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Any negatives of going to York for History?

Hi, I'm planning on putting York as my firm for History as I really liked the campus (ducks!) and town on the open day plus the course looks fantastic.

But before I do...I was just wondering if anyone can see any minuses of going to York? I've so far only thought of two, that it's a 4 hour train journey from home and they want AAA. Has anyone got any opinions on the social life/course/graduate prospects etc?

Also, does anyone know what is the likeliness that they'd take me with AAB as I'm really worried about the AAA offer as i'm borderline on my English grade. I know they only raised their offer this year :frown:

Thanks.

Reply 1

laser

10

*R*a*c*h*

Hi, I'm planning on putting York as my firm for History as I really liked the campus (ducks!) and town on the open day plus the course looks fantastic.

But before I do...I was just wondering if anyone can see any minuses of going to York? I've so far only thought of two, that it's a 4 hour train journey from home and they want AAA. Has anyone got any opinions on the social life/course/graduate prospects etc?

Also, does anyone know what is the likeliness that they'd take me with AAB as I'm really worried about the AAA offer as i'm borderline on my English grade. I know they only raised their offer this year :frown:

Thanks.

I think it just depends on how many people get their grades. If people miss and they have spaces left over, then there's a reasonable chance you'll get considered and still get in, but I certainly wouldn't rely on it. Just do awesome in what's left of your English A-level :P

Reply 2

ArtGoblin

16

Yep, my friend is putting this as his firm, and he's a right weirdo... (seriously)

Reply 3

-CBee-

Well, I'm in my 2nd year doing History here now so I can tell you a bit! As far as I'm concerned the uni has been the best possible choice I could have made, but obviously it's not going to be the same for everyone.

The course is pretty wide ranging, and as far as I can remember from my experience of applying it's different to lots of others in that it has even strengths across Medieval, Early Modern and Modern. Of course, if you really only want to concentrate on post-1750 this may not be for you but I'd say it's good to be introduced to it all, it's all so different to History at school. The department isn't exactly all that organised, and the main office hours are quite short, but especially in first year the tutors are really good and very willing to give feedback. Anything else you want to know?

In terms of life at the uni, the negatives are again subjective ones. Its true, nightlife in York is not exactly filled with superclubs and infinite variety. People do quite commonly go to Leeds but if you want a different club every night then maybe York isn't your city. Social lif at the uni is really quite good, but I get the impression that the colleges with better accomodation seem to have far less attachment to the college system and find on-campus social life lacking. However, I was in Derwent and our accomodation wasn't pretty (and had 20 people to the kitchen) but first year was the most fun I've ever had, so it really depends who you ask!

Reply 4

billyboymccoy

1

The weirdest people I know do history. It must be something about historians.

Reply 5

puzzlebox

billyboymccoy

The weirdest people I know do history. It must be something about historians.

True, but that's not a bad thing :smile:

There aren't many negatives, things are good resource wise etc and some of the teaching here is top quality. Most negatives are subjective :smile:

Reply 6

*R*a*c*h*

OP

10

Thanks everyone, especially -Cbee- I think i'm gonna firm it now...:-D Just need the grades (aarggh!)

Reply 7

KerriT

9

If I could choose again I would have gone to uni in London because there's amazing resources and no problem at all when it comes to dissertation time. York has been terrible for resources this year in terms of books and compared to my local uni library (Kent) the York one is pretty poor for a top ten uni. I've met some lovely people and had a couple of great courses but based on my experiences as a 3rd year with getting hold of books and primary sources I would definitely choose London over York. I know it would have been a vastly different experience and I probably would have preferred to be in York as a 1st year but as a 3rd year... London is where it's at. Or Edinburgh, or Oxbridge.

Reply 8

frosklingjess

2

Thanks -Cbee-! I just firmed my choice for history at York last week, and your comments have been really helpful!

Reply 9

Aylia

1

KerriT

...based on my experiences as a 3rd year with getting hold of books and primary sources I would definitely choose London over York. I know it would have been a vastly different experience and I probably would have preferred to be in York as a 1st year but as a 3rd year... London is where it's at. Or Edinburgh, or Oxbridge.

I totally disagree - York library always had everything I wanted and other books could be requested. I think it depends on your subject though - as -CBee- says, York isn't really the place for concentrating on post-1750. I ended up studying a lot of early medieval history and history of the church so York was perfect for me.

I'd add that in my personal statement I professed to wanting to study the cold war and post-colonialism!! The great thing about York is that they introduce you to a range of topics in the first year, which really opens your mind up to new possibilities.

Reply 10

KerriT

9

Ok yes it has lots for early medieval and church history... loads, I know I've done a couple of modules. But when it comes to the comparative special "War and Society", absolutely useless. For the special subject The French Revolution it's good but not great unless you read French so some people had problems. For stupidly modern history like my dissertation hmmmmm. I've been to several different university libraries now so I can say that York's is not that good, and I'm not just talking about London universities. Of course there are much worse libraries, but for the size of the department they need to improve book provision and particularly the key texts section.

Any negatives of going to York for History?

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