Yeah, they're expanding the course numbers this year in a lot of courses. SP is a fairly small course anyway so a few more won't hurt your seminar teacher to pupil ratio too badly. No need to apologise, I wish I had had someone I could ask.

1) Very much so, in your first two units you'll have a huge chunk of the teaching staff lecturing in their area of expertise. For instance, UK and EU migration was covered by the person who used to be in charge of EU immigration stats or one of the Profs in the poverty research centre took us for our lectures on Poverty and Social Exclusion works for UNICEF's steering committee. There are, however, some fairly dull bits but this would be the case with any course and you don't have to focus on them that much if you don't want.
2) 9 hours, 6 in Social Policy (2, two hour lectures and a seminar per unit) and 3 from my open unit ( you'll pick two open units whether you choose SP or Politics and you have one of these each term. I choose intro to World Politics for one, highly recommend). Doesn't sound like much but your time fills up with reading for lectures and seminars. I work, on a good week, probably 25 hours per-week including timetabled contact hours.
3) In the first instance I'll be applying for a MSc Social Research Methods or maybe the Comparative and International Social Policy at Oxford with the view to applying for the Civil Service Fast Stream as a Government Social Researcher but at this stage I'm also toying with some other ideas.
4) As far as I am aware there is some flexibility during your first week/two weeks or so as I know a couple of people who have changed. Even if you don't you can take either politics units or SP units as open units and get a taste for each. There is also the possibility of doing joint SP-Politics I belive but, please, don't qoute me on that one.

This is regarding accommodation, and is really important!
Up until now, I was sure I wanted self-catered in Clifton, and managed to narrow down my choices to The Hawthorns and Manor Hall. I spoke to my father about it and he thought catered might be a better choice. Since none of us knows anything about the UK, we emailed my aunt (who lives in Austria, but that's the closest a relative to the UK I've got). She thinks self-catered would be good if I had a lot of time, but even then I would end up cooking something simple/ light and compromise on nutrition. Also because it will be really cold (20 degrees is really cold to me), it would be better to have at least two warm and healthy meals taken care of for the first year, while I get adjusted to everything.
So now, we are down to Churchill and CHH. What I need from you wonderful people:

1. Your opinion on the self-catered v/s catered debate.
2. I chose Churhill because it has 96 places for 133/week, which is the cheapest. Are these rooms really tiny/ lacking in some way? Also, CHH because it has 6 places for 129/week. I just don't see the point in spending extortionate amounts on catered accommodation.
3. The trek into town from Churchill - I hate to exercise, Bristol is apparently hilly, it will inevitably be raining/ windy on any given day. Although, I quite enjoy walking. I just don't want to be out of breath by the time I reach! Will it be too much?
4. The rah/posh reputation - While I know that there will be a mix of students in every hall, I don't even know what posh people are or how they behave. Since I'm an international student, I would hate to be uncomfortable in my own accommodation and not make any friends.
5. The food - Really, is it too bland for an Indian tongue? Will I end up spending more than I would in self-catered?

Note: I cannot cook, apart from eggs, pasta, sandwiches, rice and all sorts of instant foods.

I am sorry this is so long and I know everybody is in the middle of exams, but I would appreciate an honest reply so much! Particularly if I will be comfortable in a hall like Churchill. Thank you!

Hey everyone! I'm coming to Bristol in September as well :)
I know this is a very late reply, but the skype idea sounds cool! My username is kishan500, feel free to add me [Although I probably won't have much time to chat till after exams]

I've lived in the UK all my life so I guess I know a thing or 2 about British culture etc

I recently got accepted to study French and Italian at Bristol in 2013, however I am tied between accepting this or Reading University for my first choice. I would like to ask any language students, particularily French and/or Italian students, how happy they are with the course, how it's taught, the things you do, the teaching quality and generally how happy you are studying langauge there and with the university in general. I have done a bit of research which show that student satisfaction rates are pretty low on the scoreboard for languages there whereas Reading is pretty high, and while Bristol is one of the top universities in UK I don't want to go there but be unhappy with the course and university which I'll be spending 4 years and £9,000 a year on, so I wanted to ask some actual students to see for sure.

Thanks :)

I've firmed bristol for french and italian and I also was worried about the low satisfaction score on whichuni.com (i'm guessing that's the one you used?)..however after doing a little bit of research through contacts at bristol I think the general consensus is that the degree is actually very interesting it's just that the language department (particularly the french department) is quite unorganised and quite slow with feedback which brings the student score down..one of the main reasons I chose bristol is that it has the highest percentage of students achieving 2:1 degrees and above and a 2:1 is the minimum a lot of employers ask for nowadays..I know i'm not an actual student so don't feel you have to take my advice but I hope this has helped a little

I'm currently in my first year doing CMM. It doesn't matter which one you apply for, everyone is treated as CMM for the first two years so theoretically 100% of applicants could have applied for virology and immunology (the one I happen to be on). However, you can express an interest to change degree programme all the way up until the end of 2nd year (or your placement). I am going to change to cancer biology and immunology when I can be bothered to email them :L. I've heard that the extend of it mattering is just the priority given to students choosing 3rd year projects, and cancer biology and immunology is the most competitive for project titles of the 5.

