Brunel Freshers 2013
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Original post by 3amWisdom
The reading lists on my Blackboard say they aren't confirmed so there's no way I'm spending anything until I know for sure. Won't be buying anything new either! There's this group on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/242047522567403/?bookmark_t=group and Ebay, Amazon etc but I'm sure there must be another way of buying second hand books from Brunel students in the same school, like a noticeboard or something.
cheers
reassuring to know what other people are doing about this. I thought summer reading was a pretty usual thing.... But cant find the books even at birmingham library! So just gona wait till i get there. Original post by ICBnl
cheers reassuring to know what other people are doing about this. I thought summer reading was a pretty usual thing.... But cant find the books even at birmingham library! So just gona wait till i get there.
reassuring to know what other people are doing about this. I thought summer reading was a pretty usual thing.... But cant find the books even at birmingham library! So just gona wait till i get there. 
, I just found out today that we were suppose to do some reading and like 3amWisdom said, the books aren't confirmed yet so no point starting now you might as well wait another week.Original post by 3amWisdom
I'd edit out your email if I was you, only because if this forum gets trawled by Google you're going to get spammed for eternity I've copied it.
I have some experience, it's not all relevant to computing, and academically I'm still probably behind most of you guys. I think being a bit older is good for knowing what you want in life and how to learn from screwing up the first time round
I've copied it.I have some experience, it's not all relevant to computing, and academically I'm still probably behind most of you guys. I think being a bit older is good for knowing what you want in life and how to learn from screwing up the first time round
I edited it, I didn't know If I could Pm you through Sr
Original post by KirkyLife
I wanted to have either Monday or Friday off but by the looks of it, its not possible
It is possible to still do *some* reading, just no guarantees you'll be reading a book which is well written! The titles of the books give some clues e.g discrete maths or information systems or statistics etc. I think the stuff we learn is so general in the first year, pretty much anything which expands your horizons is relevant. Failing that, keeping up to date with industry news is always useful, and it's definitely more fun to read about the latest hardware or software than it is to trawl through a textbook trying to understand gates and flip flops and algorithms
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by 3amWisdom
It is possible to still do *some* reading, just no guarantees you'll be reading a book which is well written! The titles of the books give some clues e.g discrete maths or information systems or statistics etc. I think the stuff we learn is so general in the first year, pretty much anything which expands your horizons is relevant. Failing that, keeping up to date with industry news is always useful, and it's definitely more fun to read about the latest hardware or software than it is to trawl through a textbook trying to understand gates and flip flops and algorithms
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
:P, I am all good with the latest news in the technology industry, I read news everyday.
btw, you know the tickets for the freshers activities, do we need to buy them now online or can we buy them at later stage, when we go to register ourselves?
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by abubakar261
:P, I am all good with the latest news in the technology industry, I read news everyday.
btw, you know the tickets for the freshers activities, do we need to buy them now online or can we buy them at later stage, when we go to register ourselves?
btw, you know the tickets for the freshers activities, do we need to buy them now online or can we buy them at later stage, when we go to register ourselves?
Then you're doing your reading and should feel smug!
I think you can do either. It says in the guide http://issuu.com/brunelstudents/docs/_freshers_fest__miniguide?e=2060681/4720495 if you get there on the Sunday they sell tickets between 18.00 & 21.00hrs. If you're not going to be there on the Sunday (i.e. moving into halls day) then you're better off buying online I think. I think the events will be pretty popular.
Also and unrelated. Someone sent me this this morning and I wanted to share it with everyone as the weirdest song of the summer https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jofNR_WkoCE
Original post by deryaya
Lancaster complex, maria grey hall, flat 40??
Are you lot excited about freshers week? Or do you know the societies you're gonna join already?
Are you lot excited about freshers week? Or do you know the societies you're gonna join already?
Maria grey hall flat 39
and YES ofcPosted from TSR Mobile
Original post by emahase
Anyone is Flat 56, Lacy hall?
Or studying Biomedical?
Or studying Biomedical?
Studying Biomed
in Maria hall tho Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by ICBnl
A few of the books are available as online books which you could read. Otherwise, they're not available in libraries and are eye wateringly expensive. They can't expect us to really have done much surely!
