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Freshers Week, University of Bath
University of Bath
Bath

Ask a current student - University of Bath

Ask anything you want to know about being a student a Bath. I can share some of my experiences, but hopefully other students will be kind enough to chip in too! If there are enough people for it, I'll compile a list of students and what they study if people want to ask subject-specific questions.

(Also, for current students a Bath society is in the process of being approved! :woo:)

Ask a first year international management student thread

Ask a second year Psychology (with placement) student thread

FAQs:

What do you think of accommodation?

Review of Eastwood - if you want me to put your review of the accommodation you stayed in, please let me know! :h:

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How does accommodation work?

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What's the social life like?

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What eateries are there?

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Placements - what are they like?

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What's Bath like?

My brief take on it, anyone else is welcome to pitch in too!

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Advice to Maths applicants:

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For students that go to bath, how was it like on the first week, was it easier to mix in or was it 'cliquey'? Are there lots of extracurricular student activities to do?

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(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
I read in another thread you're studying maths, how often do you work outside of lecturing times?
Freshers Week, University of Bath
University of Bath
Bath
Original post by jacobe
I read in another thread you're studying maths, how often do you work outside of lecturing times?


I'm sure Sean will give you his own answer. But I'm another current second year maths student and I guess two answers is better than one!

Split over five compulsory modules, each module has per week (some slight variation, but this is the gist of it):

Two hours of big lectures
One hour of big problems class (lecturer does examples on the board)
One problem sheet (homework for you to do in your own time)
One hour of small class size (~10-15 persons) tutorials where the tutor goes through the problem sheet and you get a chance to ask questions.

This means that overall you get five problem sheets a week to work on. This averages out to one each weekday night (or five on Sunday evening if you're that way inclined :wink:)

It's usually possible to bash out a scrappy attempt on the compulsory questions in under an hour. I was always a conscientious student aiming for a high first and nothing less (which I did eventually achieve), and would spend an average of about four hours on each problem sheet, doing both the optional and compulsory questions and making the very best job I could of it. I would do essentially one each weekday night, then revisit on Saturday morning any questions I had failed to complete during the week. Oftentimes fresh eyes meant I was able to quickly tick them off second time around and learnt a lot from the process and second viewing.

This in general gave me the entire weekend off. Bath does not work us very hard. Seriously, don't worry about it :smile:
Original post by jacobe
I read in another thread you're studying maths, how often do you work outside of lecturing times?


I haven't got a huge amount to add to President Snow's answer as he has summed it up pretty well.

I remember being told during an induction lecture that for this course, for every contact hour you have you're expected to put an equal amount in, and we had about 21 contact hours.

I was the type to not really try on problem sheets, maybe giving the majority 30 minutes to an hour. Some, I spent a lot more looking at questions, looking at notes and looking at the questions again as well as going to the workshops. Others, I gave about 5 minutes (often the day it was due in) before giving up. But that was a mistake, and if I could go back I'd seriously attempt each question on each sheet to get feedback and learn.

For the computing coursework I usually spent double the amount of recommended time. I recall one or two weekends spent purely on the coursework, a lot of that consisting of me pacing about the flat (and other people's rooms!) trying to figure it out.

And as for when I started revision, maybe a few weeks before the exam period. Looking back, maybe a better strategy would've been going over the notes on the day and practicing a few questions, so that come revision I'm not trying to relearn the module.

I think that this course rewards people who put in the effort, the people who don't can kind of get by and rely on cramming / ability, and I found myself somewhere inbetween last year.
Hi I'm considering applying to bath to study biological sciences or biochemistry :smile: What is the accommodation on the campus like? And also what's the night life/ social aspect like?


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Original post by jerseyalevel
Hi I'm considering applying to bath to study biological sciences or biochemistry :smile: What is the accommodation on the campus like? And also what's the night life/ social aspect like?


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Hi there :smile:

I posted on this thread a while back with a review of Eastwood, the accommodation I stayed in. Looking through it there are some reviews of the other student accommodations, and the ones I've seen look much nicer than it and haven't heard of anyone having any problems.

Apparently there are over 80 societies (I haven't counted them myself) but there is something for everyone. Almost everyone I've met are very nice/interesting people.

I'd be lying if I said I knew a huge amount about clubbing, but there are loads of options, both on the campus and in the city.

The SU holds a few different events throughout the week, have happy hours and show rugby/football matches when they're on and they are nice to go to. There are also clubs in the city like XL, Bridge and The Weir Lounge. Bristol is fairly close as well, so there'll be a few more options there.
Original post by turiga28
What is university of bath like?is the social life good?and the overall teaching?what is the area like?


I've just started my teaching year and found that the teaching in the first year overall was very good, and most of the course content (for Maths) was interesting to me. The area is safe, lovely and expensive. The campus is amazing. :love:

It is quite sporty and the amount of talent in the sports societies is amazing. But one of my friends organised 5-a-side football where no one was really a pro but it was great fun. There are loads of chances to socialise (through society socials and events on the campus and clubs in the city) but there are loads of other things to do that don't involve sports or drinking, particularly during Freshers'.
Original post by jerseyalevel
Hi I'm considering applying to bath to study biological sciences or biochemistry :smile: What is the accommodation on the campus like? And also what's the night life/ social aspect like?


