Ask a Current Nottingham Student

Hi; I was wondering about the university card. When do you receive emails about them, is it nearer the time?


Posted from TSR Mobile

In my year, it was a couple of weeks after Results' Day (so end of August).

Okay thank you, it's because I have a confirmed place as I got an unconditional so I wasn't sure if I missed the email or not!


Posted from TSR Mobile

I've seen a few of us on here so I think it would be helpful to collate us all in one place for the benefit of prospective students!

I'm in my second year at UoN studying History and Politics. I'm a course rep for History students and a Senior Student Ambassador for the university! Also by this time next week hopefully I'll also be School Education Rep for History and a member of the Scrutiny Panel!

Ask away!

Okay so this is a tough one for me, so probably worse for you :P I'm trying to choose between Nottingham and LSE for Organisational Psychology. I absolutely love notthingham, but I worry that if I let go of LSE now, that would be un redeemable because of the "prestige" LSE has. Anyway you can shed some light on a comparison between the two in terms of Departments, the city, the place and so on?

What were your chosen options if you don't mind me asking? What sealed the deal for Nottingham?

I went to a visit day yesterday for Computer Science and while the facilities impressed me the whole university seemed distant and disinterested. This is in comparison with Newcastle where everyone was always up for a chat, enthusiastic about their research and there was some really exciting stuff going on. The whole experience (the place, the campus, the people) seemed cold and 'stretched-out'; Newcastle felt welcoming and close. I really want to think that this was a one-day thing, an outlier; because every other thing makes me want to go to Nottingham. Before yesterday, I thought the visit day was going to be a formality as I'd already decided on Nottingham in my head. Now, the choice has become much harder.

How is the accommodation at University Park? I never got an opportunity to see it since we only got shown accommodation on Jubilee. Any recommendations for halls?

Also, how are the student living areas after the first year? I never saw the city centre on my visit so I can't pass judgement on that, but I saw the surrounding suburbs around the university and it looked really grim.

Okay so this is a tough one for me, so probably worse for you :P I'm trying to choose between Nottingham and LSE for Organisational Psychology. I absolutely love notthingham, but I worry that if I let go of LSE now, that would be un redeemable because of the "prestige" LSE has. Anyway you can shed some light on a comparison between the two in terms of Departments, the city, the place and so on?

Easiest/quickest/cheapest way from Nottingham station to Jubilee campus?!

Any difference between Newark and Southwell Halls?

Is parking free on campus if I were to park a day or two when I'm moving in this September?

Also read that the rooms do not have wifi and you have to hook up to the cable broadband. Any truth in that?

What were your chosen options if you don't mind me asking? What sealed the deal for Nottingham?

I went to a visit day yesterday for Computer Science and while the facilities impressed me the whole university seemed distant and disinterested.

How is the accommodation at University Park? I never got an opportunity to see it since we only got shown accommodation on Jubilee. Any recommendations for halls?

Also, how are the student living areas after the first year?

As someone who never even looked at LSE, I'm really not best placed to give any *real* comparison. (I used to live in south east London which is the reason I didn't look at any London unis.) LSE is an incredibly good university but you do have to think about where you'd be most happy. You will do better in your degree if you're at an institution that you really like. The two unis are very different: one campus, one city; one is a capital, one is a small city etc. Have you visited both? I had an overwhelmingly positive feeling about Nottingham when I went there and whilst I had a bit of a wobble over which to firm out of Nottingham or Kent, the way I felt when at Nottingham was far better than how I felt when visiting Kent. It's an entirely personal choice. I don't know about the league table comparison, that's for you to look into. You may find that one university is preferred by psychological graduate firms and so that may sway your decision but overall go to where you feel the most comfortable and the place you actually prefer.

dont forget that if you let down Nottingham despite your love towards it, you may still regret it!
What I'd say: if you want to enjoy uni life, go to Nottingham if thats what your heart tells you. If you however want a prestigious uni which can possibly give you better prospective for future (although 1st from Notts is better than 2:2 from LSE!) go for LSE.
Just remember that uni will probably be the best time of your life: you gonna be free of your parents, you will live on your own, you will make new friends….it will be great! So bear that in mind when you make a final decision

I've just firmed my offer for history and politics at Nottingham how are you enjoying the course?

my coursemate has her bf studying in Newcastle and I asked her which uni she thinks is better. She said she wouldnt go to Newcastle. Heres a quick summary of what she said: halls are unbelievably ugly. She says she wouldnt live there even for free, its so disgusting compared to ours.
People go out hell lot. 3 times per week is little for them. You may think its cool but my flatmate does computer sciences and he has tones of courseworks, stays up till late, wakes up early…you wouldnt want your flatemates to party while you have 3 courseworks due next day and havent started them. In Nottingham there are 2 main nights: Wednesday Crisis and Friday Ocean. Ofc, peole go out more frequently cause events are every night but those two are for lots of people a must so you are liekly to hear lots of noise on those 2 days.
Citywise, Newcastle is prettier. Nottingham uni is far away from the city centre and even though the city centre itself is cute IMO, apparently Newcastle one is better. But we have better clubs . Better music, better venue etc….
and in general she said in Newcastle people have the mentality of "I got away form my parents, I gotta party till I collapse everyday" while in Nottingham its more balanced.

