. A surge in creativity (Derry Girls, Blue Lights even some difficult reflection: Trespassers, Tell No One), booming tourism (all those Game of Thrones tours as well as a surprising number of Italians) and a growth in coffee shop culture along the Lisburn and Ormeau Roads and Ballyhackamore. Many areas, including around the University, feel safer than comparable English cities and the cost of living is reasonable.

Its much easier for outsiders who are able to float over remaining tensions. Less easy for those who grew up with them. For the average student three years living in the Holylands promises good craic. If the course is right, QUB is worth considering.

A relative went to Queens for 1 year before dropping out of Uni (didn't like the course and subsequently changed direction).
A lot of students went home every weekend as they were not far from home. So halls of residence were very lonely as an English student who couldn't go home very often.
There was also quite a large cohort of Chinese students who all seemed to stick together.

This might be a bit outing as there are so few students from here who go to Queens, but my daughter is now in her second year and having an absolute ball in Belfast. It's true that a lot of the NI students live at home/ go home at the weekends but there are plenty of UK, Irish and International students who don't and she's always had someone to do things with if she's wanted to.

The distance is an issue for coming home, but with lots of pretty cheap regular flights from City and International airports to Scotland it's never been an issue, esp when you book ahead. The travel grant of £500 in first year was a bonus.

Belfast is a great city, small but buzzy - better for pubs and gigs than clubbing I think, so it would depend on what your DC was into. Uni halls were good value - she was in BT1 because she wante dto be in the city centre, and they were modern, clean and the on site gym was a bonus.

I guess it depends on the subject, but DD has had great support from tutors, stident services and the careers service too - but you have to be prepared to go and ask/ use those services, they're not going to seek you out which I know can be hard for some.

A friend's DC opted for Queens Belfast and seems to be having a great time. They have enjoyed it so much they didn't even go home for weekends or a reading week (not sure they had one). The kid is ND and from England but has settled really well. I do recall thinking the student accommodation looked great (my DC is in awful-looking halls at a uni in England but, to be fair, has still loved their experience).

Our daughter finished medicine Queens 2 years ago and enjoyed it , quite a few students on her course from other places in the UK and overseas students . Rent was cheaper then the other university she was offered a place at Liverpool. 2 airports near by offering cheap flights to the UK plus the stena line port. In fact looks like she will stay living in Belfast . I would say Belfast is a fab place to visit and love visiting.I think they still do good incentives for GB student which is worth 3 grand in the 1st and isn't mean tested unfortunately not available for medicine and a couple of other degrees .

A friend's ND DS also went to QUB, she was worried sick about him being so far from home but said he is loving it. Said the disability support is excellent too.

Totally incorrect that loans are unavailable for NI students to study elsewhere - student finance covers the entire UK and ROI for them. DD went to a top Belfast grammar (actually facing Queen’s!) and very few students in her cohort have stayed in NI for university - most went on to England & Scotland.

Ahhh, my understanding was that England and Wales had the same student finance approach, but that Scotland and NI were different. Which is why so many Scottish and NI students stay at home. (And my strong impression is that most do. Perhaps the school yours went to is not typical. There are certainly a few Belfast grammars that seem to generate the same sort of 11+ frenzy as the Tiffin schools in west London.)

A university friend of DDs from a working class North Belfast background really struggled and relied heavily on both work and from extended family when studying in England.

Scottish students don't pay University fees if they stay in Scotland, so lots do. Is that the difference? Do NI students pay fees if they study at Queens or Ulster?

I went to Queen's 27 years ago! There weren't many English there but I wasn't massively unusual even then. It was a fantastic omace to live abd study then and I'm sure even better now.

Yes a lot of people who were from NI went home at weekends but I got invited back with them loads and got to know much more of the whole place than just Belfast.

DD did go to one of ‘those’ popular schools with lots of RG/Oxbridge applicants in the mix but I’d say on a whole more students are branching out further afield nowadays. Entry requirements are fairly high for both QUB and Ulster so increasingly students who wouldn’t really choose to leave home are being forced to England etc. They pay reduced fees of around £4.5k/year if they stay in NI, not as good as the free Scottish system unfortunately but it’s something.

NI students pay just under £5000 to study at home compared to the £9500 ish in England. I have one of each! Dd in her sixth year of study at Queens (very local) and ds in his first year in England.

Different subject but dd loves everything about Queens and has had no real complaints yet. I studied there myself many years ago. Belfast is a very different place now. There are def an increasing amount of international students and those from different parts of the UK.

Entry requirements are fairly high for both QUB and Ulster so increasingly students who wouldn’t really choose to leave home are being forced to England etc.

This. There was always those who chose to study in England or Scotland, but most stayed at home to save money. The improved security situation, along with an increased awareness that Queens is a "good value" option both in terms of entry grades and cost of living is bringing in students from the south, from elsewhere in the UK and elsewhere. This is good for Queens and probably good for NI, reducing its isolation and building ties with both Britain and the Republic. The losers will be those squeezed out. Students who can't reach the grades and/or who can't afford the extra costs of studying elsewhere.

Off topic but I recently sat next to a lovely young woman on a plane who had been to a grammar in West Belfast. Apparently Cambridge, as part of an outreach programme, invited a group over to Cambridge. They went, then applied, but none got accepted. Her career, which required strong mathematical skills, did not seem to have been limited by studying at Queens though she was at a point where she probably needed to move to London or Dublin to progress. Not dissimilar to a good school near me in London where most pupils only apply to London Universities. Oxford outreach led to applications but no offers. Both schools will have bright pupils, that Oxbridge are clearly interested in. I wonder what is missing.

Movie about student life in Belfast now available on BBC iPlayer.

Trailer:

Not watched, but I am told that St Patrick's night in the Holylands is one for the bucket list.

Please rest assured that this is not representative of the Belfast student experience unless you want it to be - ie: you’re heading to uni to party 24/7 and not much else. To be frank I wouldn’t want my dog to be living in the Holylands, never mind my DD! It’s an absolute rowdy dump nowadays.

Lower Lisburn Rd/Stranmillis is a lot more civilised in terms of student housing and more popular with the studious types. Still a fun place to live, just not so mad!

I was not being that serious. The point perhaps being that there is a vibrant student social scene, but perhaps wise not to actually live in the middle of it.

Oh dear that sounds bad, @ByronKoala . My DS lives there. Lots going wrong in his house to be fair (all fixed eventually) but he seems to work hard and play hard and have good friends.