Coventry as a city

Thanks for the replies appreciated. I am applying for business information technology. I expect it will be like any other city bad areas and good areas but some of the stuff I read on here makes it sound like a mini 3rd world city. I ask just because I presume it has to be exaggerated. The course and the add vantage + the international business leaders has really attracted me to the uni. I just want to keep the doubts I hear in check

My boyfriend is from Northern Ireland, woohoo! He's studying Geography in his 2nd year and I'm studying Maths as a first year. Personally I think Coventry is amazing. I live in Halls and we feel very, very protected and safe here, even though we're right next to the Red Light District. The City is, yes, industrial, but you only have to go a few miles out to find fields etc. if you're really missing the countryside. I come from complete countryside, which I am ever thankful for, and yet in Coventry I do not miss it! I'm assuming you'd study in the Engineering and Computing building, where I study too, which means you'd be living luxury. The building is amazing, very modern, large but easy to navigate around. I think many people think it's awful because some students are stuck with the older buildings. However, Coventry is currently investing millions in the city to completely revamp it and roadworks are already being done in that sense. Singer Hall is definitely the best - not because I live in it, but it genuinely feels like it's own village and little community. There are over 600 people that live in this area and it's really great for socialising. I've yet to experience what it's like in the Spring/Summer but I'm told people get out their picnics and BBQs and have great fun out on the land! I got offers from Birmingham and Warwick and chose Coventry because of the atmosphere and sense of purpose - they care a lot about sustainability and the future of technology! I'm the kind of student who takes advantage of everything on offer - their system has allowed me to become a Student Councillor for my course, Halls Rep, open my own business through their Entrepeneurship scheme, and land a job working for the Student Union during my course for the university. They also have a Global Leader's Programme ONLY done by Coventry University where you get free language courses, get to go to places like the NASA base or Coca-Cola industries etc and more! Feel free to message me further if you'd like more details about the city itself, but when you find out how good the university is you won't care what it looks like anyway!

This was exactly the type of information I was looking for, thank you

You're very welcome!

Could you tell me a bit more about the global leaders program, it sounds interesting. Like how many hours does it take per week, what do you do on a normal daily basis within it and how often do you go on trips. Are these trips paid by yourself or heavily subsidized by the university? Also how is getting a job in the area? I am paying for my university stuff through student finance and I have no financial aid from anyone else therefore a job is required. Is work easy to find, and easy to incorporate into uni life with part time work/flexible hours. Could you also tell me a bit more about the add vantage modules you do throughout the years you are there. Finally yes, I will be in the computing and engineering building From what I have read it is awesome

For the most part it's pretty grim if I'm honest with you, i'm living there for my second year and most days I stay at my friends place in south Leamington. However I've only experienced Earlsdon and the Centre, there are areas of the university which are very nice, I have good friends who study there so if you're staying strictly on campus for the most part it should be fine. Good luck.

Im from Birmingham and I go to CUC. The Coventry city centre looks really good. There's a lot of shops and its not that bad in my opinion.

Global Leader's Programme - http://www.coventry.ac.uk/study-at-coventry/student-support/enhance-your-employability/global-leaders-programme/. A problem with the GLP you might face is that my boyfriend received no bursaries or scholarships for Coventry because he is outside of England. This means you are not eligible to sign up for free. However, the administration fee is only £205 which also gives you a lifetime membership to the Global Leaders Club, which can be extremely useful for contacts in the future etc. The language class is then not free and costs £75, however everything else is still free. There are four sections that you will be asked to complete and this includes going to workshops, business talks and trips to loads of places. It's not a certain hour contract type of thing - it takes up as little of your time or as much as you want. You are given the option to participate in at least 6 classes but there is no upper limit to how many of the FREE trips/workshops/talks you can attend! Also they have tens of Summer trips which they promise only cost you 450 (550 if you want to go outside Europe) for about a week to two weeks stay in four star hotels with all the activities paid for (like going to the NASA base) and a lot of your food covered! For example, one trip to China for two weeks costs the university more than 1500 but they cover 2/3rds of that price for you! I personally think the programme is amazing and the guy who takes our workshops (I've got to loads but some include "Presenting Yourself to the World" and "Communication Skills) is just brilliant! You think the workshops and talks will be boring but they are SO engaging and thought-provoking - it helps with your confidence so much. They have a "no paper or pen" rule where they aren't about presentations and slideshows, but about participation and groupwork The trips are pretty often - they can clash with your lectures though. I have 21 hours a week in Mathematics so it does get annoying when they plan a day trip that would cost me 5 or so lectures. However, if you have a lighter timetable like I'm sure you will have it means you'll get to get on free trips often With the summer trip you have to choose just one, but the university say that if there are spaces open where people have dropped out or they just need 2 or 3 more people to make up numbers then they will let people apply to more than one!

Unfortunately my boyfriend and I have no experience of working in Coventry. My placement at the university is unpaid experience. I know a lot of my friends who have jobs and they're the usual KFC, McDonalds, Boots kind of jobs! The clubs and pubs around love to employ students to advertise them. For instance, my flatmate Ryan is employed to hand out wristbands to people who then get a discount when they go to the club and for every person who uses Ryan's wristband to get in Ryan gets some money. There are a lot of little jobs here and there you can do so it doesn't seem too hard! You have to remember it's a very small city with 25,000+ students so there'll be competition whatever kind of job you're getting. In your second year, the university can give you the chance to work for them on desk and in offices, but you go through an interview process where they'll only pick the most committed and dedicated!

The add+vantage modules, I'll be honest, I was disappointed with. There are some great modules but it just so happens the ones me and my friends chose seem to be duds. A lot of the modules actually give you certificates/qualifications at the end which is great! There's also the chance to build up your modules, such as taking German Level 1, then Level 2 the next year and so on. It really does boost the CV when you have something like "Psychology in the Workplace" on your CV (I took that) and these modules can often lead onto better things like new useful contacts or developing a new interest.

Haha, your wealth of information. Thanks so much! Getting extra qualifications always sounds fantastic. I guess I will have to be careful when it comes to picking add vantage modules. As for GLP it will cost me £280 in total which I guess I could manage.I would be worried about GLP cutting into lectures though, but I think my course is 15hrs lecture and 20hrs personal study so I hopefully that would be okay. I am a country lad so i'm sure the move to the city will be a bit of a shock but i'm quite looking forward to it living in the middle of nowhere isn't that fun.

Hey great to hear from you! Nice to hear a range of opinions. Is the area safe in your opinion and by grim I presume you mean the area is just aesthetically depressing because its all just concrete which i'm okay with

I'm glad you're feeling good about coming to Coventry! Where in Northern Ireland do you live now?

Don't go to Coventry just don't. The shopping facilities are terrible, the place in general is terrible, high crime rate - thieves especially.

The best part about Coventry is the M45 out srs

Don't go to Coventry just don't. The shopping facilities are terrible, the place in general is terrible, high crime rate - thieves especially.

The best part about Coventry is the M45 out srs

I live in Co.Tyrone not far from Enniskillen & Dungannon

That's a really mindless thing to say, haha! If you've researched, burglary has actually got down in the past year, as well as robbery and drugs. Protection Services are amazing at what they do, and they even offer to drive drunk people home if they're a cause for concern.

People are making decisions about their future here. Don't try to put someone off a university because of some bias, made up stuff!