University Life..

[pokemon_master]

What's it like?
What are the best bits?
What are the Worst Bits?
How is the work?
Is it hard to get into from A level?
Is it hard to do the whole "Self Study" regime?

I am asking since I will have to go this september and I wanted to know some things before I do.

 

[jen_uk]

I actually hated uni when I did my degree but I enjoyed it when I did my PGCE. The best bit is probably the social side of it! It is very hard and you do have to make yourself work hard. The worst bit for me was the stress, the amount of work we had was incredible and at times I was really stressed out. It is a fantastic experience tho and you will have a great time.

 

[Minniespal]

I really enjoyed Uni ~ As Jen has mentioned there is an incredible amount of work to be done. The stress at times was so bad that I almost quit on a couple of occassions.

However, the other parts more than made up for those times. I made friends at Uni who are still friends now. The social side was fantastic.

Plus I ended up obtaining qualifications which now enable me to do a job which I absolutely love.

 

[Booknut]

University was the happiest time of my life! Lots of new friends and different clubs and groups, parties etc!

You get to study what you want so it doesn't seem as difficult although you do have to work quite consistently. It is definitely easier if you are studying something you really love. I've always loved law so my degree didn't seem to difficult as I loved most of it (excluding property and public law which was horrible!).

The only negatives I saw were people doing drugs which I always thought was stupid. A complete waste of money and they always looked like prats...

I also had a part time job too because its always nice to have a bit of spending money at the weekends. You won't be in classes for 6 hours a day every day so doing a few hours a week will help in that regard.

What are you thinking of studying?

 

[pokemon_master]

What are you thinking of studying?

I am hoping to study Economics. I loved the subject, though I haven't had it as a whole subject before. It's mostly Economics and Business Studies so I have no idea what to expect! In fact there is a little nat in the back of my head to tell me not to do it, but I think what I will do is go to the university I want to go to and then switch courses if I dislike EC and maybe go into full time Business Studies.

What did you guys do to study at Uni? Did you just get given a Topic to do or was it just go off and do whatever you want?? I am all up for independant study provided it's not me doing it all myself; i'd like some input as to what I should and shouldn't be learning..

 

[Booknut]

I wasn't so good at keeping up a study schedule and tended to cram towards the end of each semester. But that is not a good way to do it and so i'm going to advise that you do as I say and not as I do! It's best to just set aside a few hours a week where you can read the materials, take good notes (super important) and digest all the info.

For me, having good notes was key. I would write and re-write them until the stuff was in my head and then i'd put the main stuff on index cards I carried with me so I could pull them out any time and review.

You get lots of guidance, you will have classes and tutorials and a tutor to speak with and you'll get together with friends and probably study with them too. We set up study groups in year 2 and maintained them throughout the rest of the degree and that helped a lot too.

 

[Minniespal]

My degree and my Masters are in Psychology and much of it consisted of theory and research.

My counselling qualifications meant that I spent a lot of time doing client work. My Masters in Counselling again involved research.

Both Psychology and Counselling, as you can imagine require you to work with people. The Counselling profession can be very alienating at times because of the amount of time that you spend working on a one-to-one basis with clients. Therefore not actually spending a great amount of time in lectures. We had support groups, study groups, encounter groups, peer group support and also community meetings. Plus as a trainee psychologist/counsellor we also were required to attend therapy ourselves. The tutors on my courses were wonderful and provided lots of support. My friends provided the rest and somehow I managed to make it through the difficult times.

 

[wideeyes]

I am in my 2nd at the moment and it is hard work, my degree is not exam focused(i only have one exam this year) however this means that there is a lot of written and research work to be done. I think most degree courses 360 hours academic year(12 hours a week) and a recommended 1200 hours private study time. Which gives an idea of how much is expected to be done in your own time.

I think the main difference from school to university is that you are treated differently. At school you have teachers constantly going through coursework with you and making sure you get in done on time while at uni you need to be very self motivated to get your assignments done.

Also often you can be in lectures with hundreds of other people for the popular subjects and you don't always have the same lecturer each week, where at school you have the same teacher. Though the seminars are smaller and tend to have only about 20 people in them, and you get to interact more with the lecturer.

 

[Chilly]

I adored Uni and did Journalism at Lincoln University. I met my DBF there, made loads of friends who I still see but also fell out with quite a few. The work load does depend on the course but your tutors should always be able to help and support you.

The social life is great but can become very expensive and get in the way of work so you have to find your own way to balance it, the same thing doesn't work for everyone.

This will def happen a lot

University is not for everyone though and they all differ so it is a good idea to check them out beforehand. At first I wanted to go to Liverpool University but i'm glad I went to Lincoln as it was much smaller and like a community.

Good Luck with your A-Levels.

 

[Lizzybear]

I'm in uni now (resitting one module so technically in year 3 of 4 although it should have only been a 3 year course.. I do temp work aswell) and haven't really enjoyed it much. I'm not sure if that's because I started later than most people do nowadays (2 years after I left school) or because i've never been one for drinking/going out every night or even meeting loads of new people (I prefer to have my few good friends) I'm carrying on because it would be a waste of time and money to stop and also because I don't want to disappoint my parents. Most people I know loved it though, i've just had things happen that have skewed my perspectives so now i'm trying to make the best of things.
I think you'd be eligible for the services of an SEN tutor if you wanted and also may be able to get some leeway with assignments and exams. Friends of mine have dyslexia and dyspraxia and they have been able to get these things and one of them even got a brand new laptop, dictaphone etc. Just things to make life easier really.
I'd say definitely go if you want to, it's a different experience for everyone and can really change you. My main advice would be don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.. It can seem like a shock to have to be almost entirely self-motivated from being more guided in school or college but lecturers should give you their phone number and E-mail address so you can contact them outside of class if need be.

 

[tony64]

Matt

DD is currently doing A levels and hopes to do Business Management at Warwick Uni. in Sept. Have you any idea which uni. you want to go to?

 

[pokemon_master]

Tony, Hopefully University of Essex, if not university of East Anglia. Nice to be local.

 

[emily1982]

My cousin is in her first year at Cardiff and seems to love it! She says the work isn't hard there is just alot of it. She was really homesick at first and she made the decision not to visit home for the first term so she could settle properly, which seems to have worked. Shes made loads of friends, and my nan keeps sending her food packages, so i think i may have to go as she gets sent so much stuff!!

 

[Danauk]

I loved my uni days. I found the difference between GCSE and A level to be greater than the difference between A level and degree.
As for enjoying uni I think it depends on your personality and where you choose to study. My uni was a 17th century mansion set in several hundred acres of country park, with 2 lakes and our own nature reserve. I loved it as it was so me, I would have hated going to uni in a big city (wierd as I grew up in Leeds!)
As for the self study regeme, my 1st and 2nd year we had lots of lectures so I was in Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm doing lectures. My final year I had 2 hours lectures a week, but so much stuff to do on campus and writing dissertations that I put the same hours in anyway. As I did a music degree I still had to do 6 hours a day instrumental practice anyway so I spent a lot of time at uni. Some of my friends did not do this (too much night life and getting up late) but they paid the price in the end.
Oh and as for making friends, I met my DH in my 1st week at uni, started dating him 2 weeks later, we have been married 9 years this year (we married after I finished my post grad course.)
My advice would be to look around lots of unis to see which you like. As for the study regeme, that will sort itself out once you are there.