Anyone else REALLY regret their university choice?

I go to Birmingham Uni because it looked like such a cool, lively campus with loads of stuff going on. But after a while the campus gets claustrophobic because it's nice, but the surroundings are just horrible (it's Birmingham). So I spend most of my time in Birmingham on campus which gets really boring as it's just not as great as they make it out to be and a lot of societies aren't as active as they profess to be (I have tried my best to get involved in as much as I can, and have succeeded to a certain extent, but a lot of societies just revolve around drinking, or just aren't that fun). So much just revolves around drinking and clubbing which I realised I hated in the very first week of freshers (I'd never really done any before). I've gone to the city centre quite a few times but in the end it's just a big shopping mall. I became really depressed in my first year and almost dropped out half way through the first term, but decided I couldn't deal with another wasted year (I took a gap year purely because I had terrible AS results and had to start new subjects). Anyway, I wish so much that I'd gone somewhere like Exeter where the campus is nice but also the city is nice and you can spend a lot of time on the coast or outdoors. But I didn't because when I applied to uni, as I said, Birmingham seemed like a great and lively campus, and I've spend 2 miserable years in this place and I'm finally going into my third year and I'm really really not looking forward to it, and obviously changing uni now is not an option. I still have very few friends even though I've been here 2 years and it's just going to be another horrible, boring, depressing year. To top it all off, first year student accomodation was nice but Selly Oak is really an awful place to live. Obviously I can put things into perspective and say it's better than living in a third world country but it's still horrible. The only good thing about Birmingham is that it's really easy, cheap and relatively fast to get home so I can do that at weekends. So... does anyone else really regret their uni choice and why?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

AntyKun

Hey.

I go to Birmingham too but I find the societies with I'm involved in are quite active and have an event every week. Obviously it depends what you are into. If you ever want to come along to any events though I'm sure everyone will welcome you with open arms :smile:

p.s in answer to your question, I regret going to Birmingham because my mother works there. Ha.

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

I went to Birmingham to do my HND and to say I spent the two years depressed was an understatement! I felt the odd one out due to having a different accent (the classmates were mainly locals and the course was based off the uni campus and at a local college, although a uni course). I was made to feel odd too.

I tried to escape by going onto the uni campus as we had full use/access of the facilities but felt like a 2nd class citizen as I wasn't usually based there and was treated as though I shouldn't be there.

Birmingham itself had a few nice things about it, but overall I found it to generally be a great big overcrowded dump of a concrete city and very depressing! I lived on the border of Aston/Perry Barr for a year which was basically like a slum, and luckily managed to live on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield for a while which was much better albeit very boring, and increased my travel time to college.

When I first started the HND I had intended to stay in Brum and do my top-up year, but lets just say that I couldn't wait to get back to my hometown! I topped up my degree at a college in a small town near to my city, and haven't looked back!

Reply 3

HelenaS88

I didn't regret it at the time and enjoyed the course and other aspects of the university. However when I left university and went to work in business (I studied International Business Management) I realised it really wasn't 'me'; a) I'm so not money based/making money at the cost of others isn't really my thing, b) I definitely want to make a positive difference with my life/career, c) the other people were very businessy, so we didn't get on, and so I couldn't see me doing this for the rest of my life. So now I'm going back to uni to do a completely different subject at Master's level.

Reply 4

cool pilot dude

Original post by Anonymous

I go to Birmingham Uni because it looked like such a cool, lively campus with loads of stuff going on. But after a while the campus gets claustrophobic because it's nice, but the surroundings are just horrible (it's Birmingham). So I spend most of my time in Birmingham on campus which gets really boring as it's just not as great as they make it out to be and a lot of societies aren't as active as they profess to be (I have tried my best to get involved in as much as I can, and have succeeded to a certain extent, but a lot of societies just revolve around drinking, or just aren't that fun). So much just revolves around drinking and clubbing which I realised I hated in the very first week of freshers (I'd never really done any before). I've gone to the city centre quite a few times but in the end it's just a big shopping mall. I became eally depressed in my first year and almost dropped out half way through the first term, but decided I couldn't deal with another wasted year (I took a gap year purely because I had terrible AS results and had to start new subjects). nyway, I wish so much that I'd gone somewhere like Exeter where the campus is nice but also the city is nice and you can spend a lot of time on the coast or outdoors. But I didn't because when I applied to uni, as I said, Birmingham seemed like a great and lively campus, and I've spend 2 miserable years in this place and I'm finally going into my third year and I'm really really not looking forward to it, and obviously changing uni now is not an option. I still have very few friends even though I've been here 2 years and it's just going to be another horrible, boring, depressing year. To top it all off, first year student accomodation was nice but Selly Oak is really an awful place to live. Obviously I can put things into perspective and say it's better than living in a third world country but it's still horrible. The only good thing about Birmingham is that it's really easy, cheap and relatively fast to get home so I can do that at weekends. So... does anyone else really regret their uni choice and why?

