The Student Room Group
Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster
Visit website

What do you wish people had told you about Lancaster before you started?

I'm a prospective student for 2012 entry :biggrin:

I was just wondering, is there anything you wish people had told you about Lancaster before you started?

Thanks

Scroll to see replies

Campus will always have building work going on. That isn't a bad thing, it just reflects the fact that they are continuing to develop the campus. However, I know some friends were quite frustrated with it, especially when all three years saw building work around their college/department/residence. :redface:

The Carleton can be home to some of the best nights of your life. On the proviso that you can't actually remember them afterwards, due to the sheer quantities of alcohol you must consume before you arrive. Hangovers arriving on Friday afternoon/Saturday were common for me after a Wednesday night at the Carleton!

Mainly, enjoy every minute. Sometimes the courses can seem difficult, the essays challenging, but it will fly by and you'll be graduating sooner than you think possible. So, make the most of the opportunities that are on offer - and there are lots of them. :smile:
Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster
Visit website
Reply 2
TBH I didn't know where Lancaster was when I applied. When I found out it was near the coast I was shocked haha.

I wish someone told me about the weather. It's actually traumatic in winter and leaves you unwilling to do anything and can actually have quite an effect on your health, mentally and physically because you never seen sun and it's just wind and rain battering you constantly. It's awful. In summer though, I love hanging around on campus. I've been to very few places in the country that can outdo the atmosphere of Lancaster in summer. It's actually a really beautiful city during the sunshine weather so I really enjoy it at the end/beginning of the year. It does more than make up for the November - March weather.

When I lived on campus I wish people told me to go into town a little bit more during the day. You really get lost inside the bubble that is like Lancaster University campus. Besides, there's a lot of interesting stuff to do in town. Now when I leave campus, I always go window shopping with my friends, and I've been to the museums around the city too and I'm going on a ghost tour around the castle in January, so there's always a lot to do.
Original post by indie94
I'm a prospective student for 2012 entry :biggrin:

I was just wondering, is there anything you wish people had told you about Lancaster before you started?

Thanks


That it's windy. EVERYDAY.

And apparently the rainiest uni in the UK too.

On a serious note, that choosing your subject here doesn't actually matter too much.
Apart from a few select courses (Biomedical science.... engineering maybe?) everyone chooses at least 1, often 2 minors alongside the subject they applied for, and then have the opportunity to swap your degree title and which 1 subject you study in second year.

Like if you apply for criminology. and do spanish and human geography as your minors. and decide you hate criminology, you can srop it at the end of first year, and even though u were admitted as a criminolgy BA, you can graduate as a spanish and geogrpahy BA
Original post by Keegan
TBH I didn't know where Lancaster was when I applied. When I found out it was near the coast I was shocked haha.

I wish someone told me about the weather. It's actually traumatic in winter and leaves you unwilling to do anything and can actually have quite an effect on your health, mentally and physically because you never seen sun and it's just wind and rain battering you constantly.


WTF?! I should probably have found that out, too.

And whaaa! You make the winters sound like Scandinavia!
Reply 5
Well its only this year with the weather, because of hurricane Bawbag :smile:
So excited to go next year! Arghhh! If anyone else is going to study business at lancaster in 2012 PM me :smile:
Trust me. The temperatures Lancaster drops down to are nothing compared to the weather up here in Durham. I will never moan about Lancaster's weather again. :redface:

Also, regarding the coast. Lancaster is around 4 miles from the coast at Morecambe. You also have Heysham, Bare, Bolton-le-Sands and, further south, the areas around Blackpool. You can get to Morecambe/Heysham/Bare on the bus from campus [2/2A/3/4] and you can get to Bolton-le-Sands [and up to Carnforth] from the centre of Lancaster. Blackpool [plus Preston and Garstang] can be accessed from campus as well [40/41/42]. So, you can definitely visit the coast. I used to go for a walk along the beach at least every other week. Even when the weather is blustery, it is nice to be walking by the sea. :smile:

Word of warning with swapping courses. Some courses are a little harder to swap into - even if you take it as a minor, sometimes you cannot swap into it because major students have studied double that subject [rather than a single amount of that subject]. Similarly, you can [or could a year or so back] take Law as a minor but you cannot swap into law because their students do three lots of law in the first year [no minors]. That said, for many subjects the system works really well and can give you a lot of flexibility, but I just want to stress the limits that do exist. :smile:
"Don't go to Cartmel. It's a very boring place."
Reply 9
You have to sort your accommodation for next year out incredibly fast, like after 1 month of being here

