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University of York
From The Student Room WikiTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of York
 The University of York is a campus based university situated on the south eastern edge of the historic city of York. The university took in its first students in 1965 and has grown to accommodate over 9,400 at present (7,600 undergraduates and 1,800 postgraduates). In the relatively short time the University has been in existence it has quickly risen up the league tables for the outstanding quality of its teaching and research (similar to Oxford's) across most departments (including English, PEP, Chemistry and Computer Science) and is now held in very high regard amongst many academics around the world. The University is mainly located on its Heslington campus to the south-east of the city near the small village of Heslington. However, there is also a part of the University in York city centre, located at the Historic King's Manor. King's Manor houses the archeology and 18th Century Studies departments. The current Chancellor is former Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke and the Vice-Chancellor is Brian Cantor. CollegesThe University is currently arranged in to eight colleges. The colleges mix together student accommodation and academic departments and every new student, whether they live in university accommodation or off campus is assigned a college when they become a member of the University. Though rare, it is possible on occasion to change college during your time at the University. In order of their creation, the eight colleges are: FacilitiesLibrariesThe main University Library is the J. B. Morrell library, located just north of University Road. The J. B. Morrell was the first major Library built at the University and houses the main collection of works. In 2003 a second Library was built adjacent to the J. b. Morrell Library. This was named the Raymond Burton Library and is a specialist humanities research library. The archive collection, known as the Borthwick Institute has also recently moved into a new purpose built multi-million pound building behind the other two libraries from its old city centre location. The Borthwick institute contains many original important records and documents dating back hundreds of years which have importance both locally and nationally. IT and ComputingComputing at the university is run by the Computer Services department. Their office is located near Market Square, just south of University Road. The department is responsible for most of the computer workrooms and computer classrooms throughout the colleges and libraries. Most colleges have at least one computer room/classroom while many have two. The size of these room ranges from about 20 right up to 60 computers.
There are also centrally located scanners and black and white printers in each college and the Library available for student use. Students get a printing quota each term and any printing beyond this quota can be purchased from the Computing Services office. Colour printing maybe diverted to a printer in Langwith College. SportsThe university has a sports centre with numerous sports halls and a large area of playing fields. Students can become members of the Athletics Union and join any of the sports clubs that have been created. A full list of sports clubs can be found here. WelfareHealthcareOn campus there is the university healthcentre. York also has other doctor's surgeries around the city. There is the main York District Hospital a little North of the City centre. Dentists surgeries are located right around the city, but like many locations, NHS places can sometimes be hard to find. ShopsWith more than 2,000 shops, York offers some of the most distinctive, specialist and stylish shopping in the UK. You'll find all the major retail chains and supermarkets. From high street stores and designer boutiques to organic food retailers and an open-air market seven days a week, there’s plenty to explore. Many shops are set in York’s Medieval and Georgian streets, but you can also find three modern shopping complexes on the outskirts of town. Market SquareThe current main shopping facilities on campus are located in the Market Square shopping complex, a two storey structure building completed in 2001 and currently housing around eight shops. On the ground floor is a large Costcutter supermarket, Endsleigh Insurance office and Your:Shop, the Student Union shop. The first floor contains Blackwells Bookshop and camups printing/copying services. The Building also houses the University Information Centre, Fees Office and other administrative departments. HeslingtonThe village next to the University offers a post office and Browns, a little grocery shop which is also popular for making their own sandwiches. Also here are a couple of pubs pubs popular among, namely the Charles and Derrymore, and a couple of banks. Other ShopsThere are also other shops on campus. In Vanbrugh College X-Block used to locate YourBooks, the University's second hand book shop, although this closed down in arly 2008. In Halifax College, there is also a smaller branch of the Costcutter supermarket. The branch of StaTravel recently moved from Market Square into the science park next to the University. On the route into the city centre there are numerous small shops. Main shopping facilities in the city are located in the city centre, although with the exception of a Marks and Spencers, there are no supermarkets in the town centre itself. Sainsbury's and Netto are within walking distance on the North East of the city. Monks Cross, an out of town shopping centre provides a wide variety of shops, with Sainsbury's and ASDA supermarkets; Boots; Woolworths and WH Smith, while the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet specialises in clothes and fashion. Clifton Moor has a number of very large shops, including a Tesco superstore - however it is not very handy from the University. The Aldi and Iceland stores on Fulford Road are very useful especially for people living on the west of campus. There is also a Tesco store at Askham Bar and a Somerfield on Hull Road. RestaurantsYork has a great range of places to get food and eat out. On campus you have loads of places to get food, from the Roger Kirk Centre to the most of the colleges. Most have a similar array of foods, but many also have their own specialities. Around campus there are not too many other places - Heslington has a couple of pubs which serve food. If you want a proper restaurant you have to travel the short distance in to town where your are spoilt for choice. If you want Mexican, try Fiesta Mechicana (near the Gallery nightclub). Perhaps a little on the expensive side, but excellent food. For Chinese, why not try the great little all you can eat buffet place, The Willow or the slightly more expensive Jumbos? For a proper Chinese meal, try the Jade Garden, across the road from Clifford's Tower. There are a load of Italians, burger places and restaurants where you can pretty much any sort of food from Greek to traditional British and from a cheap sandwich to an expensive top quality meal (at somewhere like The Blue Bicycle). BanksThe main campus is well served by cash machines. Market Square has HSBC and Barclays cash machines situated outside Costcutter and another is located near Goodricke college, part way between the Physics Building and the Roger Kirk Centre. There are also many banks located just off campus, notably in Heslington village with a further four on Main Street (HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest). The city centre also has branches of all major Banks and Building Societies. TransportGetting to York from the rest of the country is simple by train or road. The station is a major thoroughfare and tickets (especially across the North of England) are reasonably priced. The number 4 bus service (new FTRistic buses) runs from the university to the city centre, station and to Acomb on the other side of York. This operates a flat-rate fees service with ticket sellers riding on board - £1.50 single or £2.50 return anywhere on the number 4 service. Taxis to and from town are reasonably priced and are worthwhile compared to buses if there is a group of 3 or more people. Ebor Taxis is based on Heslington Lane, between the City and University, and offers student discounts. York is cyclist-friendly. There are plenty of places to store bikes on campus and in town, and on campus, thefts are few and far between. Most of York is flat; the one major hill is unfortunately placed between the west campus and Thief Lane, which leads into town. Careers serviceThe careers service is hidden away in a building behind the Language Centre - the door is on the corner of the building. The service is great and offers loads of workshops through the year for developing skills and giving you the information you need about careers and making applications. They also host loads of talks from top employers from around the country. Make sure you check their website out well in advance and book your place on the more popular courses and talks. They will also offer you general advice from one of their advisers. This can also be used by recent graduates - either drop in or email them. They are pretty fast at emailing you and provide a lot of useful advice and help. Part-time jobsYork has lots of opportunities for part time work - bar work, shop work, office/temping work, even lots of opportunities for work in touristy jobs owing to York's huge popularity with visitors. You can often see jobs advertised around the city, but the careers service also advertises a lot of jobs. These can be in loads of different areas, both at the uni and in private businesses and can be both part time or temporary - sometimes even 'one off' jobs. You can see the adverts in the careers centre itself, or check them online by searching the listings on the careers services website. Religious facilitiesThe uni has a Chaplaincy that offers information and advice to anyone and contact details about most faiths. It makes use of the local Church in Heslington and every year holds a welcome service towards the start of term. There are numerous religious student groups on campus, the Christian Union being one of the more popular ones. They can often be seen around campus holding dinners and talks and invite any student or staff member to attend many of the talks (often with free food!). SocialBars, Pubs and clubsDespite the University's best efforts, there are still college bars on campus. In Alcuin, Derwent, Vanbrugh, Langwith, Goodricke, Halifax and Wentworth Colleges, there are bars which are open at some point during the week and serve a range of drinks and food. In the city, there are many pubs and bars; it is said that York has a different one for every day of the year. Clubs are not as common as in other comparatively-sized cities. The most popular, especially amongst students, are Tru (Toft street, off Micklegate), Gallery (Clifford Street) and Ziggy's (Micklegate). Each has student nights during term time - Tuesday, Thursday and Wednesday respectively. EventsClubs and societiesYork has a very large number of student societies, catering for most popular activities. If