*Coughs* Yes. Books are super expensive to buy. *Coughs* *Whistles* No, seriously though, I think getting them second hand is the only way to go. And they literally only just published the lists, so how could we know what they wanted us to read other than general computer science stuff?
Original post by woodhause
Feeling myself foolish to ask, but maybe someone knows about the modules on Blackboard Learn. As I understand, they are all mandatory, but I wonder if we need to choose some more modules coming to Brunel?
I'm not sure which course you are doing, but as far as I can tell on our course, we don't get to choose anything in the first year. After that I think you get to choose a specific pathway and look more at what you are interested in, but I think generally they tell you in the first year. Not 100% but I am sure they'll tell us if we need to do something else.
Original post by woodhause
Feeling myself foolish to ask, but maybe someone knows about the modules on Blackboard Learn. As I understand, they are all mandatory, but I wonder if we need to choose some more modules coming to Brunel?
Original post by 3amWisdom
I'm not sure which course you are doing, but as far as I can tell on our course, we don't get to choose anything in the first year. After that I think you get to choose a specific pathway and look more at what you are interested in, but I think generally they tell you in the first year. Not 100% but I am sure they'll tell us if we need to do something else.
Although, I am doing the same course as 3amwisdom but I checked few of the other courses and like 3amwisdom said, for the first year you can't choose what modules you want to study.
is it important to come to all the freshers activities?
(edited 10 years ago)
Anyone staying in the faraday complex? Anyone studying any arts subjects?
Original post by Charchar__marie
Anyone staying in the faraday complex? Anyone studying any arts subjects?
hi! Yes I'm in faraday staircase 5 room 26
studying product design engineering
Original post by Charchar__marie
Anyone staying in the faraday complex? Anyone studying any arts subjects?
i'm staircase 1, rooom 40
I felt compelled the other day, whilst reading through all the freshers crap that I still get delivered, to write an honest introduction to Brunel...
Ive spent 3 years of my life here, and going into my 4th and final year, the place has seen me through all manner of extreme high points, and awful lows..
I wont do a whole introduction, but I thought id list a few points, that may contrast with what the official stuff says:
1 the journey to central london is not a short ride. but neither is it a pain. I would discribe it as 'long enough to bring a book, or take a nap, but short enough to not need emergency supplies' (around 45mins on the tube + the bus ride/walk from campus)
2 Liquid is awful. its terrible. we all know its terrible. but most people (including myself occasionally) still go.. and as im sure many of you will too.. - how bad it is, and the fact that people still go, is a perfectly acceptable conversation starter, at a night out - in liquid... (only club in uxbridge)
3 The campus is ugly... But we love it! - its our baby, our ugly concrete baby, that looks like a prison.. but its ours! and over the course of your time at brunel, you will grow a strange affection to its unique charm! (I remember once, walking back through campus at around 4am, it was all foggy, and everything was covered in dew.. it was beautiful... though maybe thats because the fog was hiding the buildings....)
4 Dont **** with the river pinn... it gets big! - serriously. No freshers ever beleive how high it gets.. They see it just as a little trickling trail of water.. untill it rains for a few days, then BAM 5ft deep baddass river..
5 Leave all your racial prejudices at the door... one thing the prospectus was not kidding about is how diverse brunel is! serriously, everyone is here.. and by and large, we all get along.. (ok, ignoring the spat between the LGBT soc and the Islamic society... and the LGBT soc and the ACS(afro-caribean-society)... and the LGBT soc and the CU(christian union) -- ok, so there are some pretty big tensions currently regarding LGBT students.. after things happened last year.. but still.. aside from that, its really friendly!
6 Dont feed the ducks.. they dont like to be fed, they are utter bellends, and if you try and feed them, they will shun you - and you will look like a fool.
7 At one point in the next 3 years, you will find yourself at 5am in the brunel pond...
8 freshers events are packed! if you dont like crowded spaces, dont go to them! - it calms down after that, but for the first 2 weeks, its insanely busy.
9 Campus is dead on a weekend.. most people go home, others do things quietly.. its a little annoying.
10 there is a beautiful canal just a 10 minutes from the campus! - its lovely, and really pretty.. but so so few students know about it, as many dont venture to far/explore, beyond the campus, town centre, and other shops..
11 there are a fair few good supermarkets around.. the closest place where you can just about do a 'big food shop' is the small tesco just out the back of campus.. beyond that there is a huge tesco, around 20mins away(its massive) - and then there is both a tesco and a sainsburys in uxbridge town centre...
12 You are lucky! damn lucky! - they have just made the on-campus shop bigger.. so you wil never know the hellish ques that existed there over the past few years! (but its still stupidly expensive.. so well.. unless you cant be bothered to go elsewhere.. dont shop to much there..)
13 dont even bother trying to get in the library around exam time.
14 Leave a good hour, to print off your coursework, before handing it in (atleast) - a lot of courses have similar hand in times (1pm is a popular one) so if you show up at 12.30, you may struggle to get a computor to print it off... ofcourse you as new students would never dream of leaving it that late.. (but serriosuly.. your coursework will be date-stamped, or time-recorderd.. I had one in my first year that was stamped 12.59pm, to this day.. its one of my most stupid, yet proudest achievements..)
15 Dont mess with the more-hens. not a brunel rule, but I just really love the little guys! they waddle around on the greens either side of the river.. adorable things!
16 Watch out for night foxes. They will try and steal your soul.
17If your in mill hall.. prepare to meet the reaction 'oooh.. sorry' - every time you tell someone where your staying...
18 if your in standard accomodation (like me ) - then its ummm..cosy! , you will have a kitchen with 4 chairs, and enough space for 6 people.. but there will be 12 of you - also the furniture from your room hasnt changed since the early 70s.. (serriously, go watch clockwork orange, its set partly in brunel, and when he is kept in a prison cell, they fillmed it in the 'standard accomodation')
19 election time in spring is pretty fun and crazy.. everything gets covered in posters, and people will try and pursuade you to vote for things which you dont care about... but its all good!
20 no one likes the smelly fish guy. serriously? hes on campus every week, selling crabs and fish.. right in the middle of the walk-way.. dont get me wrong, I love cooking fish.. but how many students want to buy a raw whole crab?? - ignoring that most students would struggle to gutt it correctly.. we are students! we cant afford whole crabs to eat!
21 the guy who comes on campus selling nigerian food is awesome! and it tastes great! - you can get a meal there for £5 and its so much nicer then anything else around!
22 Subway sucks. its expensive, and chances are you cant afford it. - but you will buy it anyway.. and after a night out, it will be the most glorious thing possible..
23 Uxbridge is ok.. its functional - it has everything you really need.. but nothing to special, still not bad though
24 locos and the hub (upstairs) are pretty good for relaxing/a drink, but they are very loud, and not to cheap.. good off-campus alternatives are: the load of hay (2 mins away), the malt-shoval (really nice, by the canal) and in town the metropolitan is quite nice -- go explore! dont just stay on campus!
25 No one likes sports science students. - its not your fault! its just there are so many of you, and well.. your exams are multiple choice. - so if it wasnt bad enough to hear 'im a sports science student' every time you meet someone new.. you then get to resent them pretty badly come exam time, when your writing a huge essay, and preparing for a diffuclt exam.. and they are fill out multiple choice online exams... (this said, some of my closest friends is a sports science students
and are lovely people)
26 Explore campus! - serriosuly, there are many lovely places, and buildings.. that most students will never go in! - there is a spa on campus, a hotel with its own little bar, a number of caffees, some great facilities (if your not an arts-student, go take a walk around gaskall and the AA building.. they are nice, and full of pianos/other fun bits ) -- the new art gallery, and entrance buildings at the start of uni are also pretty nice
27 Prepare yourself for mind-numbing freshers chants.. each accomodation coplex has its own chants and acronyms that the freshers-reps will shove down your throat and get you to chant/scream, when heading for nights out and stuff... its all fun and stuff (ish) for new freshers.. but for the rest of us, having to hear people scream the name of their block of halls at 3am, is a pain
28 watch out for 'court' - it wasnt around when I was a fresher.. but umm.. ive heard things.. and umm.. be carefull.. but enjoy!
29 Register with the medical centre! - its one of those boring things that they tell you to do, but your to busy having fun to care about.. - untill your ill, and have to fill out a whole bunch of forms, when you just dont really care..
30 Relax! brunel is a fantastic place, very calm, and fun you will have a great time, if you just let things happen, and dont try and rush it all! its a very welcoming place, diverse with lots of different people, and opertunities.. I can critisise it to bits, but I love it here, and will sorely miss it when I leave next year
Very jelous of all you new freshers, getting to come for the first time, leave home, and be all excited!
(feel free to ask me anything, if you have any questions..)
Ive spent 3 years of my life here, and going into my 4th and final year, the place has seen me through all manner of extreme high points, and awful lows..
I wont do a whole introduction, but I thought id list a few points, that may contrast with what the official stuff says:
1 the journey to central london is not a short ride. but neither is it a pain. I would discribe it as 'long enough to bring a book, or take a nap, but short enough to not need emergency supplies' (around 45mins on the tube + the bus ride/walk from campus)
2 Liquid is awful. its terrible. we all know its terrible. but most people (including myself occasionally) still go.. and as im sure many of you will too.. - how bad it is, and the fact that people still go, is a perfectly acceptable conversation starter, at a night out - in liquid... (only club in uxbridge)
3 The campus is ugly... But we love it! - its our baby, our ugly concrete baby, that looks like a prison.. but its ours! and over the course of your time at brunel, you will grow a strange affection to its unique charm! (I remember once, walking back through campus at around 4am, it was all foggy, and everything was covered in dew.. it was beautiful... though maybe thats because the fog was hiding the buildings....)
4 Dont **** with the river pinn... it gets big! - serriously. No freshers ever beleive how high it gets.. They see it just as a little trickling trail of water.. untill it rains for a few days, then BAM 5ft deep baddass river..
5 Leave all your racial prejudices at the door... one thing the prospectus was not kidding about is how diverse brunel is! serriously, everyone is here.. and by and large, we all get along.. (ok, ignoring the spat between the LGBT soc and the Islamic society... and the LGBT soc and the ACS(afro-caribean-society)... and the LGBT soc and the CU(christian union) -- ok, so there are some pretty big tensions currently regarding LGBT students.. after things happened last year.. but still.. aside from that, its really friendly!
6 Dont feed the ducks.. they dont like to be fed, they are utter bellends, and if you try and feed them, they will shun you - and you will look like a fool.
7 At one point in the next 3 years, you will find yourself at 5am in the brunel pond...
8 freshers events are packed! if you dont like crowded spaces, dont go to them! - it calms down after that, but for the first 2 weeks, its insanely busy.
9 Campus is dead on a weekend.. most people go home, others do things quietly.. its a little annoying.
10 there is a beautiful canal just a 10 minutes from the campus! - its lovely, and really pretty.. but so so few students know about it, as many dont venture to far/explore, beyond the campus, town centre, and other shops..
11 there are a fair few good supermarkets around.. the closest place where you can just about do a 'big food shop' is the small tesco just out the back of campus.. beyond that there is a huge tesco, around 20mins away(its massive) - and then there is both a tesco and a sainsburys in uxbridge town centre...
12 You are lucky! damn lucky! - they have just made the on-campus shop bigger.. so you wil never know the hellish ques that existed there over the past few years! (but its still stupidly expensive.. so well.. unless you cant be bothered to go elsewhere.. dont shop to much there..)
13 dont even bother trying to get in the library around exam time.
14 Leave a good hour, to print off your coursework, before handing it in (atleast) - a lot of courses have similar hand in times (1pm is a popular one) so if you show up at 12.30, you may struggle to get a computor to print it off... ofcourse you as new students would never dream of leaving it that late.. (but serriosuly.. your coursework will be date-stamped, or time-recorderd.. I had one in my first year that was stamped 12.59pm, to this day.. its one of my most stupid, yet proudest achievements..)
15 Dont mess with the more-hens. not a brunel rule, but I just really love the little guys! they waddle around on the greens either side of the river.. adorable things!
16 Watch out for night foxes. They will try and steal your soul.
17If your in mill hall.. prepare to meet the reaction 'oooh.. sorry' - every time you tell someone where your staying...
18 if your in standard accomodation (like me
) - then its ummm..cosy! , you will have a kitchen with 4 chairs, and enough space for 6 people.. but there will be 12 of you - also the furniture from your room hasnt changed since the early 70s.. (serriously, go watch clockwork orange, its set partly in brunel, and when he is kept in a prison cell, they fillmed it in the 'standard accomodation') 19 election time in spring is pretty fun and crazy.. everything gets covered in posters, and people will try and pursuade you to vote for things which you dont care about... but its all good!
20 no one likes the smelly fish guy. serriously? hes on campus every week, selling crabs and fish.. right in the middle of the walk-way.. dont get me wrong, I love cooking fish.. but how many students want to buy a raw whole crab?? - ignoring that most students would struggle to gutt it correctly.. we are students! we cant afford whole crabs to eat!
21 the guy who comes on campus selling nigerian food is awesome! and it tastes great! - you can get a meal there for £5 and its so much nicer then anything else around!
22 Subway sucks. its expensive, and chances are you cant afford it. - but you will buy it anyway.. and after a night out, it will be the most glorious thing possible..
23 Uxbridge is ok.. its functional - it has everything you really need.. but nothing to special, still not bad though
24 locos and the hub (upstairs) are pretty good for relaxing/a drink, but they are very loud, and not to cheap.. good off-campus alternatives are: the load of hay (2 mins away), the malt-shoval (really nice, by the canal) and in town the metropolitan is quite nice
-- go explore! dont just stay on campus! 25 No one likes sports science students. - its not your fault! its just there are so many of you, and well.. your exams are multiple choice. - so if it wasnt bad enough to hear 'im a sports science student' every time you meet someone new.. you then get to resent them pretty badly come exam time, when your writing a huge essay, and preparing for a diffuclt exam.. and they are fill out multiple choice online exams... (this said, some of my closest friends is a sports science students
and are lovely people) 26 Explore campus! - serriosuly, there are many lovely places, and buildings.. that most students will never go in! - there is a spa on campus, a hotel with its own little bar, a number of caffees, some great facilities (if your not an arts-student, go take a walk around gaskall and the AA building.. they are nice, and full of pianos/other fun bits
) -- the new art gallery, and entrance buildings at the start of uni are also pretty nice 27 Prepare yourself for mind-numbing freshers chants.. each accomodation coplex has its own chants and acronyms that the freshers-reps will shove down your throat and get you to chant/scream, when heading for nights out and stuff... its all fun and stuff (ish) for new freshers.. but for the rest of us, having to hear people scream the name of their block of halls at 3am, is a pain
28 watch out for 'court' - it wasnt around when I was a fresher.. but umm.. ive heard things.. and umm.. be carefull.. but enjoy!
29 Register with the medical centre! - its one of those boring things that they tell you to do, but your to busy having fun to care about.. - untill your ill, and have to fill out a whole bunch of forms, when you just dont really care..
30 Relax! brunel is a fantastic place, very calm, and fun
you will have a great time, if you just let things happen, and dont try and rush it all! its a very welcoming place, diverse with lots of different people, and opertunities.. I can critisise it to bits, but I love it here, and will sorely miss it when I leave next year Very jelous of all you new freshers, getting to come for the first time, leave home, and be all excited!
(feel free to ask me anything, if you have any questions..)
its also worth noting, as general fresher advice - relax on the whole making-friends front..
chances are that your first-year flat mates, may not be your best friends forever! - and there is no reason why they should.. you are just a random assortment of people after all
By the time your in your 3rd yera, you will probably look back and realise that your closest friends were met under a varying array of cirucmstances..
I mean, just thinking about my friends now, one I lived with in 2nd year, another I met on a protest, another I met at the US-election politics night, another is member of uni staff who I got know well, some more are from societies, a couple are from my course.. some from my year, some from lower, some who have since graduated..
Just dont feel pressured to make friends with the people who are imidiatly put infront of you when you arrive.. they are just 10-20 people out of 18,000, and chances are, that small group, wont be the people you would most relate to, out of that huge pool of students
chances are that your first-year flat mates, may not be your best friends forever! - and there is no reason why they should.. you are just a random assortment of people after all
By the time your in your 3rd yera, you will probably look back and realise that your closest friends were met under a varying array of cirucmstances..
I mean, just thinking about my friends now, one I lived with in 2nd year, another I met on a protest, another I met at the US-election politics night, another is member of uni staff who I got know well, some more are from societies, a couple are from my course.. some from my year, some from lower, some who have since graduated..
Just dont feel pressured to make friends with the people who are imidiatly put infront of you when you arrive.. they are just 10-20 people out of 18,000, and chances are, that small group, wont be the people you would most relate to, out of that huge pool of students
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