Choosing a university that’s away from home

I really love the idea of moving away to a university further away from home, not only for the independence but the growth I could accomplish in learning new ways to survive, ways to make friends, focus on things I believe and love and basically start an almost fresh life.

I know I may sound a tad optimistic as I’m only in my first year of a-levels, but I just wanted to see if anyone could give advice on how you know which uni is perfect for you, what type of distance is perfect and how people cope with the pressure of student debt and the desperation to get a job somewhere completely different to help aid yourself with food and basic spending money each month?

Please drop your advice below as I’m sure others may be in the exact same boat as me and may need just as much help as I do, or even more.

Thank you x

Honestly I felt the same as you some years ago, it’s definitely scary to move. I moved over 200 miles, I struggled to understand the accent but apart from that I’ve had the best few years of my life here and will be sad to leave after getting so accustomed to Wales. Universities are so large that you will find like minded people. In terms of finding a job I found it relatively easy I did a student transfer at Tesco. If you do not have such an option you can always find work there as you would where you lived before in call centres and retail stores. Since I moved for university I also moved to somewhere completely different for my sandwich year and then somewhere completely different again for my graduate job soon. You just get used to moving it’s quite nice imo I feel no pressure from my student debt the government only start asking for money back at 25k and even then it’s nothing. I’m not scared at all of the debt piling up as I just took a masters loan also.

This is so helpful, and it made me feel a lot lighter as I read it actually. What exactly is a sandwich year? I’ve heard many talk about it but I’ve never actually been told what it is?
Thanks

Glad to help and honestly worst case scenario you can always transfer universities after your first year but I’m sure it won’t come to that but just something to bear in mind as a backup. a lot of my best memories in life came from university and also some of my best friends! A sandwich year is when you take a year out to get work experience in the industry you want to work in. there’s also year abroad schemes where you go to study at another university in another country for a year. What course do you plan to study?

That’s so cool! I’ve always heard about how many new friends you make and the lot you leave behind (not always for the worst), it just sounds so fresh which is honestly so perfect for me 😂. I really want to study graphics design with some illustration in the modules because it’s a really big passion of mine What have you/ do you study?

i spoke to someone who had studied graphic design last night on the train. She was amazing, and made it all sound soooo interesting. Good luck with the course. If you are open to making new friends, you will have the time of your life. Don't worry. As for the student debt, you only have to repay if your income goes above a certain level, and even then you only have to pay an amount proportionate to what you are being paid.

Thank you so much

This lady was called Georgia Louise, and is designing amazing wedding dresses. Her passion was almost setting her on fire, as she discussed her work on the train with me. Look out for her name, as she may well be famous one day.

That’s so cool! I’ve always heard about how many new friends you make and the lot you leave behind (not always for the worst), it just sounds so fresh which is honestly so perfect for me 😂. I really want to study graphics design with some illustration in the modules because it’s a really big passion of mine What have you/ do you study?

I have a similar question - if anyone could give advice:

I live in South-East England (close to London and Oxford) and want to move to Aberdeen for university. This is about 500 miles and will take 8 hours to drive or 10 hours on the train or 1.5 hours flying (plus airport time, etc.).

I love Aberdeen and the course, including teaching methods and modules, etc. and they do a special rural/remote option for my course, where I could live in the Scottish highlands for a year or two to study. So it's perfect for me really. But I'm worried the distance would be too much, mainly from a travelling perspective. Also the distance means I could definitely only see family and friends during holidays, not at any weekends...

Any advice? Has anyone else moved this far?

I have a similar question - if anyone could give advice:

I live in South-East England (close to London and Oxford) and want to move to Aberdeen for university. This is about 500 miles and will take 8 hours to drive or 10 hours on the train or 1.5 hours flying (plus airport time, etc.).

I love Aberdeen and the course, including teaching methods and modules, etc. and they do a special rural/remote option for my course, where I could live in the Scottish highlands for a year or two to study. So it's perfect for me really. But I'm worried the distance would be too much, mainly from a travelling perspective. Also the distance means I could definitely only see family and friends during holidays, not at any weekends...

Any advice? Has anyone else moved this far?

See I actually managed to stay in contact with the lot of 'home' friends I see them maybe once every few months max but we're still friends. That sounds cool! I do Business but 12 days till I finish.

When considering unis, I always say the course is king. If this course is ideal for you, that's where you should go. I know you will not have time to go back and see your family, but you will make your own circle of friends, and will soon get used to it. Just think of the number of international students who come from different countries, even different continents, and they manage fine. Living in the Scottish Highlands seems beautiful to me. You may even come back home with a Scottish accent, and lots of tales, no doubt, about how wonderful life is in Scotland.

I also come from the South East of England in Surrey and I live about 420 miles away from Swansea. (Not as far as Aberdeen) The option of flying is pretty cool and I would take it as it may be cheaper than driving/train! I only go back home for Christmas, Easter and the Summer. When you make new friends at university it makes it a lot more bearable, I can't honestly say there's been any point I genuinely miss home because I treat my university area also as my home now! If you really miss your friends/family there's always Skype/Facetime. Keep in touch with your friends back home as well, ultimately it feels very rewarding for me everytime to go back home and talk to my friends I don't see them for months on end. (You do end up cherishing the less time you have with your friends and family though) Also I found the locals in Wales to be wayyyy more friendly than the urban areas of SE England. It's also nice to have a change in scenery, I never stay in one place too long now!

