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First years, how have you found university so far?

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The course is great. The last set of lectures finished on Wednesday though so it's just revision now. I'm tired and just want the exams to be over.
The social life's not great. There's a lot of people who I get on quite well with but no real friends.

Original post by jambojim97

f*ck I'm going to Warwick in September :frown:

went to an offer holder open day and thought it looked lovely. oh well :frown:

It depends on the department etc.. Maths and physics are good in my opinion, but I don't know about the others. I've been to a few lectures by engineering, computer science, statistics and economics, but not enough to make a judgement.

Reply 41

HyruleTenshi

I've absolutely loved first year, but that doesn't mean it was easy lmao. Made so many new friends (mainly through societies, which I never expected), love my course and have completely grown in confidence. Had a crap flat but that didn't bother me too much since I'm quite introverted, but for a lot of the work I felt a bit like I was taking a stab in the dark for lots of my modules and the department isn't run that well in my opinion but overall I'm pretty pleased :smile:

Reply 42

Tachikoma

Original post by salsasauce

What are you changing to and from? I'm changing from psychology to english lit.

I was actually going to change to Psychology. Doing computer science at the moment and it's boring me to hell. Not liking Psychology? :s-smilie:

Original post by moment of truth

What course are you doing now and are gonna change to? :curious:

Hopefully I'll change to Psychology.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 43

KazuoTakeda

Original post by jambojim97

f*ck I'm going to Warwick in September :frown:

went to an offer holder open day and thought it looked lovely. oh well :frown:

The uni itself is great but the city coventry is quite tame

Reply 44

username1046019

Socially it hasn't been overly fantastic. I was hoping that I would already be making life-long friends like people had promised would happen, but the thing is is that I don't quickly get attached to people and tend to keep to myself unless someone talks to me (I suck at initiating a conversation). Unfortunately I haven't quite blossomed and suddenly become very confident in myself, but I have started a new hobby and met some good people.

Academically I'm doing pretty well. In one of my psychology modules I'm getting well above average and in the other one I am just above average (but could be doing better). I have to take a minor subject though (I chose biology) and while I've found it interesting I have struggled with it a bit, especially in comparison to people who are actually wanting a degree in biological sciences (I put it down to not putting in as much time into it).

I'm looking forward to next year since I will be able to focus solely on psychology instead of also having to worry about this minor subject that I don't want to continue yet still have to pass exams in in order to progress.

Reply 45

Nuttynutz

Original post by JB1807

Some aspects have been good such as societies, becoming more independent and some parts of the course.

However, i just want first year to be over now. Halls have been one of the worst experiences for me and im glad to be living in a house next year. Work has become boring and its just revising now. Have 3 exams within 4 days. In general im just really bored at uni right now. Im at home now but i keep having to go back for society meetings and of course exams in a weeks time. Havent really developed socially although i have gotten to know people in societies and the course.

Going back and fourth between home and uni is annoying (40 mins away). Going back to the flat is annoying. Halls in general are annoying. Revision is annoying.

Just want to have summer and start second year. I think it will be much better.

40 minutes isnt too far. Why do you have to keep going home? Csnt you just stay at uni until you finish your exams?

Reply 46

angelfox

Amazing for the most part. Obviously there has been some low points, getting messed around by girls, being slightly daunted by the workload, but met some amazing people, and as long as you put yourself out there you'll be fine imo.

Reply 47

username853993

Really enjoyed my course this year even though its been alot harder than I thought it was going to be, met some great people, just a shame my flat mates were crap.

Only downside (more so this semester) is people keep asking me why I am not going out much/at all and they dont seem to understand I find my course challenging and need to work at it to do well and also have have twice as many contact hours as them but the same amount of uni work needed to be done outside of uni too. I mean dont get me wrong I do love going out but with 4 months ish off for summer, during uni time and easter holidays my work takes priority as I can use the summer to go out etc

Reply 48

moment of truth

Original post by Tachikoma

Hopefully I'll change to Psychology.

Ahh okay. I study psychology at the moment :yep:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 49

moment of truth

Original post by tinyflame

Hi,

What is it about Nottingham you don't enjoy?
Is it the city or the uni? I might go there next year so I feel worried?

I don't go to Nottingham, but I know someone who does and they love it! You shouldn't feel worried because of one persons experience, cause yours is likely to be very different! :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 50

username1931817

Original post by EllainKahlo

I didn't get any taster lessons and was shocked to find that in the Humanities building, where half of my lessons are, the majority of funding in the university goes to Engineering. So we literally have to have our lessons in our tutors' offices, which can seat about 5 people all squashed together. We have the oldest building in the university and it's appalling.

I'm studying English Literature and Creative Writing. My lectures are honestly nothing we couldn't learn on our own and our seminars feel artificial - the tutors evidently don't want to be there, they want to work on their own publications, not our progress. My sixth form was really good and I honestly feel as though Warwick is a downgrade from my college.

Hi, I am a first year at Warwick too. I have just realised this term that I feel the same. I just get bored, there isn't much to do and I haven't found many fun friends. Ditto for psychology lectures, and we mostly are in the humanities building..
I don't suppose you want to be friends? x)

Reply 51

BirdIsWord

Original post by salsasauce

What are you changing to and from? I'm changing from psychology to english lit.

From psychology?
Can i ask what you dislike about it?

Reply 52

username1931817

Original post by BirdIsWord

From psychology?
Can i ask what you dislike about it?

I actually don't think I am swapping after all.
It has just been really slow, and I haven't learnt anything new - it's mostly A-level recap. So i found it quite unstimulating.

I haven't done biology or psychology at A-level you'll likely find a lot of it new material.

Reply 53

BirdIsWord

Original post by salsasauce

oh ok i was just curious, im applying for management but ive always been really interested in psychology

Reply 54

Dougieowner

It's been all over the place for me; there are times when I love my university experience, and times when I hate it. I really like Durham as a place and I've met some really good friends, but I never actually know what to think about my course (French and Spanish). It's a strange course because only 1/3 of it is actually languages stuff (grammar, translation, speaking), so I don't think I've improved significantly in my linguistic abilities over the past year. I think they're relying on the year abroad to boost students' abilities, rather than focusing a lot on languages classes. The rest of my lectures are "cultural modules", which are about foreign literature and film. Sometimes it feels like I'm doing English Literature but in another language... At times I like it but overall I think there's too much of a focus on these cultural modules (plus some of the modules I did this year have been very historical, and I'm not great at that kind of stuff). I've found these modules pretty stressful, particularly around exam time - I just don't feel that exams are the best way to test someone's knowledge of literature.

Also my coursework essays have been quite inconsistent - I've had low 2:1s, high 2:1s, and a 1st. The marking seems very dependant on the individual lecturer, and some are significantly harsher than others and seem overly critical. I'm hoping that it will help in the long run and I'll work on the criticism, but initially when I got some of the feedback it was a bit overwhelming (not helpful too that some of the lecturers seem to write sarcastic comments on the work...)

I think I'll probably enjoy second year more than first year. I'll be living in a rented house with three of my friends (sometimes the collegiate system at my university feels a bit institutional and it'll be nice to have a bit more freedom). Plus the modules I'm taking next year sound so much more interesting than the ones in first year (there was a greater choice as well, so I'm happy I don't have to study anything about medieval languages and literatures (that is, if I get my module choices)).

Reply 55

EllainKahlo

Original post by salsasauce

I sure do.

It's really upsetting to have been so let down by Warwick. Now I'm not surprised to find our overall student satisfaction level is incredibly low. The uni caters to people who want to party every week, granted, in the copper rooms. But other than that, there is nothing for anyone else to do. The societies are piss-poor. Really they should be ashamed.

I'm surely looking at other options for my masters.

Reply 56

username1931817

Original post by EllainKahlo

hmmmm.... I am hoping that living in Leam will be more fun next year. There will be more to do and shopping and stuff. I will private message you :smile:

Reply 57

The Empire Odyssey

Original post by KazuoTakeda

Yeah Im there too and from London also. The hardest thing about being away from home is living alone/not having anyone to sort of lean on like a family member or that sort of unity or trust, it sort of feels like everyone is in it for themselves, which is kind of hard to deal with being there the whole time...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Wait until you get a grad job... The world is like this and I'm surprised you experienced this so later on in life.

Life is brutal and you have to fight for survival (so to speak). Life is tough and is competitive more than ever.

You just have to find a way to make sure you can rival that competition.

Reply 58

The Empire Odyssey

Original post by EllainKahlo

1) For pretty much all universites, the Humanities gets severely neglected because of the reason you pointed out. That's just the way it is unfortunately.

2) First year is to make sure everyone gets the same set of skills that is needed for future years. It's about getting everyone to a peak point. Then when it comes to 2nd and 3rd year, that's when uni will really test you.

3) Most tutors are not inspiring and most who are were teachers prior to becoming lecturers (in my experience).

4) Sixth Form was all about spoon feeding. There is more of a community feel to sixth form - everyone knows each other, teachers like the pupils etc. But uni is way more corporate. You just get on with what you need to do and that's what everyone's mindset is like. It's more independent and since humanities gets less contact hours, there is less time to form bonds and friendship with coursemates during seminars and lectures. It's also another backlash humanities' students go through at uni.

Don't let all this deter your from the reason you applied for uni. During 2nd and 3rd years, you get to pick more optional modules that you can specialise in which is tailored to your needs and interests.
Plus you get to meet more like-minded people in these years as your friendship group starts to narrow just because people outgrow each other and learn more about themselves and decide to go their separate ways.

Forget about 1st year, and look towards the future.