Which University do I choose?

I'm an international student and have received offers from Kent, Plymouth, Aberystwyth, Ulster, and Nottingham Trent for BSc biology/biological sciences.
How do these unis differ on teaching quality, accomodation, student support, overall costs, social life, placement offers and so on?

Reply 1

.N.A.

20

Nottingham does rank the highest out of all of the Universities you've listed.

Reply 2

swanseajack1

19

Original post by AshAr02

I'm an international student and have received offers from Kent, Plymouth, Aberystwyth, Ulster, and Nottingham Trent for BSc biology/biological sciences.
How do these unis differ on teaching quality, accomodation, student support, overall costs, social life, placement offers and so on?

I dont think anyone will have all this information. Plymouth and Aberystwyth are seaside places. Kent is probably the most expensive and Aberystwyth has the lowest cost of living. I dont know anything about Ulster. Nottingham Trent I think is a city university in fairly big city.

Reply 3

.N.A.

20

Original post by AshAr02

I'm an international student and have received offers from Kent, Plymouth, Aberystwyth, Ulster, and Nottingham Trent for BSc biology/biological sciences.
How do these unis differ on teaching quality, accomodation, student support, overall costs, social life, placement offers and so on?

I think Ulster is a good place for biology

Original post by AshAr02

I'm an international student and have received offers from Kent, Plymouth, Aberystwyth, Ulster, and Nottingham Trent for BSc biology/biological sciences.
How do these unis differ on teaching quality, accomodation, student support, overall costs, social life, placement offers and so on?

Hey there!
Congratulations on your offer to study at Kent :biggrin:

I'm currently in my final year at Kent, although I don't study biology so I can't speak from experience in that regard! I don't know much about the other universities that you have received offers from but I can share my experiences from Kent on the things you have listed :smile:

Firstly, as I don't study biology/biological sciences, you may find it useful to use Kent's Unibuddy programme. You can use it to find a current biology student at Kent and ask them anything about the course to get a real idea of what it is like studying biology at Kent and if it is for you. Here is the link.

Kent has a huge range of different types of accommodation on campus. I stayed in Turing flats during my first year, which are some of the newest accommodation blocks on campus. They're super modern and have some huge kitchens and some really beautiful views over Canterbury, I could even see the cathedral from my flat which was amazing :biggrin:

I'd also recommend Parkwood houses too, the houses are clustered into 'courts' so it is a really social accommodation block and Parkwood even has its own student hub that was built just last year. It has a bar/restaurant, computer rooms, shop, dance studios and a terrace. You can do virtual tours of all of the accommodation on campus on Kent's website, so you can see it all for yourself :smile:

Here is the link.

There are two different departments for student support at Kent; Student Support and Wellbeing and the Student Learning Advisory Service. The first offers mental health support, counselling sessions, liaising learning plans for those with learning difficulties, and help for students with other mental or physical disabilities. The Student Learning Advisory Service is for anyone struggling with university work such as essay writing, maths, time management. There really is lots of support on offer, and if you do come to Kent, I'd really recommend making use of the services they offer :smile:

In terms of social life, there is a lot going on on campus at Kent! The Canterbury campus has several bars, places to eat, cafes, a cinema, gym, theatre and nightclub, all of which is only ever a couple minutes walk from all the accommodation blocks too :smile:

I would definitely still be living on campus if I could in my final year b/c of how much there is to do! There are also loads of sports clubs and societies at Kent which are all really active so there is always something happening on campus. You can see a complete list on the Kent Union website. Also, despite being a relatively small town, Canterbury has 3 other universities in it so nightlife in town has a really good student vibe to it. There is even a free bus that takes you from several of the bars in town to nightclubs! There are literally loads of bars/pubs in Canterbury and several nightclubs too :smile:

I hope that this helped to give you a bit of a flavour for what life is like at Kent! Please do let me know if you have any other questions or want to know more about student life, I'm happy to help where I can :biggrin:

Best of luck with your university decisions!