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Students on campus, Nottingham University
University of Nottingham
Nottingham
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Nottingham- your thoughts?

If you're a Notts student, a graduate, a citizen or even a humble one-time visitor (as I am): your opinions, gripes, anecdotes, praises etc on the uni as well as the city itself and lifestyle please...


I went up for the open day yesterday, and really liked (but didn't fall in love with) it. The psychology department I thought was very good; the flexibility of the courses there (ie the subsidiary modules) is a big plus for me. I must admit I still had a little bit of doubt lingering in my mind over whether I really actually wanted to study it for my degree but the Head of Dep completely sold it me all over again.
I also liked the library, lots of seats and a nice little cafe- though the shelves are too close together and the psych section is not very substantial. Trent is a beautiful building and the New Theatre seems interesting and a place I'd like to join (its a LOT smaller and more tatty than I would've expected though! XD)
However the catered accommodation did not impress me at all (I visited Hugh Stewart hall) and I found University Park campus itself, good-looking as it is, to be a bit too plain and green (what happened to flowers?!). Also it is massive, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be travelling to and from lessons!
Didn't get a chance to tour Nottingham, regretfully. It sounds great if the prospectus is to be believed :p:

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xCHiiBiEverlastingx
If you're a Notts student, a graduate, a citizen or even a humble one-time visitor (as I am): your opinions, gripes, anecdotes, praises etc on the uni as well as the city itself and lifestyle please...


I went up for the open day yesterday, and really liked (but didn't fall in love with) it. The psychology department I thought was very good; the flexibility of the courses there (ie the subsidiary modules) is a big plus for me. I must admit I still had a little bit of doubt lingering in my mind over whether I really actually wanted to study it for my degree but the Head of Dep completely sold it me all over again.
I also liked the library, lots of seats and a nice little cafe- though the shelves are too close together and the psych section is not very substantial. Trent is a beautiful building and the New Theatre seems interesting and a place I'd like to join (its a LOT smaller and more tatty than I would've expected though! XD)
However the catered accommodation did not impress me at all (I visited Hugh Stewart hall) and I found University Park campus itself, good-looking as it is, to be a bit too plain and green (what happened to flowers?!). Also it is massive, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be travelling to and from lessons!
Didn't get a chance to tour Nottingham, regretfully. It sounds great if the prospectus is to be believed :p:


Whats wrong with the accommodation? I've stated at Hughs and Stewart when I visited with school and Lenton and Wortley when I went on a physics course.
Students on campus, Nottingham University
University of Nottingham
Nottingham
Visit website
I haven't been into the city but I LOVED the university.

However, the accomodation I saw was pretty poor (only got to see a shared en-suite room and small single rooms) but I've been told the rest of the accomodation is at the same level at Southampton's (the flats I saw there were very, very nice).

As for the actual course, I don't know what I make of their geography one. I need to look at it more.

I think I'm going to apply there though. I loved it so much that even if the course isn't as good as another unis, I think I'd still choose it over them. XD
Reply 3
Accommodation is what you make it - it may look dull when you move in, but personalise it and make it your own room, and it becomes much better. I'm moving there for my first year next weekend, havn't been there but I've only read lots of positive stuff about the uni, the city, the nightlife, the people etc. :smile:
Reply 4
xCHiiBiEverlastingx
If you're a Notts student, a graduate, a citizen or even a humble one-time visitor (as I am): your opinions, gripes, anecdotes, praises etc on the uni as well as the city itself and lifestyle please...


I went up for the open day yesterday, and really liked (but didn't fall in love with) it. The psychology department I thought was very good; the flexibility of the courses there (ie the subsidiary modules) is a big plus for me. I must admit I still had a little bit of doubt lingering in my mind over whether I really actually wanted to study it for my degree but the Head of Dep completely sold it me all over again.
I also liked the library, lots of seats and a nice little cafe- though the shelves are too close together and the psych section is not very substantial. Trent is a beautiful building and the New Theatre seems interesting and a place I'd like to join (its a LOT smaller and more tatty than I would've expected though! XD)
However the catered accommodation did not impress me at all (I visited Hugh Stewart hall) and I found University Park campus itself, good-looking as it is, to be a bit too plain and green (what happened to flowers?!). Also it is massive, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be travelling to and from lessons!
Didn't get a chance to tour Nottingham, regretfully. It sounds great if the prospectus is to be believed :p:


The shelves are too close together? Hmm, that's a new one on me - did you have a problem with trying to get past somebody or do you just mean in general?