Now uni park halls…they are different than Jubilee one. They are way older. So the rooms arent that pretty I assume (living outside the campus). But they look nice from the outside. Like, they make you feel as thouhg you are in one of those American movies with different social groups living in their own area etc. But over all, they are nice .
As for houses for 2nd year onwards…there are 4 main student areas: Lenton that absolutely dominates, Dunkirk (for more of a study students rather than party students), Wollaton and Beeston. I will be living in Dunkirk next year and I think that for the price we pay we got a really cute house . However, dont expect miracles hah. What I can promise is that it will be relatively cheap compared to Newcastle.

Now to the open day….its this time of the term where most courseworks are due, people freak out abt exams and are generally exhausted and just want to go home. It was also election times which is a very hard time at uni since you are bombared with all candidates and their friends telling you why you should vote for them. Its really, really annoying. So all those combined creates this unpleasant atmosphere you experienced . But we are nice people, honestly! And we have the best Ekho in whole England .

So to conclude this long (and maybe gramatically incorrect post for what I apologize but its thursday late night and I have anatomy session tomorrow and have to study and am generally exhuasuted haha) post….Nottingham is a good uni! Dont be put off by people, we are honestly a nice bunch of people and you will anyway probably deal with your year and not 2nd and 3rd years. But follow your gut feeling. Dont forget you gonna be here 3 years. And also, check the curriculum for your degree to make sure its really what you want so to avoid dropping out and wasting money+year.

If you have any more questions, just quote on me or PM me

My options were Nottingham, Kent, royal holloway, southampton and Sussex but I also looked at Leicester, Portsmouth and UEA. In terms of sealing the deal, I hadn't really got a wow vibe at any university when I'd visited until Nottingham which was one of the last ones I looked at. I loved the campus and I loved how enthusiastic the academics were. I also liked having the opportunity to study a language alongside my course which is rare for a joint honours student. I also liked how much choice I would get in terms of modules which means I would end up with the degree that I wanted not just some package deal that everyone doing History and Politics got.

In terms of your visit day. I'm extremely sorry about how you feel it went. As someone who works on those days, I can assure that is not standard experience at all and I'm quite ashamed that this has been your experience (and I will be feeding that back to the team if that's okay with you). Like Nottie says it is a stressful time in terms of end of term assessments but that is in no way an excuse. I wish you had spoken to me, not that you know who I am etc, but the ambassadors are all really keen, usually, to talk about the university and their experiences and answer any and all questions.

The university park accommodation is actually mostly very nice. It may be old and certain rooms may not be absolutely wonderful but I completely disagree with Nottie here (sorry!). I lived in an en suite in Cripps and I loved my room, I still miss it now in fact. Some of the hall dining rooms guests have compared to the great hall in Harry Potter. There's loads of places to hang out with friends and a really tight community of up to 350 students who all basically live together. We have regular formals which is a great excuse to dress up and have food served to you. The food is pretty good for mass catering. There's lots of choice and so there's always something for everybody. It tends to be true that if you go catered you will put on about a stone in weight!

I wont give any hall recommendations as you can't choose a specific hall when applying for accommodation just an area and room type (I.e. University Park, En suite). You do get three choices although I believe a few room types are almost full up already.

After first year, most live in Lenton as Nottie says but its not grim at all. Its actually quite nice. There's a lot of Edwardian houses as well as a more modern estate (where I currently live) and its a great community as that's where all your friends are.theres loads of shops you are a stone's throw from the centre of town as well as the university. I love living here and am intending to stay for a couple of years after graduation even

So to cut a long story short, I'm once again very sorry for your visit day experience. This is in no way normal. I really hope it hasn't coloured your opinions too much but I do understand how influential these days are. Nottingham is a really fantastic university with so much to do and so much to offer students in my opinion. Whilst I don't know much about Newcastle, Nottingham is a brilliant student city which is almost entirely catered towards students due to how many of us there are between UoN and NTU. There's loads to do and see and experience.

Hopefully between us, Nottie and I, have watered down your bad experience. Like she also says, go with your gut whatever that may be. As I say to all people I take on tours, good luck wherever you may end up because I know that Nottingham isn't for everyone.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions that you may have at all

Easiest/quickest/cheapest way from Nottingham station to Jubilee campus?!

Any difference between Newark and Southwell Halls?

Is parking free on campus if I were to park a day or two when I'm moving in this September?

Also read that the rooms do not have wifi and you have to hook up to the cable broadband. Any truth in that?

Hello!
I was just wondering what your thoughts on Cavendish Hall are? Good things and bad things - I have been allocated it and kind of want to know about it before I go!