Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Oxford Brookes or Surrey for Biomedical Science??

I've booked open days for both but not sure which to go to as they're both on the same day and I can't go to their other open days meaning I won't be seeing what the course is like in one of the unis.

Anyone know which uni is better for the course other than than Surrey being higher in the league tables?

Reply 1

Bk4753

Original post by Yusra19

York?

Reply 2

Yusra19

Original post by Ak4753

York?

I'll look into that but I'm talking about only Surrey and oxford brookes haha sorry I didn't make that clear

Reply 3

Bk4753

Original post by Yusra19

I'll look into that but I'm talking about only Surrey and oxford brookes haha sorry I didn't make that clear

I'd say Surrey, but for superficial reasons. Brookes kinda stigmatized by being in the same city and effectively shadow of one of the worlds best universities lol

Reply 4

Oxford Brookes Student Ambassadors

Official Rep

Original post by Yusra19

Hi, thanks so much for considering Brookes

As a current student obviously I love Brookes, sadly I can't specifically tell you specifically about Biomedical sciences as I'm a Philosophy student. But here are some things I find genuinely great as a Brookes student:

Careers:
Brookes have an amazing careers service to help you find a part time job. As Oxford is a city there are so many jobs, and Brookes is the only university in Oxford that allows their students to get part time jobs so there's always something going. Our careers service also helps you in the 3 years after your graduation!

Wellbeing:
At Brookes I think everyone is so friendly, we have around 19,000 students here which is a pretty average sized uni, although some universities have up to 40,000, so we are on the smaller side compared to those. Even though you still might think Brookes is a fairly big uni this comes with its perks. The support that our Wellbeing service provide is amazing I honestly can't praise them enough. If you have any problems you are usually provided with a personal Wellbeing officer who you can get to know really well and can put measures in place for all your lectures, coursework etc should you need it.
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/

Academic Support:
There is also lots of support in place on your course, you will be given an Academic Adviser, who is a lecturer on your course, who you can chat to, keep track of progress with, discuss work with, they will give you advice on the best modules for your career or interests etc. They are such a great idea and always so lovely. Your course will also have a dedicated librarian who can help you find resources for any work that you may be doing and you will also have Subject Support Coordinators who help you with all academic aspects of your course, no matter what the question, they'll always help you.
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/studying-a...how-you-learn/

'Prestige':
If you're worried about the 'names' of universities affecting your future I have to say that I personally believe that a good classification degree with plenty of work experience and showing passion for your career or subject is more important than a degree from any university in particular. For me and I also believe a lot of employers, it’s far more important that you are a well rounded person than someone with a degree from a ‘prestigious’ uni.
To help students who may want to work abroad after university we not only use traditional degree classifications (1st, 2:1, 2:2 etc.) but we also use GPA which is internationally recognised. Here's some more information: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/y...point-average/
We also ave some pretty impressive ranking ourselves though!

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Brookes is the UK’s #1 university for teaching and research in THE Young University rankings 2018.

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Brookes is the only UK uni ranked in the QS University World Rankings Top 50 Under 50.

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We have risen 16 places in the guardian league table in the past two years.

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And we are “among the world’s top universities” in 14 subjects according to the QS world rankings.

Accommodation:
There are lots of options for accommodation at Brookes, all are great for different people depending on what type of thing you like, which campus you'd like to be close to, what your budget is, what course you do (some courses require longer contracts) or if you need family accommodation.
Here's a link to our accommodation page which gives you all the details of each hall: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/studying-a...tudents/halls/

Personally I live at Westmintser Halls on Harcourt Hill, I love it there because it's so close to all of my lectures, it slightly more out of the city and there's so much wildlife around campus, which is something I love. However, if you want to be closer to Headington, Wheatly or the City Centre you might to try a different hall. (All are connected by Brookes Busses though, which are currently free to students on a full time course.)

Choosing a hall is a really personal choice so it's hard to give advice on which hall is 'best' because it's different for everyone

I would say the best advice is to have a look at all the different accommodation options online, (including the virtual tours!) take a look at where they all are on a map compared to where you will study and then make a list of which look best for you, taking into consideration size, location, age, course specific and your budget

Other things:
At Brookes we also have great unions who run societies and events. They also offer an advice service for student, independently from the uni. You can check out this and everything else they do here: https://www.brookesunion.org.uk/

At Brookes we are also investing a lot into our uni at the moment to ensure that student have the best facilities possible. You can check out the plans here:https://www.brookes.ac.uk/space-to-t...vestment-plan/

Honestly, I only have good things to say about Brookes, it's my second home and I love it there. If at all possible I'd really recommend that you pop along to an open day, or book a personal tour