[Sirunus]

Hello everyone, I'm new to these forums and I've been made an unconditional offer at Bangor University. It appears to be the best choice of unis I've applied for, however, I live in Bristol and my parents say it will probably take five hours to get there by car. Since we all currently work and we probably need to stay at a hotel for the open day, I was wondering if I should drop it. Plus if something goes wrong and I need to get back home, it won't exactly be easy, since I don't have a car nor a license. My parents have stated the complications if I decide to go there and now I'm considering going elsewhere (I've been accepted by all five unis I applied for), plus I heard that everyone in Bangor speaks Welsh and that some people despise English people.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give, and do you think it's worth me living faraway from home? My parents stress that this is something I should consider very carefully.

Thanks everyone,

~Chris

[Jinxy]

My best friend also got into Bangor

They don't all speak welsh, in fact most of them speak english! Most welsh people can speak english because the welsh language is fading out.
I think you should think about how well you cope on your own, being so far away is hard and you will get home sick at times. Sometimes it's nice just to be able to get on a train for half hour and go home to your on room and bed and whatever but when your so far away you can't do that. You have no idea how you will be at uni. It's a nice thing to be far away, i prefer it but if you enjoy being with your family a lot then you should probably think about being closer to home.

People aren't going to hate you if your english and not welsh ? I'm not sure where you heard that, many people who go there are going to be international students and at university do you think people of that age are going to bully you for not living in wales? Wales is tiny so I don't believe that's even the case, they wouldn't allow it. Yes i'm sure you get a few people who do feel that way but you always get some.

[daniel_williams]

I'm from Hertfordshire, and its a fair old trek to Bangor, whilst it is a long way away from Bristol, there are loads of people here from Bristol, I am good mates with one of them.

Sometimes its a good thing to be able to get away from home, its why i ended up here, takes minimum of 4 hours for my folks to come here, and they've only had to do it three times, and that was to bring me up, pick me up at Christmas and then bring me back after Christmas.

there are rail links to Bristol via crewe, so its possible for you to come up and go home that way if you need to.

once you are here, you will find clubs and societies to keep you occupied, one of the best things about university life is the social side of it, do you degree and build your social life as well, its fantastic.

you could always try arrange an open day when you are all free, but there are loads of hotels and travel inns up this way not to mention bed and breakfasts. so there will be somewhere to stay.

the majority of people here speak english as their first language, there are lots of welsh people but not THAT many welsh speakers. the welsh speakers are in separate halls to englsih speaking students so they can keep the language alive. the locals there are a lot of welsh speakers, this area of wales is the real stronghold for the welsh language. hence we have radio Cymru here in bangor.

moving away from home doesn't have to be stressful, if like me your parents will miss you more than you will miss them! but really do consider the university because if you think its right for you then you should go for it without giving it a second thought.

check out the university website www.bangor.ac.uk and look at the wiki article on here, as well as the internet and it will surely help you make up your mind.

also just out of curiosity, what subject are you planning on taking? (I would assume psychology?)

[Sirunus]

Thanks guys. I feel better now reading those posts, the biggest barrier now really is the distance. If only if I could just teleport there. It looks like a really nice area.

And Daniel, the subject I applied for was Creative Studies. I heard though how good it is to study Psychology and Bangor though, but according to the league table, Bangor is still the best for the subject I applied. I'd also like to get away from Bristol. My second choice is Winchester Uni, where I've been made an unconditional offer to study Creative Writing and Film Studies and my third choice is UWE where I've been made an unconditional offer to study Film (my choices are in the order of league tables).

I don't know, maybe I should go to Winchester instead of Bangor?

[sexysax]

I have loads of friends at Bangor who are from Surrey!

[eulerwaswrong]

(Original post by Jinxy)
Most welsh people can speak english because the welsh language is fading out.

rephrase that - everybody in wales can speak in english - most people who speak welsh speak it as a second language they only go to welsh schools because they get 50% more capitation per child in a welsh school.