Thanks so much both of you!
I was definitely going to apply but was unsure about whether I'd pick Aberdeen if I get offers from the other universities I'm applying to. You've really reassured me. I guess I'm also just nervous about making new friends - but I guess everyone is at this stage. And yes, Oxford Mum, I would love it if I gained even a slight Scottish accent
Flying definitely looks easiest and I love flying whereas being in a car for 8 hours would be considerably less enjoyable. The main problem is luggage. Most people I know go to uni with a car-full of things, but if I fly there, it'll be much more difficult to take everything I need.
Themysticalegg, do you drive to Swansea at the beginning and end of each year?

Thanks so much both of you!
I was definitely going to apply but was unsure about whether I'd pick Aberdeen if I get offers from the other universities I'm applying to. You've really reassured me. I guess I'm also just nervous about making new friends - but I guess everyone is at this stage. And yes, Oxford Mum, I would love it if I gained even a slight Scottish accent
Flying definitely looks easiest and I love flying whereas being in a car for 8 hours would be considerably less enjoyable. The main problem is luggage. Most people I know go to uni with a car-full of things, but if I fly there, it'll be much more difficult to take everything I need.
Themysticalegg, do you drive to Swansea at the beginning and end of each year?

I plan am hopefully moving from Cardiff to Glasgow in September, not quite your distance but a similar story, and I'm lucky as flights from Bristol to Glasgow are dirt cheap so I can travel at will very easily, although I don't think I am likely to travel back much though, but the option is there if I need it. My plan for moving into uni is renting a fairly large booted car full it with my stuff (I won't be taking shed loads but a decent amount) then driving up the like 10 hour drive with breaks (as getting out of Wales is a nightmare) , I will do 50% and my father 50%,once there we'll drop my stuff off and hand the rented car to the facility in Glasgow and he'll fly back, that way all my stuff travels 400 miles but my father only has to drive 200. I've also researched and I can keep my stuff in storage over the summer for as little as £1 a week in a trusted place, so I will do this trip once going to uni then the second moving away at the end of the 5 years. I will take all that I feel like I need but anything I have left can be either mailed or taken on a flight. I know my situation is a bit unique to me but just showing that distance can be overcome if planning and research is done.

I have the most neutral non influenced accent in the world so I will love a bit of Scottish in there.

Also I know no one that have applied to Scotland yet the uni I have applied to (most people never heard of it before). But I found a good group of freinds from here on TSR who applied, they are now my best freinds despite we've never met and we plan on ensuring we all move in well and have some people to hang around with before we make other freinds (although I'm sure our friendship will last ages).

So I can't guarantee you'll find freinds before uni but really try finding a group you can join before hand just so there's a freindly face you can go to if you are struggling on the first few days or you want to chat about the uni, u highly recommend this it's made me really look forward to uni.

TSR is great for student connections.

Thanks so much both of you!
I was definitely going to apply but was unsure about whether I'd pick Aberdeen if I get offers from the other universities I'm applying to. You've really reassured me. I guess I'm also just nervous about making new friends - but I guess everyone is at this stage. And yes, Oxford Mum, I would love it if I gained even a slight Scottish accent
Flying definitely looks easiest and I love flying whereas being in a car for 8 hours would be considerably less enjoyable. The main problem is luggage. Most people I know go to uni with a car-full of things, but if I fly there, it'll be much more difficult to take everything I need.
Themysticalegg, do you drive to Swansea at the beginning and end of each year?

Thanks so much for replying!
That last part about finding friends on TSR has really relaxed me - even if we don't become best friends, it would be nice to know some people before I go.
That sounds like a really good idea, travelling-wise. Obviously I might not even get an offer from Aberdeen but if I do, I'll look into if there's something similar I could do. Keeping things in storage makes it a lot easier too.

Aha my accent is really posh - I don't know why because I'm not at all posh - so I would love it to tone down a bit and I love Scottish accents.
Good luck with uni

I plan am hopefully moving from Cardiff to Glasgow in September, not quite your distance but a similar story, and I'm lucky as flights from Bristol to Glasgow are dirt cheap so I can travel at will very easily, although I don't think I am likely to travel back much though, but the option is there if I need it. My plan for moving into uni is renting a fairly large booted car full it with my stuff (I won't be taking shed loads but a decent amount) then driving up the like 10 hour drive with breaks (as getting out of Wales is a nightmare) , I will do 50% and my father 50%,once there we'll drop my stuff off and hand the rented car to the facility in Glasgow and he'll fly back, that way all my stuff travels 400 miles but my father only has to drive 200. I've also researched and I can keep my stuff in storage over the summer for as little as £1 a week in a trusted place, so I will do this trip once going to uni then the second moving away at the end of the 5 years. I will take all that I feel like I need but anything I have left can be either mailed or taken on a flight. I know my situation is a bit unique to me but just showing that distance can be overcome if planning and research is done.

I have the most neutral non influenced accent in the world so I will love a bit of Scottish in there.

Ooo that’s really cool! Hope you’ve done really well with your course!