__________

Sultans sells epic curly fries
Greggs sells epic sausage rolls
Spar sells nice hot burgers

__________

Whatever college you get, you have to stick with for duration of your course, and the price goes up each year (more so with mine because it's getting refurbished)

__________

Most importantly: You have to actually do your work during the term; don't miss any of your labs / tutorials / workshops (it's ok to miss lectures sometimes)

Otherwise, like me, you'll end up with about 15 pieces of coursework to do and 1 week deadline at the end of term
(edited 12 years ago)
Ash House isn't as bad as they say it is.
Reply 11
Not everyone you meet is a bastard
Reply 12
That starting a 2nd year essay worth 40% of the module 12 hours before it's due in is not a good idea.
Reply 13
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was shocked about it being near the coast.

Also, even though you need 40% to pass first year minors and 45% to pass your major, you better get your butt in gear for second year. It actually matters.
Bring a TV with some kind of games console because there isn't an overwhelming amount to do in Lancaster allthe time and it's a big effort to go to town (especially when other people won't go as well).
Join as many societies as possible.
Don't be surprised by how much work you end up doing in the first year (unless you do a Management School subject; in that case prepare for a lot of free time).
Don't choose en-suite accommodation; there's no point, sharing a shower and a toilet isn't even bad and the £20 you save a week will have a HUGE impact on you.
SPAR shop is good for day-to-day things; LUSU shop is expensive.
There's lots of countryside, so expect it to smell like manure at least once a week/every 2 weeks.
Don't choose Pendle or Cartmel college, Furness is the best (no bias, honest).
Don't be nervous when you move in; everyone's in the same position and the people are amazingly friendly (especially on Freshers, which is the best week of my life so far).
Related to that; bring costumes for Freshers, you won't feel left out if you don't (I didn't), but its fun :smile:
Lancaster will be the best decision ever made (it is for the majority of people here, including me), but just prepare for these facts of life :biggrin:

P.S. There are a lot of chinese people (seriously, a lot), which might make project work harder
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 15
Join as many societies as you can and find out which one you like best/get on besst with the people in it. Its where you make your closest friends

Its cold - take LOTS of warm clothes
Reply 16
Whilst freshers week will me intense and messy (if you want it to be) talk of it being the best week ever are somewhat over hyped.

The weather isnt as unbearable as people make out. The only issue that I have had is that in the last weeks of the first term it seems to get dark even quicker. No biggie, but it is depressing when your social life blows up again with the result that you can spend days at a time without seeing sunlight (as in, by the time you wake up it will already be dark.)

Bowland and Pendle colleges arent as bad as people make out. People on here scared me about my college, but a lot of it is just pulling your leg. The rent is the cheapest on campus meaning you have a lot of spare doe.
Reply 17
Original post by rawkus
Whilst freshers week will me intense and messy (if you want it to be) talk of it being the best week ever are somewhat over hyped.

The weather isnt as unbearable as people make out. The only issue that I have had is that in the last weeks of the first term it seems to get dark even quicker. No biggie, but it is depressing when your social life blows up again with the result that you can spend days at a time without seeing sunlight (as in, by the time you wake up it will already be dark.)

Bowland and Pendle colleges arent as bad as people make out. People on here scared me about my college, but a lot of it is just pulling your leg. The rent is the cheapest on campus meaning you have a lot of spare doe.


You must be someone who enjoys looking like a drowned rat half the time, whilst avoiding the tsunami of rainwater the wind is hurling sideways at you :wink:
Reply 18
Original post by Keegan
You must be someone who enjoys looking like a drowned rat half the time, whilst avoiding the tsunami of rainwater the wind is hurling sideways at you :wink:


To be fair, in the last month the most I have had to deal with the rain is sitting at my window laughing at people getting drenched. When it has been raining during the day I have either been inside writing an essay or nursing a hangover. I will admit I had more of an issue near the beginning when I went to all my lectures and all my shoes had holes in them.
Reply 19
Original post by rawkus
To be fair, in the last month the most I have had to deal with the rain is sitting at my window laughing at people getting drenched. When it has been raining during the day I have either been inside writing an essay or nursing a hangover. I will admit I had more of an issue near the beginning when I went to all my lectures and all my shoes had holes in them.


Living in town is grim as well. You can't use an umbrella as it'll just break and your hood will just get blown off anyway. Hats do sweet FA as well. I used to hate walking down in the rain to Cartmel last year cause the cover stops in Grad. Ugh. So glad I moved to Fylde!

Quick Reply

Latest