The &#x27;Ask a current student&#x27; thread! (University of Birmingham)

Original post by thesilvermagnolia

Mason has mixed flats, however you can specify single sex, Kosher, LGBT amongst others :smile:

Thanks, also is the accomodation done on a first come first served basis?

Reply 181

Original post by Peggles_*

Thanks, also is the accomodation done on a first come first served basis?

Yes, I think it is. The earlier you get your application in, the more chance you have of getting your first choice

Reply 182

Original post by Saadyousaf

Hey!

I just got an acceptance letter for the MA in Film & Television: Research and Production (1 yr - taught).

Was wondering if any current student from it could give me an idea of the degree itself (lecturers, content etc) and if its considered reputable in the local industry in terms of prestige and more imp employment?

Im a foriegn national and cant attend the open houses obviously, dishing out GBP 12750 just for tution so you can imagine my concern.

My other choice is bristol uni and queen mary, shld I prefer those for this particular degree.

Need the pro & cons of birmingham uni in general and in specific to the MA film and television: Reseach and Production degree.

Need brutal honesty.

I am an international too but have been in UK for over 10 years.

And in my view, UoB does not give 1 C*** about international students.

Also, in Uk the film industry is all centred down South, Bham has NO film industry.

General verdict: for 12,230 - definitely not worth it

Hope that is brutal enough for you.

Reply 183

International students make up a very large portion of the University of Birmingham, and as such, the University spends a large amount of focus and support on International Students starting from the very first week when you can find an International Students Welcome Marquee in the middle of campus - this is an opportunity for new international students to meet existing ones and begin to make friends in what will be a difficult time coming to a new country.

More information about the Universities work with international students can be found here: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/international/index.aspx

Further to the above commenter's opinion - there is a lot of stuff out there for International Students but, as with UK students, you have to go out and find it - very little with come to you so go out and find the opportunities.

I cannot comment on the course itself as I know very little about Film and Television but we do have quite a lot of resources in the field of Drama with our Selly Oak Campus being home to the BBC Drama Village hosting shows such as 'Doctors', 'Dalziel and Pascoe' and 'The Afternoon Play'.

I would recommend emailing the University / Course Director directly and asking for more information - yes they are going to be slightly biased, but if you bare that in mind, you can still get a good idea of what the course will be like and future career opportunities etc.

Reply 184

More and more international students lower the quality since most of them are not English fluent - they are used as cash cows with little respect for them.

Most are scuttled on to the lousiest accommodation and there are other issues like racism.

There have been lecturers who have made racists remarks in lectures .

Never trust anyone who makes pre-prepared catch all phrases - so Fg cheesy anyway.

Reply 185

Also there " BBC " centres all over the country - they have to have it by law, otherwise all the other insignificant non London areas would just get left to rot.

" BBC " centres have no relevance to quality.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 186

Original post by Txi

More and more international students lower the quality since most of them are not English fluent - they are used as cash cows with little respect for them.

Most are scuttled on to the lousiest accommodation and there are other issues like racism.

There have been lecturers who have made racists remarks in lectures .

I assume there is evidence to support these claims?

For instance, if you had seriously been the victim of racist remarks from lecturers, and felt this strongly about it, instead of bad mouthing the University on an online forum, I would have thought you would have at least reported aforementioned lecturer to the University, if not the police? No?

And to be fair, there is actually MORE evidence that international students were being 'scuttled on to' the best accommodation in that they would pay more and not realise they may have been wasting money. However, certain halls do tend to have more international students in them - but given that students apply for which hall they want to go in, this is not really the fault of HAS (Housing Accommodation Services).

Original post by Txi

Also there " BBC " centres all over the country - they have to have it by law, otherwise all the other insignificant non London areas would just get left to rot.

" BBC " centres has no relevance to quality.

I was not talking about the actual BBC centre, but merely that they have chosen to use one of our campuses for the filming of some of their shows. I admitted I did not know much about the industry (which I'm sure you don't either coming from a financial background) and did not suggest that it was relevant to quality - just that there was real-life experience of the industry on our doorstep. Merely as a point of information for the OP.

Reply 187

emilym94

14

Original post by laurastudent

Hi, I have an offer to study physiotherapy at Birmingham....the uni has sent me all the forms and things for the the health thingy, CRB and vaccinations etc... I was just wondering if anyone knows if we have to pay for the vaccinations?? I heard it could be about 200 pounds...!! :eek:

Any info would be great! Thanks! :biggrin:

I have an offer for Physio at Bham too :biggrin:

On the Physiotherapy 2012 thread on here, someone said they paid nothing for their jabs, but my GP said they charge £25 each and there's 4 of them!! I haven't had them yet, am really reluctant to pay £100 if other GPs are doing it for free, but i guess we have to have it done.

I think it'll depend on your local doctors surgery, but i think it's wrong that some people have to fork out a lot and others get it for free :mad:

Reply 188

For a start why anyone would listen to an official appointee hype his own place is very frankly - stupid.