The course is amazing, really gives you a variety and a chance to discover what you're interested in. However...not much virology in the 1st year (about 2 basic lectures) !! Lots of bacteria, immunity, biochemistry and cancer, though.

Ask away if you want to know more.. suggested reading etc

How many weeks should you be looking to apply for accommodation if your hoping to go to bristol medical school? Ill be in my first year come september but cant find out how many weeks my first year is

Is it 38 wks 40 wks or 43??? or does it not matter :/ i have no idea what accommoation i should be lookin at! :S

Apply soon - these always go quickly! Deadline 22 May.

http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-...ices-assistant

PS. To see SS Great Britain for only a pound - Friday 17 May, 6pm to 9pm only - just bring proof of a BS postcode address. http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-...ls-after-hours

There are Open Days on 26 & 27 June : http://www.bris.ac.uk/opendays/

You can try emailing the Dept (sml-office@bristol.ac.uk) and asking what options were offered to First Years this year. They wont be able to tell you exactly what will be on offer in October - it will depend on which staff are available to teach, how many students etc - but you can ask what might be on offer.

I've firmed french and italian at bristol and i went to the open day in march..i can pretty much tell you that most french degrees are always going to have a bit of literature..the degree at bristol definitely isn't a degree in french literature though..there are loads of cultural units you can choose etc...you'd be crazy to pick kent over bristol..particulary as about 95% of students who study french at bristol get a 2:1 or above

Well, you can check the admissions pages of the programs you're interested in, but I've never seen a US uni that allows an exemption for anyone. The main reason seems to be that it is the one way they can see a standardized score from people from all sorts of different education systems. I mean, it's certainly possible that there are unis that don't require GRE (or GMAT for mainly business related courses), but I haven't come across one yet.

Hey everyone :-)
Just wondering if anyone on here is attending the SPAIS visit day on Wednesday 6th of March 2013?
I've never been to one of these before, and tbh I'm a bit nervous!

Ps. I'm doing sociology :-)

I am in the same position, applied on the 4th of October for politics and have had countless "update" emails with no reply - rang them and they said that the 31st was just an aim for universities, and that they were hoping to have replied to everyone by the end of April

Thanks again! I think I am leaning towards Bristol just because the city sounds like what I am looking for and then I will put Bath as my insurance choice just in case. Does anyone know how lenient Bristol is about letting in people who miss their offer? My offer is an A in Calculus and and A in Biology (I already satisfied another requirement), so if I ended up with a B in Calc, would they perhaps let me in?

I will be applying to universities in 2014, and I'm looking into Bristol, Lancaster, Leeds and a few others for either geography or something related. I just wanted to know, is the Bsc in Geography VERY science based? I've taken biology for A Level and obvs geography too but not chemistry because I dislike it and I just don't get it. As there isn't a Ba offered in Bristol, this would influence my decision loads, thanks :)

Most CS students are 'wanted' and really keen to find jobs. There is a careers fair at the start of the year, so people start applying after that and as far as I know, most people have jobs lined up for after they graduate.
I have a job in Bristol- Bristol is awesome, I don't want to leave.

The course is quite flexible so you can change from 3 years to 4 years or 4 years to 3 easily once you are here. It is slightly easier to change down, so apply for the masters even if you are not sure. Most people do the masters anyway, because the games project is awesome. Possibly the reason why I chose to come to Bristol in the first place!

There are a couple of maths units in the first year but these are mainly recaps of A levels. You will be taught new maths in second year, for algorithms and image based processing things. It's challenging at times, but it doesn't ruin the course.

Hi Lakey - sorry for the late reply! Bristol is a wonderful city - it's got a lot of culture and stuff going on which is the main thing that separates it from other cities its size: lots of street art (Banksy and most of the top street artists are from here) and music stuff going on. Otherwise it's just like any other city: good shops, good feeling, friendly locals, good nightlife (clubs, pubs and bars alike) etc. The best thing is the size: large enough to be interesting, but actually a lot smaller than you might expect which is a good thing: its nice to have everything in walking distance.

And yeah, I'm in Churchill Halls in Stoke Bishop (I'd highly recommend a hall in Stoke Bishop if you come). I love it! Bristol people are friendly and fun which is the important thing! But I'm sure that's the same in any uni.

True, quite happy we have a huge range to choose from! Shame I can't choose a catered hall though, too expensive :( well you have an offer and that's what matters :D

Hi, just confirmed Bristol as my top choice for Neuroscience. I was very impressed with Bristol, but also secretly biased as I've known Bristol fairly well for a long time (did work experience at the zoo which was awesome), so it was very easy to choose. Now just a matter of choosing accommodation and getting the grades! I'm not stupid but I really am terrible at revising so we'll see how this goes....