University of York

York

English

offtouni2004

Just wondering who else is about to study English??

Also, when I went to Warwick Open Day (Ironically didn't go to York's!) I couldn't help noticing that of the 50 or so prospective students, only 5 (!) were guys!!! :confused:

So does anyone know what the gender balance will be at York? Am I gonna have to look outside of my subject to get a more balanced group of friends?

Gen

Reply 1

buttbuns

heya, im gearing up to do English and Philosophy!
I was at the Open Day, and to be honest i didnt really notice any difference... thinking about it, there may not have been quite so many guys there as girls, though if it didnt slap me in the face at the time its likely that the proportion difference wasnt massive. anyway, through other hobbies and the people you'll live with there will be an inevitable mix, and the overall gender proportions at york are almost totally even (49/51% i think it was), so it shouldnt be a problem!

Btw, isnt the reading list a killer?! How much money and time do they think we have??! Have started Mrs.Dalloway, am finding it disorientating.. really going to have to buckle down and get through most of the texts though, how is everyone else finding it? xxx

University of York

York

Reply 2

Chris Payne

From my experience, there are more female English students, but still a reasonable number of guys... But then I don't actually know that many English students so I may be wrong! :smile:

the overall gender proportions at york are almost totally even (49/51% i think it was)

That's what 51% Society will tell us... I think it's actually 53% female, but yeah it's only slightly over half...

how much... time do they think we have??!

As an English student you will have so much time you won't know what to do with it! Actually you will... sleep! :wink:

Reply 3

gideon2000uk

Most people tend to make friends with people outside their courses anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it :smile:

Reply 4

charlord

Chris Payne

From my experience, there are more female English students, but still a reasonable number of guys... But then I don't actually know that many English students so I may be wrong! :smile:

That's what 51% Society will tell us... I think it's actually 53% female, but yeah it's only slightly over half...

As an English student you will have so much time you won't know what to do with it! Actually you will... sleep! :wink:

what a bout history? are there many men :tongue:

Reply 5

thegoose

on the ppe open day i noticed far more males than females, but apparantly that isnt normal and it balances out.

Reply 6

Chris Payne

charlord

what a bout history? are there many men :tongue:

Yeah I know quite a few male historians... No idea what the balance is though...

Reply 7

Dynamite

offtouni2004

So does anyone know what the gender balance will be at York? Am I gonna have to look outside of my subject to get a more balanced group of friends?

Gen

y english??????

Reply 8

End Is Forever

People tend to overestimate how much time they spend with their coursemates. Yes, of course it's possible to make great friends on your course, but remember that in the social sciences and the arts your contact time is limited, you'll be in different groups with different people for each tutorial, and your lectures in first year are probably 200-person monoliths in P/X/001 (big lecture theatre in Physics).

Your new friends are most likely to come from either your corridor/house (depending on your college) and from whatever societies you might join.

Reply 9

cymruambyth

End Is Forever

Your new friends are most likely to come from either your corridor/house (depending on your college) .

Could you elaborate on that? Are you more likely to make friends in certain corridors/colleges than others? I know people vary from year to year, but do certain 'types' crop up in certain colleges every year?

Reply 10

End Is Forever

No, the "depending on your college" bit was referring to whether you live in a house or a "corridor" rather than the likelihood of you making friends there. :smile:

The mix tends to be fairly similar in any of the colleges, though I've known people in houses (particularly Halifax) to be a little more insular than those in colleges - though that is far from always the case.

Reply 11

kimoni

offtouni2004

So does anyone know what the gender balance will be at York? Am I gonna have to look outside of my subject to get a more balanced group of friends?

Gen

Count yourself lucky! At the electronics open day there were 100 people there and 2 were girls!

Reply 12

Chris Payne

End Is Forever

People tend to overestimate how much time they spend with their coursemates.

Only BA students... Us poor Scientists spend all day every day with them in the first year...

Reply 13

jazzanova

Ahhh good I was beginning to think I was the only one doing English at York as I haven't heard of anyone else going there to study

Anyway I am male, and I am studying English. In both my AS and A2 class at 6th form college - males were in the minority - at the most there were 4/5 guys in an average class size of 20-25 so about a quarter. I expect it'll probably be the same on the BA course but who knows - I went to the York open day and saw a fair amount of guys. But hey, look at the good points - lots of nice girls (assuming they're nice of course!)

I'm expecting to meet a fair few people in the societies I join - music and drama ones particularly - but people who do Science subjects are going to be slightly different in personality and character to those who do Art subjects so I hope to meet a good balance of people doing alsorts - I'd like an interesting circle of friends!

buttbuns

Have started Mrs.Dalloway, am finding it disorientating.. really going to have to buckle down and get through most of the texts though, how is everyone else finding it? xxx

I'm getting through Mrs Dalloway now too - I know what you mean about disorientating - comma-fest! I've read Beckett's play 'End-Game' which is just so random, and Titus-Andronicus which is quite cool. Luckily my dad works at Leeds University so I've managed to borrow most of the books from the huge library they've got - the only ones I'm having trouble getting hold of are the Norton anthologies (poetry and criticism) - I can't find them anywhere! I was hoping on finding them in somewhere like Ottakars or Waterstones (which I did) and read bits of them in the shop but they were sealed up in plastic! And they're muchos expensivo - they don't ask we buy all these books do they?

I just don't quite get how we'll study them at York - will they lend us the books or photocopies (the slightly ilegal option) i just wonder sometimes?!

Reply 14

alastair

I am not an English student but lived with 3 of them. As far as i know everyone owned the Norton Anthology and always had it with them and then they only bought the books that they actually liked reading and wanted to keep. English has basically a whole floor of the library and all books which are essential will be in the key text section which is on 4 hour loans so it shouldnt be a problem getting them you will just grow to like the library! If you want to look for what books there are you can search the catalogue at http://libcat0.york.ac.uk/F.

Hope this helps,

Alastair

(A 2nd Year Physicist)

Reply 15

++Hex++

alastair

English has basically a whole floor of the library and all books which are essential will be in the key text section which is on 4 hour loans so it shouldnt be a problem getting them you will just grow to like the library! If you want to look for what books there are you can search the catalogue at http://libcat0.york.ac.uk/F.

Speaking as a friend of History and English students, I disagree - I think you will grow to hate the library, _especially_ Key Texts :tongue:

- you have to go and renew the book every few hours, and you can't have it back if someone else has booked it in the middle of the times you want it for. If you take them out overnight, they have to be back first thing in the morning.
:mad: