[Ems90210]

Hi,
I need to decide which uni I'm putting as my firm choice bby tomorrow and I still have no idea I really need some help! I've applied to study English Lit and creative writing at Bath Spa and Hertfordshire, if anyone knows anything about either of them good or bad please please tell me I would be so grateful, thanks! x

[Roger Mexico]

Do not go to Hertfordshire. It's a ****ing joke for anything other than IT and Forensic Pathology or some ****. It's the educational equivalent of the house wine at a suburban Indian restaurant.

[Ems90210]

But the course looks really good, and tbh I dont care about its standing compared to other unis just wanna know if that particular course is any good

[fimblesocks]

(Original post by Ems90210)
But the course looks really good, and tbh I dont care about its standing compared to other unis just wanna know if that particular course is any good

There is no such thing as a bad uni if you are going to enjoy the course and get lots out of it. Go for your preferred course. If you have been to open days then that should have helped! If all else fails just put the higher offer as the firm!

[KJane]

(Original post by Roger Mexico)
Do not go to Hertfordshire. It's a ****ing joke for anything other than IT and Forensic Pathology or some ****. It's the educational equivalent of the house wine at a suburban Indian restaurant.

Have you actually been there? And it's ranked around 12th best in the country for Physics. Hardly a bad Uni for anything other than IT and forensic pathology right?

(Original post by Ems90210)
But the course looks really good, and tbh I dont care about its standing compared to other unis just wanna know if that particular course is any good

I do this course at Herts. Although you won't be able to do just them in first year. English in 1st year only has 4 modules, and Creative writing only does 2, it works on a major/minor system. So you'll need to pick up another subject to make up your last 2 spare modules. Your first year doesn't count towards your final grade so they let you experiment with other subjects which you can drop the next year. In 2nd year you could do English and Creative Writing, keep your new subject or do straight English if you liked.

I quite enjoy the course, first year is introduction to Literary Studies 1 and 2 (mostly Victorian texts) and you do Reading Drama in Semester A and Introduction to Poetry in Semester B (my exam for this is tomorrow ). It lays the groundwork for your English degree. Creative writing you'll do two polished pieces in each semester, the first you can choose to do it on poetry, short story or drama, with Semester B focusing on short stories, Drama and poetry in second year and then non-fiction writing and Creative writing project in 3rd year.

Feel free to ask me more questions.

[Ems90210]

That was so helpful thanks!! yeah I was thinking of doing English lang teaching and journalism to make up the other modules. Well good luck with your exam!! What are the teachers like?? Do you look at different authors etc in creative writing as well? I think the one thing that is stopping me from definitely putting Herts as my firm is the teaching standard quality etc coz I know they're good at Bath Spa so tats probably the decider for me! Thank you so much that was really helpful!

[KJane]

(Original post by Ems90210)
That was so helpful thanks!! yeah I was thinking of doing English lang teaching and journalism to make up the other modules. Well good luck with your exam!! What are the teachers like?? Do you look at different authors etc in creative writing as well? I think the one thing that is stopping me from definitely putting Herts as my firm is the teaching standard quality etc coz I know they're good at Bath Spa so tats probably the decider for me! Thank you so much that was really helpful!

You won't be able to pick up both English Language teaching and Journalism if you take the four modules in English, you can take all four subjects, but you can only do the two compulsory modules for English Lit, the Introduction to Literary studies 1 and 2. If you take four modules in Lit you must then either choose between English Lang and Journalism, as you'll need to do two modules over the year in each, rather than one module of English Lang in semester A and then one journalism module in B.

The teachers are good, there's one called Gavin Budge in English Lit who is a bit legendary for his teaching, he's good but a little disorganised but a decent guy. It's little things people pick at, like he'll make you move forward in lecture halls so everyone is at the front. He sets extra reading for his seminars, which people complain about, but it's useful stuff when it comes to doing essays and getting theory into English. He kind of becomes the scape goat for students to pick on really. The other lecturers are great.

In creative writing we do look at authors, you'll have a weekly two hour workshop in which you'll practice writing, going over set reading from an author (very short stuff) and either write in the style they have. Point out their techniques on creative writing etc you'll make a logbook of these notes which you'll be assessed on alongside your final pieces for each semester. In these lessons you'll also give feedback to other students on their work and get feedback on yours too as you'll have a creative writing assignment every week too. (These go in your logbook alongside reading notes.)

[Roger Mexico]

(Original post by KJane)
Have you actually been there? And it's ranked around 12th best in the country for Physics. Hardly a bad Uni for anything other than IT and forensic pathology right?

Obviously I don't know every single course available at some backwards University that offers next to no employability. But you understood my point. You shooting yourself in the foot is all well and good, because that's a choice you made when you decided to attend Hertfordshire. But that's irrelevant. The fact of the ****ing matter is that Hertfordshire is objectively not a good place to study English if you ever hope to get a job.

And yes, I live in the area. So I have been there.

[TyrannosaurusBex]

(Original post by Ems90210)
Hi,
I need to decide which uni I'm putting as my firm choice bby tomorrow and I still have no idea I really need some help! I've applied to study English Lit and creative writing at Bath Spa and Hertfordshire, if anyone knows anything about either of them good or bad please please tell me I would be so grateful, thanks! x

Hello my choice is also to be made by tomorrow. The advice I keep getting is go for career prospects but don't pick a uni that feels wrong.
Listen to advice you hear in real life and on TSR but remember its your choice ultimately. Hope this helped

[KJane]

(Original post by Roger Mexico)
Obviously I don't know every single course available at some backwards University that offers next to no employability. But you understood my point. You shooting yourself in the foot is all well and good, because that's a choice you made when you decided to attend Hertfordshire. But that's irrelevant. The fact of the ****ing matter is that Hertfordshire is objectively not a good place to study English if you ever hope to get a job.

And yes, I live in the area. So I have been there.

O rly?

http://www.studentbeans.com/student-...rates2542.html

Ranked 88.5% for graduate employment after 6 months. That's pretty good. The university doesn't matter, the grade you come out with matters. A 2:1 in English from Hertfordshire isn't going to put you at a disadvantage from applying to graduate jobs than others who apply with the same grades from other universites. I doubt employers look at what instutition or how well it's ranked unless it's the top ones. The majority of graduate jobs don't entail a specific degree, so I don't see how I've shot myself in the foot, with some experience and a good grade, I'm not worried about my employment prospects.

'Been there?' As in studied or visited? Because they're both very different things. Hertfordshire is a solid Uni and there are certainly worse places to go, the Uni has improved massively in the last 5 years, jumping up in the league tables. I don't know why but you sound very bitter about this and your post wasn't exactly helpful to give a vague insult at the Uni for no reason other than appearing to be elitist. And the fact you don't know about the courses at Hertfordshire shows your input isn't helpful in that respect either to what the OP is asking.