One problem with bangor apparantly is that the students feel like outsiders

[magnad]

I'm from the depths of Devon and it takes around 5 hours and a half (on average) to drive to Bangor, for me it feels like a mammoth journey having to drive up and down. A

Dunno if you plan to drive but if not,if you live up Brizzle you could always get the plane to Cardiff from Anglesey and then on to Bristol

[ames123]

Definately try and come up and visit, see how you like the place. As Daniel said, yes I guess it does depend on how you feel about being far from home. Bristol is not too bad though. I help out on open days and many people I speak to have come up from Kent, Cornwall etc!

Eulerwaswrong - I have never, and neither as far as I am aware have my friends, felt like outsiders in Bangor! There is a big student population here, students are everywhere!

Daniel - Is radio Cymru really here? Is it in the BBC place up one of the roads off Collage Road?

[kiss_me_now9]

I'm from Bucks, and when I was going to do Psych went to see Bangor - Loved the course, the campus was alright, but the fact that it was a good 6/7 hour journey and I'd have to move all my stuff out of halls every half term (for the halls I wanted) put me right off - There is no way on earth I could cart everything in my room to a car, back down to here, then back again two or three weeks later.

In the end, it doesn't matter, but if I lived closer it would definatly have been my firm.

[daniel_williams]

creative studies here at Bangor is fantastic I know many people taking that subject,

we currently have a 24/7 FM radio station (which at present is the bain of my life because i'm trying to compile a report onto it and whether we should go online only - but thats other news)

yeah radio cymru is based up near the management centre/ rathbone / jmj , they have 2 radio studio's up there and storm FM i know are planning something with them as we have the head of their station comign to our Storm FM awards.

if you really want the best then go for it, and coming to bangor whilst it might be a trek will be worth it, at the end of the day your education is the most important thing and you want the best degree you can possibly get, and if Bangor is so highly rated then you should try and get there. because when you go to look for a job they will look at your degree and university and make judgement on that.

[tom_tom_tom]

i heard bangor has the highest suicide rate for any uni in the UK

correct me if im wrong!

[benjipcane_no]

Hi Sirunus,

Good to hear you got accepted. I'm also thinking of applying for Bangor to study Modern Languages. Tell me, what was the open day like and that? Any other info you can give me about Bangor would be great. What are your predicted grades?

Also, I wouldn't worry about the distance. I've heard its a nice place (close to Snowdonia) so I'm guessing you wouldn't get that home sick. I definitely wouldn't, I live in East London, Essex so I wouldn't wait my bags & go lol. Maybe I'll see you there! LOL!

benjipcane_no

[benjipcane_no]

Whoa! Where did you hear that? LOL

[tom_tom_tom]

My psychology teacher told me that and i think an ex student said it aswell....

it just sticks in my head, could ave been a dream .. but i seem to trust my psychology teacher he is pretty reliable!

[benjipcane_no]

LOL Must be a really low number? Surely?

Also, forgot to say - if I get in to Bangor, I'll do a rideshare with you Sirunus. I passed through Bristol on the way. How does that sound? LOL

[tom_tom_tom]

i would ave thought so ... if it was a massive number it would ave been more widly publicised!

im sure its rele fine there!

[daniel_williams]

Bangor university psychology department is the worlds leading researcher on the aftermath effects of suicide. this is probably what you should have been told especially by a psychology teacher.

but yeah they are the best uni for psychology in the whole of the uk and ranked 4th in the world.

[kiss_me_now9]

^^ And the grade boundary is relatively low. I believe it's because they're quite young?

[eulerwaswrong]

(Original post by ames123)
Eulerwaswrong - I have never, and neither as far as I am aware have my friends, felt like outsiders in Bangor! There is a big student population here, students are everywhere!

what i meant by outsiders is that the residents and the students dont really mix - there is a clear divide. I read this in an article a while back but it was written like 10 years ago. Ive only ever been there once when i was like 10 for a week with my dad. So have no experience of student life there - i was just reiterating something id heard a while ago - sorry if wrong

[magnad]

Lol this thing about Bangor being the 4th best in the country seems to be a lie, especially when it came round to the Guardian (I think?) publishing the best unis for each subject, Bangor wasn't even in the top ten for Psychology.

I've heard about the suicide rate thing too, but I haven't heard of many suicides. Somebody said it was because all the rooms in halls were a square shape and all the same. Who knows whether that's true