It's like a used car salesman describing his old junk as a faultless gem.

Anyone with half a brain will take this with a massive lump of salt.

Second, I absolutely do have backup - took it right up to the so called University tutor and it swept under the carpet.

Now that you mentioned the cops - maybe I shall

it is someone familiar to all Business and Economic students - one rather overweight individual.

As such I have every right to report such abuse on any forum I chose.

Yes, I have the emails to prove it.

I bet I have more int'l friends than some offical rep, and as such I know a lot of them have been thrown out into the private sector where they have to share manky, dirty houses with 5 others and be at the mercy of cuthroat landlords.

I had to report of them to the accommodation officer before I got a room on campus

If that is what is known as " best accommodation " , then be my guest.

But no, no, I think everyone should go to this place then you can find out for yourself.

never mind what anyone else says. Ha

Reply 189

laurastudent

Original post by emilym94

I have an offer for Physio at Bham too :biggrin:

On the Physiotherapy 2012 thread on here, someone said they paid nothing for their jabs, but my GP said they charge £25 each and there's 4 of them!! I haven't had them yet, am really reluctant to pay £100 if other GPs are doing it for free, but i guess we have to have it done.

I think it'll depend on your local doctors surgery, but i think it's wrong that some people have to fork out a lot and others get it for free :mad:

Cool!

hope to see you there then!!
I completely agree with you on the jabs thing....you would have thought that for the NHS it would be the same in every GP surgery (either free or not free..haha)....i dont know i still havent had mine...!
I hope you find a place that does it for free!! :smile:

Reply 190

emilym94

14

Original post by laurastudent

Cool!

hope to see you there then!!
I completely agree with you on the jabs thing....you would have thought that for the NHS it would be the same in every GP surgery (either free or not free..haha)....i dont know i still havent had mine...!
I hope you find a place that does it for free!! :smile:

Yeah hopefully :biggrin:

Hmm i thought the same too lol, i will try and look for somewhere else that does it for free, or at least less money! Thanks. :smile:

Reply 191

Daniel G.

Hello everybody,

I am a Materials Engineering undergrad student in Brazil, and I have a great oportunity to go other countries, all payed by the brazilian government. Currently, I am in the programme step which i have to choose three universities that I would like to study for 1 year.

The course here lasts for 5 years, and I'm finishing the 4th.

I don't know if I should chose Birmingham or Loughborough..

Is this university a good one for international students?

Thanks ` :smile:

Reply 192

I won't give any new information because apparently I 'make :undefined:

pre-prepared catch all phrases' so I'll just copy my old post and you can take from that what you will.

International students make up a very large portion of the University of Birmingham, and as such, the University spends a large amount of focus and support on International Students starting from the very first week when you can find an International Students Welcome Marquee in the middle of campus - this is an opportunity for new international students to meet existing ones and begin to make friends in what will be a difficult time coming to a new country.

More information about the Universities work with international students can be found here: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/international/index.aspx

There is a lot of stuff out there for International Students but, as with UK students, you have to go out and find it - very little with come to you so go out and find the opportunities.

Reply 193

ms.international

Hi,

I will be studying International Development (postgrad) at UoB in 2012/2013. Can anyone recommend any good accommodation? I am a very social person and I like partying/going out.

I am also an international student, so I think there aren't that many opportunities concerning housing.

Thanks :smile:

Reply 194

AbsolutePotOfKurry

1

When applying for accommodation, does the order of choices matter ?

Reply 195

Original post by AbsolutePotOfKurry

When applying for accommodation, does the order of choices matter ?

Yes. They are in order of preference :smile:

Reply 196

Tashaa18

On the university website it says that the university starts on the 24th September, but my track says October 1st, I'm really confused about it. Which one is correct?
I'm hoping to study Ancient History

Reply 197

Original post by Tashaa18

On the university website it says that the university starts on the 24th September, but my track says October 1st, I'm really confused about it. Which one is correct?
I'm hoping to study Ancient History

Lectures will be starting around the 1st October. You will move in around the 16th/17th of September, and then from the 24th Sept you'll be having taster sessions etc. :smile:

Reply 198

Original post by thesilvermagnolia

Lectures will be starting around the 1st October. You will move in around the 16th/17th of September, and then from the 24th Sept you'll be having taster sessions etc. :smile:

Urm.... not sure about this one.

Move-in weekend is set for the 15th/16th with Welcome Week the following week and each department induction day will be during that week.

As such, full academic time-table will start on the 24th.

As for the original question - don't know about your 'track'. I would wait until you know which Uni you will actually be attending and the University should send you information about your course / induction etc. If not, then I would give your department a call and see when they are starting. We do 11-week terms, traditionally with a week-off in the middle known as 'reading week' but some courses have week 11 off / for exams but yours may have chosen to miss week 1.

Reply 199