you want, you can even start your own and get it officially ratified easily with 3 people to make up the initial committee. YUSU also offers grants and other help to all ratified societies. A full list can be found here. AccommodationAccommodation policyPriority is given to first years, disabled students, international students firstly, and then students returning from placements secondly. En-suite is generally oversubscribed, as is most accommodation on campus, so if you don't fall into the first category, you will be lucky to get on campus accommodation. There are three types of room in York, standard, en-suite and UPP. UPP accommodation is run by a private company on behalf of the University and tends to differ in pricing and facilities from the normal rooms. CollegesSee the individual College pages for details on the accommodation they offer and what they are like. Private sectorStudent unionYUSU is the York University Students' Union and have their offices in Goodricke College in the Student Centre, along with the Graduate Students Association (GSA). Unlike other Universities, the Students Union does not run any bar on campus (however, they are campaigning for a central SU venue in the planned Heslington East). It does run YOUR:SHOP and YOUR:BOOKS, a convenience store and second-hand book store respectively. EnvironmentArchitectureMost of the original York is built using the CLASP architecture style, which means lots of concrete buildings. The original University is set around a lake (at the time of its building, the largest man-made ornamental lake in Europe), overlooked by Central Hall. Green spaces and water was stated as the inspiration for the architecture. Local areaThe University of York is set in green-belt land on the outskirts of York near Heslington village. On many sides of the uni open space is either close by or only a short walk away. York, as a city, it a very pleasant place and is full of history and character. There has even been extensive building work in recent years to improve some of the less nice areas and things are a still improving further. The people there are generally very nice too and in most areas there are good relationships between locals and students. In the wider area York is set in North Yorkshire - a county with two National Parks. The North York Moors are pretty close by but the Yorkshire Dales are a little further away (but still at an achievable distance for a day out). The Yorkshire coastline, with the towns of Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington are also not far away. The coast is sometimes nick-named 'The Jurassic Coast' owing to the exposed cliffs in some areas which have been known, even in recent years, to show ancient fossils from the time of the dinosaurs. Teaching qualityDepartmentsThe University is split up into many departments of academic study. Each department deals with research and study in a just one or two specific areas. Most departments offer a range of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses to students. However, some, like the Centre for Women's Studies are purely purely research departments and only offer courses to postgraduates.
Visiting the UniversityThe university organises open days throughout the year. People who have been made offers are often also invited to a visit day with their department. Parents/family members and teachers are also welcome to visit with prospective students. Open days at York will allow to a chance to speak to students at the university and the staff who teach there. You can find out about student life, the courses and the admission process. Go looking around the campus, visiting the departments you are interested in and have guided tours of accommodation. The university likes you to book a place on an open day in advance. There is a booking form for individuals and one for large groups. The open days in 2007 are shown below with the booking deadlines.
Booking will close approx 10 days before each open day The days run from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, though you are free to arrive and leave whenever is convenient for you. While you are advised to book, I would say not to let that put you off going if you have missed the deadline - generally numbers are not strictly counted on the day, an extra few people will not make much difference to the university and they certainly will not turn people away. Even if there are no places available on tours on the day, you can still wander around the uni grounds and a number of the buildings with no trouble (I remember on one visit with a friend we walked in to the Physics Building and ended up in the middle of quite a busy reception/conference - we just carried on walking through and out the other side - no one even said anything). If you completely miss an open day I would advise you to make an independent visit at some other time if you are seriously thinking of going there. As I said above you can wander round the campus and get a feel for the place. Try to go during university term time if you can so you don't turn up and find the place empty of students (university term dates can be found here to help you plan the timing). The university also has a some information offering assistance to people planning independent visits. Last of all, if you go, have a great time. York has a great campus, the staff are really friendly and the city is a beautiful place. Applying to YorkThinking of applying to York? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other York ArticlesWhy not read these other York Articles? York Colleges
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