[mike_mike]

Hello, before making my decision in terms of which universities should I apply to I have used quite a lot of 3rd party sources including governmental bodies, companies and current students’ opinion.
Now, I believe it’s my turn to help some of you, prospective students by sharing my views on Hull (University of).

Background information:
I am in the fortunate position to travel quite a lot across Europe and to have friends literally all over this place called Earth. I’ve seen loads of places and people. I am very hard to impress.
I use to be told I set high standards. Well..I do! I have high demands from me and from the people around!

About the city
My first experience in Hull was staying with some friends, near the upper end of Beverley Road..it wasn’t such a good one. The area has many trashed streets..it looks desolating.
Anyway, during these 6 weeks I’ve managed to go to few shopping places in Hull (Princes Quay Shopping Centre, St Stephen’s, Prospect Centre) and to some other areas like Adelaide Street, Princes and Springbank Avenue, The Paragon Street. Now I believe they all look good and are mostly clean.

I am happy with Hull having some museums & art galleries which, even if not so attractive to me as the one I’m used to in London or other cities..can still be a pleasure to visit.
The Tourist Information Centre staff are very helpful with advice on Hull, York and all the cities in Yorkshire.

The public transport
This is a major drawback for Hull. There are two companies (Stagecoach and EYMS) and they both operate across Hull and Cottingham.
What I dislike most about the public transport is that here they have very few bus shelters and there are also no places to sit while waiting for the bus.
The buses (Mon-Sat) come at a frequency of about 15 – 20 minutes but there are areas (that aren’t as fortunate as mine) with buses going just for part of the day or just 1/hour.
Now if you want to go somewhere on a Sunday you will have no choice but the wait for the bus 1h or..to take the taxi.
When I travel I prefer to buy a daypass/DayRover whatever..and for £2.6 on Stagecoach I go all over Hull..and Cottingham
The EY daypass is £2.90.
The other ''student offers'' presented to us by the EYMS aren't useful to me.

The University area
The university area probably shows that students need something else than education. They need common-sense!!!
Cranbrook Avenue, Cottingham Road, Inglemire Lane or Auckland Avenue..they are all trashed!
Everyday I leave my house I find a couple of tin cans or plastic bottles on the way to the university. Some people are just not ashamed of throwing waste on the streets.
The front of almost every single house of Cranbrook/Auckland Avenue is a landfill.
In terms of noise I am told by some classmates that Cranbrook Avenue is noisy almost all the time.
The University area has 4 banks and 3 supermarkets also at maximum 0.7miles far.

The University campus
The university campus looks good, it has many bike sheds and alleys which give easy access to all the buildings. I am also happy that there many green-spaces and flowers around the campus.
Sadly, students don’t appreciate the beauty and, again, do throw waste whenever and wherever they can. The University Staff does a hard job to maintain the place clean.
There are many vending machine and some cafes around campus but I tend to believe they are over-priced.
I need to add that I feel totally safe in the campus.

The Hull University Business School (HUBS)
I am not able to talk about the university as a whole since I only study Marketing..I will consequently tell you about my course:

Being in the 1st year means I have some modules in common with the other people studying in HUBS.
Along this 1st year I will study Business Environments, Managing People, Academic and Professional Skills, Marketing, Accounting and Finance and..my free elective.
I like the professors, the way they teach and I appreciate just how much passion they have for their subject.
I also like that they are very approachable and answer questions both in lectures and by e-mail really quick.
I am also happy that they have a genuine interest in students, they don’t resume to teaching but they want students to have a really pleasant learning experience. This means they are always happy to receive feedback, to see you within their office hours and to answer any questions you might have at the end of the class.
The buildings, as I’ve said before are good looking and also have a high level of functionality. So are the lecture theatres and the teaching rooms within the Business School.
HUBS also organizes various events and contests/events to enhance students’ learning experience. I am happy to have participated in most of them by now and to have learned from this.
HUBS has links with various Business Schools across Europe (or the World) so that’s a good thing for those of you thinking of an international year.
Also the administrative staff of the HUBS is friendly and willing to help should you have any issues.

The Brynmor Jones Library
The Library has 8 floors, each of them being either a social, a quiet or a silent study area. This is one thing that I find very useful.
I’ve only checked the first 4 floors and they all have computers for students to use.
The groundfloor has printers, scanners and photocopying machines with the 1st one having also some printers.
The University tends to invest a lot in E-books and E-Journals but they still have up-to-date books for my domains. They also do have the books in the reading list (Business, Economics, Marketing).
I generally prefer to buy my books so I don’t have to worry about returning them on a specific date.
The library staff are welcoming and willing to help, just as anywhere else I’ve been.

The University House (The Union Building)
On the groundfoor
There’s a hair-dresser, the union’s shop, two bars, a terrace, a nightclub and two food outlets.
I haven’t tried any of them yet but the union’s shop which has a good range of food, drinks, stationery and cosmetics. Now don’t expect anything fancy..It’s just enough to chose from in an ''emergency'' situation.
On the first floorThe Student Activities Centre is a quite interesting place to go: The International Student Association is open for Home students too and they organize trips across England and Europe. The Student Activities Centre is also the place to go should you wish to register with any society. Personally, I decided to join just about 10 societies..to be able to spread the good/bad word about them.
Out of 10, only 2 have sent me e-mails about their activities with another 2 advertising their activities through posters in some places across campus. Who knows what the other 6 societies do after I’ve paid the membership fee??

The Waterstone’s University branch is one place I’ve been to few times but tending to bet on convenience so they have higher prices than other bookshops or the internet shops
The Education Hub seems to do a lot of work to widen the participation of students in the academic matters. There are course representatives for every course and they are yet another link between students and University should the first ones have any course-related issues.
I still need some information on my course' representative.
Athletic Union Office
(1st floor too) is probably the biggest disappointment for me until now.
The sport clubs don’t run following professional principles. They hardly communicate what their sport is about, what physical abilities should you have, when is the next session etc.
They don’t give you valid contacts should you need any further explanation.
I could afford generalising because if you go on the University of Hull Union website..you can’t find any information there either.

On the second floor
The meeting rooms on the 2nd floor are comfortable, well-lit...I am happy to be able to use them.
The Customer Service Desk is one place I go from time to time to, and the staff are very welcoming and helpful.
On the third floor
The only service I’ve used here is the Careers Service. They do organize an annual Graduate Fair, along with other mock interviews, assessment centres and career-related workshops.
Advice on anything from CV to industrial placement and full-time/part-time jobs can be found here.

The Union is also the organiser of the Welcome Week, which I didn't like this year.
I've found it full of clubbing nights, which aren't my cup of tea!

The Accommodation
Now there are a lot of halls to choose from both cattered and un-cattered:
The Thwaite is probably the most expensive, but it is located in one of the most beautiful places in the area. There’s a botanic garden in the back! There's the Lawns, the Needler Hall..but I don't know a thing about them.

Personally I live on a street close to the university and I am happy with the facilities the house has.

Student offers
I resisted buying the Freshers' Wristband and the Platinium Card. I am happy I did it otherwise it would have been a waste of money for me.

I also decided not to buy the Sports Centre membership. I do play different sports when I get the time..and for free.

I bought the NUS Extra+ISIC which isn't very helpful in Hull but it helps a little if you buy from Amazon or if you travel by train/bus.
The ISIC is also very useful when you travel around Europe as it saves you money on museums/castles etc.

Update: The NUS Extra has even some misleading offers since you can access them even if you don't have a card.
I decided not to buy the card for another year, there's no need to pay for discounts!

Now I am more than sure I forgot to discuss something you really need to find out so..
Should you have any more specific questions..send me a private message or ask them here!Good luck with your future university plans!


Week 7 - 12
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show....php?t=1909517

[Samus2]

This is actually a really good idea

Background information:
I'm from just outside London so used to a big city full of people. Hull was my clearing choice so I didn't have any research done about the uni before I really came here.

About the city
I came to visit Hull to view the house with 3 of my new housemates. The city is a really good one. It's got everything you need, a few museums, an art gallery and a spoons! What more could you want!? There are three shopping centres; Prospect, St Stephens and Princes Quay. I actually work in Princes Quay GAME. But, there are plenty of job oppurtunities should you wish. It's got all the usual stores - Topman/Topshop, River Island, Next, Argos, Debenhams.... so you're never stuck!

The public transport
I've found that the busses are actually ridiculously good here. I don't live in the student houses though around the uni. I live down Newland Ave where mon-sat busses are every 10-15 minutes. Two companies (EY and Stagecoach) Both other a 'daysaver' ticket on their services which can be helpful... Prefer Stagecoach purely because it's easier for me! Sunday busses are fairly decent aswell. A daysaver on Stagecoach is £2.60 and one on EY is £2.90

The University area
The university area has a number of streets which are just full of student houses. A few of my friends live down them and say that noise isn't much of an issue. I guess it depends on where you're from and what you class as noise. Litter is a bit of an issue though.
The University area has 4 banks and 3 supermarkets also at maximum 0.7miles far.

The University campus
The university campus is a stark comparison to most peoples image of Hull. Surprisingly lovely campus - I was actually really impresssed. As before, litter can be a bit of an issue. There are vending machines on site but they're overpriced. There's also the union shop which sells sandwiches, drinks, chocolate, sweets, Make up - rimmell, hoodies, pens, stationary. If you're stuck for something - the shop usually has what you need.
Lots of places to park bikes/scooters

History at Hull
I study History at the university so this is my experience:
The department is incredibly well organised. Within a day of applying via clearing, I had an information pack about the course through my letter box. The freedom of modules is amazing. I got to pick all my modules and I was allocated all the ones I picked. The course is incredibly broad if you want it to be. I for instance am doing Class Status and Culture from 1870-1970; Consumer cultures - Britain and America in the 50's; Kinship and Sexuality in the Middle Ages; Fear, Faith and Family in the Middle Ages and some other modules which shows you how broad the course is.
The staff are always incredibly helpful - they genuinely want to ensure that their students are happy. I'm a course rep for History and have found it a good position to be in.
I must admit, Hull seems to focus a lot on social history but they do a massive range of modules.
Furthermore, Hull has a brilliant maritime history expertise because of the links.

The Brynmor Jones Library
The Library has 8 floors, it's not exactly the most attractive building but it's brilliant for History. It has two floors really - the third and the fourth. The third is politics/social history whereas the fourth has everything else. The library is brilliant for writing an essay in due to the various studyng types they cater for. The computers are nearly always free and in my experience, they have the majorty of books on the readings lists. I've only bought 'key texts' and have used the library for everything else. They have a lot of etexts which is always helpful.
The library also is host to a study advice service which i've never needed.

The University House (The Union Building)
The first post covered everything well.

The Accommodation
There's a lot of halls to choose from. There's the Lawns, Thwaite and Needler. I must say - the university has a LOT of catered accommodation in Halls. my friends have all said that the halls are really good but I can't comment.

I came through clearing so I'm in a house but I know a lot of clearing students did get in to halls. The accommodation office were pretty rubbish really. 5 other freshers and I found our own house.
Our house is about a 20 minute walk from uni, but, if you lived at the halls of residence, it'd take you about that long to get to uni anyway.
The walk really isn't that bad.
The area I live on is at the bottom of Newland Avenue which has a number of bars, pubs and shops. There's a sainsbury's and a tesco as well as a Subway and numerous takeaways so I'm happy with the location.
We pay 80 a week and we have: a 40 inch HD TV + License included, a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer, double beds, two bathrooms and two showers and have all bills included.


As before, Any questions just ask

[mike_mike]

''Bump''! Just because it is important!

[Shmally123]

(Original post by mike_mike)



HUBS also organizes various events and contests/events to enhance students’ learning experience. I am happy to have participated in most of them by now and to have learned from this.

Hi there, nice post, just wondering if you could expand on this bit. What sort of events and contests?

Thanks

[mike_mike]

(Original post by Shmally123)
Hi there, nice post, just wondering if you could expand on this bit. What sort of events and contests?

Thanks

Ups, I am truly sorry for my late repsonse. I don't really log on TSR.

By events I mean: Meetings with companies to find out more about employment/internship opportunities . Among companies that came with business-related apportunities the 1st semester are: PWC, Delloite, Ernst & Young, Amazon, IBM, Centrica, some local marketing communications agencies...
Some industry bodies have also links with HUBS: CIMA, CIM
Another kind of events are the open lectures by guest speakers or mock-interviews and assessment centres (Coca Cola, Rent A card, Ernst & Young, IBM, PwC)
There are also other events which could help you improve your soft skills (eg. communication, pressentation)

By contests I mean..national and international student competition to test your knowledge and ability in business/marketing/management.
I am happy that HUBS promotes this kind of events towards students.

[Shmally123]

(Original post by mike_mike)
Ups, I am truly sorry for my late repsonse. I don't really log on TSR.

By events I mean: Meetings with companies to find out more about employment/internship opportunities . Among companies that came with business-related apportunities the 1st semester are: PWC, Delloite, Ernst & Young, Amazon, IBM (I will write more tomorrow).
Another kind of events are the open lectures by guest speakers or mock-interviews and assessment centres (Coca Cola, Rent A card, Ernst & Young, IBM)
There are also other events which could help you improve your soft skills (eg. communication, pressentation)

By contests I mean..national and international student competition to test your knowledge and ability in business/marketing/management.
I am happy that HUBS promotes this kind of events towards students.

Ah nice, hope to be there in September!

[mike_mike]

(Original post by Shmally123)
Ah nice, hope to be there in September!

I wish you luck! What would you like to study?

[Shmally123]

(Original post by mike_mike)
I wish you luck! What would you like to study?

Got an offer for management and accounting, 280 UCAS points, 99% sure Hull will be my first choice, fingers crossed!

[gracecooke55]

what kind of price were freshers wristbands?