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My son has just started his second year at Bath studying Biological Sciences, he absolutely loves the course, Bath, the social life, actually he loves everything!
Reply 8
So many people stay in/around bath after they leave uni? or move to Bristol ect? thanks:-)
Original post by woo32
So many people stay in/around bath after they leave uni? or move to Bristol ect? thanks:-)


It's not unheard of, though I don't have any numbers.

Bath is a lovely place - I like it, but I think it's too expensive to live in.
When I go to university I hope to take my bike with me, would you say the campus is safe enough to do that ? Or would you reccomend I get a foldable bike ?
Original post by Crazyjoesmith
When I go to university I hope to take my bike with me, would you say the campus is safe enough to do that ? Or would you reccomend I get a foldable bike ?


Campus is safe enough. Obviously bring a lock, and there are free cycle lockers available for your stuff, but lots of people cycle (including me sometimes) and it works out just great!
Original post by President Snow
Campus is safe enough. Obviously bring a lock, and there are free cycle lockers available for your stuff, but lots of people cycle (including me sometimes) and it works out just great!


Thank you 😊
Original post by Crazyjoesmith
When I go to university I hope to take my bike with me, would you say the campus is safe enough to do that ? Or would you reccomend I get a foldable bike ?


This page may be of interest to you. There are loads of places to lock your bike (and people use the racks) but you can also apply for secure bike shed access if you wish.

But think about how much use you'd get out of it - if you're living in the city, fair enough. But you might find that you hardly ever need to use it.

Plus it's all a bit hilly! I've cycled to the uni and it was pretty tough at times.
Original post by SeanFM
This page may be of interest to you. There are loads of places to lock your bike (and people use the racks) but you can also apply for secure bike shed access if you wish.

But think about how much use you'd get out of it - if you're living in the city, fair enough. But you might find that you hardly ever need to use it.

Plus it's all a bit hilly! I've cycled to the uni and it was pretty tough at times.


Thank you for the page link and I get what your saying that hill looks mad. However I'm not a big fan of the bus so I would rather ride around the city. I find using my bike can be slightly easier in a city.
Original post by Crazyjoesmith
Thank you for the page link and I get what your saying that hill looks mad. However I'm not a big fan of the bus so I would rather ride around the city. I find using my bike can be slightly easier in a city.


I get what you mean! :smile:
Tooly
Hi

I saw you're a current student at Bath and was hoping you could answer a few questions whenever you get time? I was just wondering what second year+ accommodation is like, what do most people do? When I visited I didn't seem to notice many areas with houses that are affordable to students, so am just curious!Also do people tend to visit Bristol a lot for the social aspect? Or is there enough to do in Bath anyways?

Thanks for your time :P


Hey there :smile:

There'll be an evening where some staff show you powerpoints and talk about finding accommodation and explain most things to you.

After the first year you can't live on campus, so you have to find friends in the first year that you want to live in, look for a property together, set up bills closer to the time etc. People can also look for strangers if they're desperate to share, I've seen a few Facebook posts advertising rooms or looking for flatmates.

I live at the start of a bus route that goes to the university - an area called Southdown - and the bus ride is about 20-25 minutes long and comes every half hour. So the location is pretty good, but I'd much rather prefer that it was at the bottom of the hill that the university is on and walk up every day. It's £380 a month for rent and then there's a bit more for bills and things like that. From what I know, Southdown and another place called Oldfield Park are where students tend to congregate. Oldfield Park is a bit closer to the city centre, but the two areas aren't that far from eachother anyway - maybe a 10 minute walk between the two.

People can and do go for a night out in Bristol as it's not too far, but there are plenty of things going on in the city as well as on campus for nights out. I could list them all but if you're into this sort of thing then you'll quickly become acquainted with where people go to on which night.

If there's anything else you're more than welcome to ask. :smile:
Why is the rent so high in bath ? Is it that high in most areas or just there ? 😊
Original post by Crazyjoesmith
Why is the rent so high in bath ? Is it that high in most areas or just there ? 😊


Bath is quite an expensive place to live in. It's a World Heritage Site, has lots of things to attract tourists etc. The place I'm staying at is £90 a week.
This generally isn't a thread for chancing people on whether they'd get an offer or not (it may be worth asking in the official rep thread) but I thought I'd put a question here that I saw on another thread.

Original post by Honey badger123
AAB at AS, predicted A*AAA for A2 (taking an AS in further maths) any shot for an offer for maths at Bath?

I got AABB at AS, was predicted A*AAA at A2 (including Further Maths AS + A2 in Year 13) and got an offer, so you're kind of similar to me.

If you look here it says:


AS Further Maths:

For applicants taking A-level Maths and AS Further Maths and STEP/AEA a typical offer is:

obtain grade A* in A-level Maths, grades A A in two further A-level subjects and grade A in AS Further Maths plus at least 2/Merit in one STEP/AEA Maths paper.


So you'll need to sit an extra exam and get a certain grade in it.

I'd advise studying AS and A2 in one year as it's probably the easier option and if you're good enough to do Maths at Bath an A in Further Maths shouldn't be too tough.

Good luck!

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