I wouldn't take that hugely into consideration. What should be most important is whether the course suits you. If it does so happen that they do at both universities, move onto your preferences over the sort of lifestyle you want. They are both campus universities. Birmingham is obviously in quite a large city, and basically all in one place, whereas Kent is spread out, with a campus in Canterbury for example, so consider which you'd prefer. You'll most likely be wherever you go for three years, so think about what you want from your life outside of your studies e.g. social life, sports etc.

Reply 383

Flax

2

Original post by uob

I wouldn't take that hugely into consideration. What should be most important is whether the course suits you. If it does so happen that they do at both universities, move onto your preferences over the sort of lifestyle you want. They are both campus universities. Birmingham is obviously in quite a large city, and basically all in one place, whereas Kent is spread out, with a campus in Canterbury for example, so consider which you'd prefer. You'll most likely be wherever you go for three years, so think about what you want from your life outside of your studies e.g. social life, sports etc.

Thank you for answering my question!

Reply 384

Beth_Armitage

7

I have put Birmingham as my firm choice and am hoping to go there for the 2013/2014 academic yr was wondering if anyone had any advice for newcomers?
Also what accommodation would people reccommend (ideally more social, fun etc) what are the three main areas like (Jarratt in Selly Oaks, Pritchatts & the vale)? Also is it a major disadvantage living further away if at the vale?
And finally anyone got any pictures of the accommodation i could have a nosy at? The uni website is not amazing for pics of accommodation to fully see where you'll be living
Thanks x

Reply 385

uob

6

Original post by Beth_Armitage

I have put Birmingham as my firm choice and am hoping to go there for the 2013/2014 academic yr was wondering if anyone had any advice for newcomers?
Also what accommodation would people reccommend (ideally more social, fun etc) what are the three main areas like (Jarratt in Selly Oaks, Pritchatts & the vale)? Also is it a major disadvantage living further away if at the vale?
And finally anyone got any pictures of the accommodation i could have a nosy at? The uni website is not amazing for pics of accommodation to fully see where you'll be living
Thanks x

Basically all the university halls are sociable/fun to live in. Wherever you live you'll like it, so pick based on your preferences over facilities and distance if that's a concern.
I wouldn't say the Vale being 15/20 minutes away from campus is that big of a deal if you're living there. In terms of the specific pros, it's larger than the other villages, has the Hub which is where the catering facilities are, and also the lake if you like that sort of thing.
Obviously some halls are closer, so just weigh up whether you feel being 5/10 minutes nearer to campus for the first year is something you want. I didn't live on the Vale but for my friends who did, it wasn't an issue.
As well as that, those 3 places are the university's owned villages. There are a few 3rd party ones which are basically booked out, so all UoB students too, which you can use the application to apply for. People seem to have a natural aversion to these despite them being quite good, which is too bad because not everyone will get into halls the university owns itself!
As for pictures, there are obviously a lot of halls, but maybe you've not seen on the university website there are 360 view virtual tours of a fair few which I thought were pretty decent. The Vale for example.

Reply 386

1234sam1234

12

I have got a 'student shadowing day' tomorrow. It's for BSc European Politics, Society and Economics. What should I do to prepare?
I plan to read all of the Articles concerning Europe in the last 6 issues of The Economist would this be enough, or would it just be pointless?

Reply 387

printergirl

13

how does birmingham rank for economics , espcially for high earning job prospects such as in the city
ive checked rankings and it has gone up considerably this year
how does it comapre to bristol/durahm/nottingham

Reply 388

uob

6

Original post by printergirl

how does birmingham rank for economics , espcially for high earning job prospects such as in the city
ive checked rankings and it has gone up considerably this year
how does it comapre to bristol/durahm/nottingham

In my head Durham is above Birmingham in general, but it's Economics course is a BA so not as technical as the others, although I'm unsure of the significance of this. Overall, they're all fairly similar.
Similar enough that is, that I would say you should focus more on the individual bits of each course you may prefer, as well as the setting of the university in its local area and student life.

Reply 389

josh_v

17

Original post by printergirl

how does birmingham rank for economics , espcially for high earning job prospects such as in the city
ive checked rankings and it has gone up considerably this year
how does it comapre to bristol/durahm/nottingham

I think that Bristol and Durham and probably seen as 'better' universities, and Nottingham and Birmingham about equal in my opinion. However, i dont think that between the four, one would have a distinct advantage over the other when it came to applying for jobs.