Accommodation on UP isn't amazing, but it doesn't take much to improve it - posters, having all your stuff on your desk and shelves, decent bedding and such and it looks just like the three colleges I stayed in at Cambridge :smile:

I suppose it's truee that it's very green but not too colourful, but they are continuously doing work on the place, and we have enough sets of gardens to keep you feeling Summery!

In terms of getting between places, I'd say it's a lot easier than most universities, for the simple reason that it is a campus university, and we have the free Hopper Bus services, which run every 15 minutes during the day. You could walk across the Downs in 10 minutes, or take the bus in 5 minutes. It might seem quite large, but it doesn't take that long to get between places at all :smile:
I went to the open day as well and i feel much the same way. I was very impressed with the departments and the campus is absolutely huge! The catered accommodation i visited was a bit underwhelming. (Rutland and Hugh Stewart).

I only went into the city centre briefly as i've been there before on football away trips. It's not the best city centre i've been to but i was still impressed. I asked people about the nightlife etc and they were quite positive about it.
Reply 6
I also went to Nottingham yesterday, have wanted to go for a while, must admit that at first I was a bit let down. Visited the Psychology department and was annoyed at the lack of social psychology modules available - hoping this isn't going to put me off, as everything else was great.

I had a look at self-catered accomodation, you could say I was happy, before visiting I was very picky about having an en-suite and nothing else, Nottingham has definitely changed my mind on that subject!

The campus was beautiful, but the walking definitely put me off. When I was on the train back, I discovered I had two blisters :frown:

The city was really good, I live in London, and I felt at home. Me and my friends successfully navigated our way round without getting lost. There was a good range of shops, and it just seems like a nice place to be. I've been told my graduates that the nightlife is actually quite good, which is a plus.
Reply 7
xCHiiBiEverlastingx
I found University Park campus itself, good-looking as it is, to be a bit too plain and green.


Personally plain and green is pretty refreshing compared to plain and grey/red. Greenery is better than the mass of buildings found at most city Universities imo.

Also it is massive, I can't imagine what a nightmare it would be travelling to and from lessons!


Really? A lot of my friends at Uni have had sometimes in excess of 30 minute walks to their lectures, if you stay anywhere on campus at Nottingham I doubt it'd take you any more than a max of 20 even if you were in say Florence Boot for example.

Looks to me like you're trying to find flaws! But to be fair this is the University of Nottingham forum you're posting in so I suppose you'd expect a bit of bias :}
Reply 8
I've been looking at Nottingham University, and this thread has helped me, so thanks. :biggrin:. It's between Notts, Leicester and maybe UEA so I'm just checking out different threads atm.

People have said that they have gripes with accomodation but surely you could just liven it up with posters and putting all your own personal stuff in it? idk.
I'm surprised that people are saying that the walking is putting them off. Walking 30 minutes to get somewhere is not abnormal or excessive in my opinion. I used to walk an hour to get to school. Keeps you fit :smile: you want everything to be on your doorstep? It practically is with it all being on campus, you can get to everything you need within the hour whenever you need it. And people are still put off by the walking??

I fell in love with the uni and my department on an open day :smile: not been into the city though...


Also, I was quite impressed with accommodation, much better than some others I saw. Of course that still means it may look like a bit of a hole, but you get everything you need (inc. a mini fridge!), and you're only there for 33 weeks of your life or so. I think dismissing a university because you don't like the accommodation is a very odd reason. Just jazz it up! :smile:
Freerider101
Whats wrong with the accommodation? I've stated at Hughs and Stewart when I visited with school and Lenton and Wortley when I went on a physics course.


The bedrooms were nice, but the whole building seemed to me to be somewhat unattractive (I know it's empty and bare now, but still) and the kitchen, bathrooms were :s-smilie: Maybe I'm spoiled cause I stayed at Cambridge for a week..
But of course it is what you make of it. And I've heard self-catered is much nicer
Loved it all :P:
mrbelding
Personally plain and green is pretty refreshing compared to plain and grey/red. Greenery is better than the mass of buildings found at most city Universities imo.



Really? A lot of my friends at Uni have had sometimes in excess of 30 minute walks to their lectures, if you stay anywhere on campus at Nottingham I doubt it'd take you any more than a max of 20 even if you were in say Florence Boot for example.

