Is swansea a good uni?

Cardiff Uni is considered a red brick uni. I think it speaks for itself that Cardiff is obviously rated much higher.

Hi here, sorry if the topic is wrong for my post, but...
Is it possible to find a part-time student job in Swansea? Or better in Swansea Uni itself, like in the library etc.
It sounds crazy, but I'm currently choosing between offers from Leeds Uni, Glasgow Uni and this "low ranked" Swansea, and somehow prefer the last, okay now lol me!

Hope this helps

The library: The main issue is the amount of people there to hang out, eat, and watch youtube or facebook on the limited computers instead of actually 'work' in the 'library'. There are a lot more problems here than 'paper rustling'. I question the amount of work you actually do in the library if you consider it to be a quiet, relaxing place.

1) The silent areas are loud. People talking, etc.
2) The law library is loud. People talking, copiers beeping, construction outside, and floors creaking.
3) The downstairs silent study area: People talking on their phones, floor creaking from law library above, numerous people eating Korean soup filling the area with a kim-chi aroma.
4) The computers are dirty, slow, or not working. Always filled with people on facebook.
5) Uncomfortable chairs. Try sitting in the law library chairs for over an hour.

Sound lovely?

The town: To me, there are more important aspects of a place than just the night life. Sure, you can get drunk for a good price here. No wonder.... what else is there to do around here? I'd predict for many people, the 'varied' nightlife of this place will become commonplace. Lets look at some of the brief details of the town.

1) Run down.
2) Filled with chavs from up on the hill, begging for change for a Special Brew.
3) Dirty.
4) Need I mention run down?
5) Inundated with litter.

The nightlife: We have the wonderful chavved up choices of:
1) Oceana (!)
2) Revs (!!!!!)
3) A casino
4) A handful of smelly, sweaty, cheap small bars
5) Play


The Uni facilities:

1) Also run down.
2) Check out the vomit in the corner of the 8th floor entrance on Penmaen. It has been there for two weeks. A nice example of how the place is kept.
3) Elevators usually broken.
4) Unhelpful and usually rude admin staff.
5) People screaming outside windows at 4:30 AM.
6) It looks like a council estate.

Please feel free to expand upon how this could amount to the best student experience? The town is great if you are a drunk, the university is great if you choose not to do work, or if you are doing a mickey mouse degree. The living accommodations are wonderful if you have incredibly low standards and enjoy living in run down and poverty stricken conditions.

Like I said, the lecturers are decent in my subject, and the beach is a nice element. Aside from that, I am disappointed with the overall quality and conditions of both the town and the university.

I Agree with this, the city is one of the worst I've been to. Was also voted the worst by welsh people! Has one of (if not the highest) crime rates in wales too.
You really cant walk around the centre for too long without feeling dirty!

Don't get me started on Wind Street, like the wild west only more people and more violence.

Also why have they not done more with the beach/river. There's like one ice cream parlour in the mumbles and thats it! I just been living in Germany for 5 years and OMG what a difference! The town just looks like the poor run-down old copper-minig city it was!

I think the Uni isn't as bad as stated however, for sciences it's highly rated.

Can't wait to finish my course and get outta this country!!!!

Yeah, but its in wales.

What is your point? Cardiff uni has a lot of English applicants. (I'm not sure about the other unis.)

I suppose they don't think they're above Wales.

No, just no. 'Redbrick' is such a marketed term, do you even know what the definition of a Redbrick university is? It has nothing to do with academia, it's based on the time the institution was constructed. Warwick isn't a redbrick university, does that make it worse than Cardiff?

To think that Cardiff is leagues ahead of Swansea is simply fallacious.

Swansea is a good uni- if you're looking for certain things. Academically, it varies department to department, but I've found I really like the majority of my lecturers themselves (I just resent the minimal amount of lecture hours I have in my third year- curse of the Ancient History degree). Engineers etc. are almost overburdened on their work. It does, however, have a lot of things going for it.

a) It's cheap living. Extremely cheap living when you're in a house share compared with the rest of the UK. (I'm from Cornwall originally so this may not seem as dramatic a saving to some). This is what persuades quite a few to stay on after.

b) Campus accommodation is generally good, with the exception of Rhossili in my first year which I think may have been done up by now (judging by the fact we had people come in looking to see what needed improving back then).

c) The nightlife is very good as are society events and socials. (There's the AU for sporty types). There is great variety in what's available, cinema, theatre- when you get bored of drinking.

d) It's a student town. Two universities make it a youthful city, and is generally friendly to student spending habits.

Rankings are there for a reason. I appreciate that they aren't always accurate and not the only thing to be relied upon, but all I was trying to say was I have been to both unis and despite the better reputation that Cardiff has, I find Swansea all round much better. Unless you have been to both unis as well yourself, you have no room to comment on my opinion.