Durham's course looks quite different from Birmingham's economics. Durham is a BA, and Birmingham is BSc. Birmingham will be more mathematical i believe and to my mind, that would be a preferable if you're looking to work in the city. Durham's economics looks more similar to Birmingham's MBF course with the accounting and finance modules.

Im studying MBF at Birmingham, and a friend of mine studies Econ + Finance, and we seem to be studying very similar things at roughly the same level. I got an offer from both, but chose Birmingham because i preferred the campus uni.

Reply 390

Hooby

10

Original post by Muscovite

Why is Birmingham such a ****hole?

It isn't, it just happens to be a city with a large amount of poverty. There are lots of good things about Birmingham.

Reply 391

Beth_Armitage

7

Also anyone know anything about the cheerleading team or the equestian society? Thnx :smile:

Reply 392

Witty Username

12

Original post by Beth_Armitage

Also anyone know anything about the cheerleading team or the equestian society? Thnx :smile:

I know a little bit about the cheerleading team. What would you like to know?

Reply 393

Beth_Armitage

7

Original post by Witty Username

I know a little bit about the cheerleading team. What would you like to know?

Erm like how to you 'try out' and how good do you need to be to be in the team? Thnx :smile:

Reply 394

Witty Username

12

Original post by Beth_Armitage

Erm like how to you 'try out' and how good do you need to be to be in the team? Thnx :smile:

They have try-outs at the start of the academic year, spread over a weekend. They teach you a short dance routine, some cheers, some jumps and stunt work then the next day you come back and perform the routine, cheers and jumps.

I don't know how many people tried out this year and how many spaces they have so I can't be much help there. If you have a strong dance/gymnastic background it will put you at a definite advantage though (they said you need no experience of either, but it does help).

Reply 395

Beth_Armitage

7

Original post by Witty Username

They have try-outs at the start of the academic year, spread over a weekend. They teach you a short dance routine, some cheers, some jumps and stunt work then the next day you come back and perform the routine, cheers and jumps.

I don't know how many people tried out this year and how many spaces they have so I can't be much help there. If you have a strong dance/gymnastic background it will put you at a definite advantage though (they said you need no experience of either, but it does help).

Thnx for the information, I've never done gymnastics but did a yr of cheerleading at high school and several yrs of dance so hopefully that will help if I try out.
Do you know how many there are in the team?
Thnx for all the help :smile:

Reply 396

Hooby

10

How much, on average, do students pay (per week/month) bills wise in Selly Oak? :smile:

Reply 397

uob

6

Original post by Hooby

How much, on average, do students pay (per week/month) bills wise in Selly Oak? :smile:

Well this is my own story.
Water seems to always be included in the rent. We pay £73 a month for gas and electricity from EDF. We're on one of the fastest internet packages with Virgin which costs £35 a month. There was an installation fee of about £50 with that I think. Virgin are generally known as not being that great in Selly Oak. It's been surprisingly good for us this year though.
Anyway, there's 6 of us, so that's like £18 a month each for the regular payments, or roughly £4.15 a week each. We contribute more than that to account for any unforeseen payments and also to cover general household things like toilet roll, bin bags and washing up liquid. The average for that is about £20 a month, so adding that on means we're actually paying about £21.33 each per month or £4.92 each per week in our house.

Reply 398

hanz1234

Any Psychology students here? :smile:

What are the Psych lecturers like?

Also is anyone doing the Psychology and Psychological Research MSci? I kinda wish I'd applied to do that now. How much different is it from the straight Psychology Bsc? Is it possible to transfer onto it?

Reply 399

josh_v

17

Original post by Hooby

How much, on average, do students pay (per week/month) bills wise in Selly Oak? :smile:

In a house of 5, we payed £100 a month for gas and electricity from september to december. So £20 a month each. I think this is going to go down though as we wont be using so much heating when we go back.

Water was about £40-£60 for the year per person, not sure exactly. Did have the choice of going on the water meter but we decided to just pay fixed cost for the year.

We have BT Home Hub 72mbps, and we pay £5 a month each and there was a£150 upfront charge for line rental so that worked out to £30 each.

So at the moment costing about £30 a month, but expect that to go down to £25 when it warms up a bit.

The 'Ask a current student' thread! (University of Birmingham)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you