Looks to me like you're trying to find flaws! But to be fair this is the University of Nottingham forum you're posting in so I suppose you'd expect a bit of bias :}


Not true! I don't have ridiculously high standards, it's just I didn't feel super-strongly about it, and I'm trying to analyse why. Although as the day went on, I did find myself liking Notts more and more.
I'm still considering it as one of my 5, but since this was the first open day I'd been to, there is some more research and comparison to be done. In the meanwhile, I'll take your word for it!
Didn't like it at all,

-I talked to some of the admission tutors and it was like they were trying to deter you from taking the course rather than encouraging you (especially medicine).

-Id rather sleep in a bin than there accommodation. The ones near the engineering collage/med school (green ones) were horrible.

-We walked from jubilee back to the train station and I couldn't have a worse impression of the city. A lot of it is run down, industrial prison looking buildings and we nearly got mugged coming out of a corner shop.

However, before we left, I went with my friend to see computer science since he wants to do that course. The professor giving the lectures seemed really enthusiastic, everyone was really friendly, and the location and architecture was beautiful over on that side. I was really impressed with that anyway.

But on the whole, no..
Unless ofcouse I got an offer for medicine (which I probably wont)
Reply 14
I went yesterday too and really liked it.
I don't think the walking is excessive really and it was really pretty.
I don't like the sound of catered accommodation but the self catered was really nice compared to others that I've seen.
make-cookies-not-war
I'm surprised that people are saying that the walking is putting them off. Walking 30 minutes to get somewhere is not abnormal or excessive in my opinion. I used to walk an hour to get to school. Keeps you fit :smile: you want everything to be on your doorstep? It practically is with it all being on campus, you can get to everything you need within the hour whenever you need it. And people are still put off by the walking??

I fell in love with the uni and my department on an open day :smile: not been into the city though...


Also, I was quite impressed with accommodation, much better than some others I saw. Of course that still means it may look like a bit of a hole, but you get everything you need (inc. a mini fridge!), and you're only there for 33 weeks of your life or so. I think dismissing a university because you don't like the accommodation is a very odd reason. Just jazz it up! :smile:


Heeey I'm not, I listed several reasons!
Also what are these other unis you've been to that have worse accommodation? Notts was my first open day, you see, although I've been on taster courses and an easter school elsewhere.
xCHiiBiEverlastingx
Heeey I'm not, I listed several reasons!
Also what are these other unis you've been to that have worse accommodation? Notts was my first open day, you see, although I've been on taster courses and an easter school elsewhere.


Oh I wasn't talking about you specifically! I was just making a general point :smile: ahh well I applied to Loughborough, Sussex, Brighton and Brunel also, and they were all very different, but Nottingham was definitely not worse than any, either on par or much better (the one I saw anyway, don't remember what hall it was but I'm guessing one of the nicer ones)
I didn't really get like the main campus to be honest. I felt like it was all a bit disjointed and lots of random grass. I liked the look of the German course, but didn't feel like there was a huge choice of modules.

However I loved the Jubilee Campus and the chinese department and the accomodation there was MUCH better than accomodation on the main campus. I loved the building style and landscaping on the jubilee campus. My only worry is that it's further out.

I did look at the city and liked it. Everything that every other city has and everything that you need. I did feel that it was maybe just like every other city but I guess with type you'll get to find those places which make it more unique.
M|chael
Didn't like it at all,

-I talked to some of the admission tutors and it was like they were trying to deter you from taking the course rather than encouraging you (especially medicine).

-Id rather sleep in a bin than there accommodation. The ones near the engineering collage/med school (green ones) were horrible.

-We walked from jubilee back to the train station and I couldn't have a worse impression of the city. A lot of it is run down, industrial prison looking buildings and we nearly got mugged coming out of a corner shop.

However, before we left, I went with my friend to see computer science since he wants to do that course. The professor giving the lectures seemed really enthusiastic, everyone was really friendly, and the location and architecture was beautiful over on that side. I was really impressed with that anyway.

But on the whole, no..
Unless ofcouse I got an offer for medicine (which I probably wont)


I agree that jubilee was lovely compared to the main campus. I loved the mix of buildings and the little grassy island thing!

Just out of interest how long did it take to walk to the station? We got the bus.
Notts was my last choice when I applied - I just wanted another one on there in case my first four choices didn't work out. When I went for my interview there I changed my mind - it's a great place, not too far from Sheffield so I can go back and see my mates there sometimes and I've already got a few mates in Nottingham.

The Uni looked great, the accommodation I'm in (Southwell) looks great (I know it's one of the pricer options...) and I really like the town - plenty of things going on there.