Hey, Im from Birmingham! though, not in uni yet! :biggrin:

Where are you from originally?

I ahve mixed feelinsg for Birmingham. Yes, there is not much to do and peopel how kinda rude here. But if you think about it, its quite cheap, easy to get around and there are quite alot of things available here in terms of prodcuts and services (eye hospital comes to mind :biggrin:

)

I cant beleive you find selly oak a horrible place to live! I mean, its kinda expensive to live down there and its a posh area. But what dont you like about it?

By the way, Birmingham is an industrial city and quite full of concrete which is why its kinda horrible.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

.ACS.

There are plenty of people in a similar situation to you across the country.

The biggest piece of advice I can give: You're going into third year, so you only have one more year left. Just focus on your studies and employment potential, and the year will be over before you know it.

What you will find is that third year is a step up in terms of work from first and second. The content covered isn't intellectually more demanding, and in some ways I'd argue my third year was less challenging, but there's just so much more covered in each module, and also your dissertation will take up a lot of your time.

You will find you're in the library most days either doing research/collecting data for your dissertation, or you're writing up notes for lectures, or reading journal articles as prep reading for upcoming lectures.

But added to all of this, you have to be doing research into careers and firms and so on. You will quickly find you're becoming swamped and actually your university experience is more than a 9-5 job with all that's required of you.

Obviously, that's given you want a 1st and want to land a graduate job at the end. But if you're not particularly enjoying yourself and don't particularly want to throw yourself into the social side of things for one last time, you may as well make your degree really count career-wise.

You're still young and have plenty of time to make long-lasting friendships that matter.

Reply 6

JammyChoos

Damn! I was thinking of going Birmingham...

Reply 7

Spairos

WOW, when I came to this thread I was expecting to see many different responces from people that have attended different universities.
Why is Birmingham the only uni mentioned?? :eek:

I am going to Warwick, I hope it will be nice.

Reply 8

Spairos

Original post by JammyChoos

Damn! I was thinking of going Birmingham...

I know a few people who went there (or still) and they like it.

Reply 9

NOBODY MOVE!

i went to birmingham university for undergraduate, and did not like so much - the environment or the university.

since then i have completed two masters degrees in london universities, and sometimes wonder if i would have had more fulfilling experience doing my undergraduate degree in one of those london universities instead of birmingham.

Reply 10

*Thedreaming*

I do...and i am dropping out.

Reply 11

thelawstudent

i actually wasn't impressed with birmingham uni when i went there for an open day last year (i live near birms too) so i understand what you're saying :/ i also admit, although every city has its negatives, there really isn't that much attractive about the birmingham area in general apart from its huge shopping centre - bullring - which is lovely to visit with friends on a sunny day

Reply 12

Spairos

Original post by thelawstudent

Well I am not from UK and don't know how things are there.

However, from an observer's point of view since Birmingham is the only city discussed here it seems like it has to be the worse city in UK :eek:

This is scary :eek:

I hope this is not the case for everyone and it is just a coincidence. Anyone here studied in Warwick University? (located in Coventry. it is close to Birmingham, is it the same?)

Reply 13

kiss_me_now9

Kinda... I hate my uni town. Love the uni (most of the time) and the subject but the town is so dull, dreary and full of utter tosspots that I end up wishing I'd never gone there. I met my BF there - he's dropped out now because he hated the place more than me - so it's not all been bad, but honestly if I could go back in time and choose again, I'd choose somewhere closer to home, bigger and friendlier.

Everyone else seems to love my uni town and I can't work out why.

Reply 14

fluttershy

Original post by kiss_me_now9

You're not at Loughborough by any chance are you?

Reply 15

kiss_me_now9

Original post by fluttershy

You're not at Loughborough by any chance are you?

Nope, Bangor.

Reply 16

Will Lucky

Truth be told, I wish I had gone closer to home.

Reply 17

illyas

Are we talking about uni of Birmingham, Birmingham city uni or Aston uni which is in Birmingham????

Reply 18

illyas

Original post by Spairos

This is scary :eek:

I hope this is not the case for everyone and it is just a coincidence. Anyone here studied in Warwick University? (located in Coventry. it is close to Birmingham, is it the same?)

Birmingham is not a bad city nor a bad uni nor is Coventry. I live in Coventry

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 19

teaandtoast!

Original post by Spairos

This is scary :eek:

I hope this is not the case for everyone and it is just a coincidence. Anyone here studied in Warwick University? (located in Coventry. it is close to Birmingham, is it the same?)

I've looked round Warwick Uni twice, and I think it's a lovely place to live and study. Lovely campus, with the right balance of green spaces and buildings. And if I remember correctly there was a really useful supermarket in the middle of it.

What course are you looking to study?