Hate uni? Rant here

I'm in a vile mood and am going to take the opportunity to rant now, seeing as it's been given to me.

I hate (well, immensely dislike) my university for the following reasons:

* About 95% of people can be placed into one of the following categories. 1) Those who do nothing but talk about and take excessive quantities of drugs morning, noon and night. 2) Those who were privately educated in London/Surrey, live off daddy's money, go home every weekend and are too up themselves to associate with anyone else. 3) Those who think they are the most unique person to walk this planet because they shop solely in thrift stores and want to spark a socialist revolution. 4) Those who are from London daaahling, and spend their time drinking 'cocktails and vods' and air kissing everyone they met once or twice in Shoreditch. (corr, do I sound like a judgemental cow or what?!)

* The SU is, quite frankly, a pile of ****. We have no real 'events' as such, we have what can only be described as an 'excuse' for a club, and the only thing the union involves itself with is relentless campaigns to ban coca cola, free palestine and STOP THE CUTS!!11!2! blah blah blah. There is a fine line between being politically active and just spreading propaganda.. One which the union here crosses. The majority of societies are also related to stuff like this, and any one which isn't is so unpopular that it isn't worth joining anyway.

Which university do you go to? Your descriptions of the average universtiy student and your SU sound an awful lot like UCL! Except I'd add to that:

*Overambitious Law/Economics/Finance students who care about nothing but money and have wet dreams about the FTSE100.

*Debaters. Need I say any more?

I'm at Sussex.

I can semi-relate to your point about overambitious law students, although here they tend to be just plain deluded. Obviously at UCL they might have a somewhat realistic chance of 'scaling the heights' but here.. Not so. And debaters - yes - I forgot about those.

Shock horror though! I was gutted when I didn't get into UCL for psych and was considering re-applying there next year. Perhaps it's a good thing I didn't/don't.

I wonder if it really is this bad everywhere, or whether are universities where people are more.. Normal?

I've often wondered that myself. Perhaps at universities like Manchester/ Birmingham/ Sheffield etc, which tend to attract more diverse groups of people. I think I thought that, as a London university, UCL would be like that too, when it just isn't.

However, I have managed to find a great bunch of like minded friends who don't fit into any of the above categories. Also, the facilities are generally good (the student union really is ***** though) and it genuinely does have some excellent departments. So don't rule it out completely!

Yeah, that was my thinking too. I've actually been looking at Leeds lately, in the hope that people 'oop north' might be a little more diverse!

Oooh well at least you've managed to find a good bunch, then. i've had no such luck really - I have people I can go out with/'spend time' with, but very few that I've actually clicked with. The SU thing doesn't bother me that much, so perhaps I will look into it. I was rejected once but that was before I had my grades, so perhaps it would be different this time.

Thank you for the rep by the way!

Not directed at my uni in perticular, though at students at York/ York st. Johns... Last night on the 2am train from Manchester/Leeds to York it was just embarassing.. About 60 or so York students got on at leeds and were on the train screaming, shouting.. at one point about five guys and one stupid girl got naked followed by more chanting.. A guy didn't buy a ticket and instead of paying up decided to argue with the conducter instead that his journey to York should be free, the conducter eventually got fed up with it all and called ahead for the transport police. I really understand why people hate students. I don't think I could ever be such a prick as each of these York students.

I'm in a vile mood and am going to take the opportunity to rant now, seeing as it's been given to me.

I hate (well, immensely dislike) my university for the following reasons:

* About 95% of people can be placed into one of the following categories. 1) Those who do nothing but talk about and take excessive quantities of drugs morning, noon and night. 2) Those who were privately educated in London/Surrey, live off daddy's money, go home every weekend and are too up themselves to associate with anyone else. 3) Those who think they are the most unique person to walk this planet because they shop solely in thrift stores and want to spark a socialist revolution. 4) Those who are from London daaahling, and spend their time drinking 'cocktails and vods' and air kissing everyone they met once or twice in Shoreditch. (corr, do I sound like a judgemental cow or what?!)

* The SU is, quite frankly, a pile of ****. We have no real 'events' as such, we have what can only be described as an 'excuse' for a club, and the only thing the union involves itself with is relentless campaigns to ban coca cola, free palestine and STOP THE CUTS!!11!2! blah blah blah. There is a fine line between being politically active and just spreading propaganda.. One which the union here crosses. The majority of societies are also related to stuff like this, and any one which isn't is so unpopular that it isn't worth joining anyway.

* Accommodation is, on the whole, dreadful. At the lower end of the scale you have rabbit-hutch like drug dens, and at the higher end you have travel lodge-esque rooms at London prices (without the London loan). In the middle, where I am, you pay only £10 a week less than the expensive housing, only to still have no-ensuite, non-refurbished rooms and builders outside your window from 7am to 7pm EVERY DAY. something they never bothered to inform us of before we moved in.

* Facilities are very hit and miss. Some lecture theatres/buildings are brand new, whereas others look like they've been here since time began. Campus is basically a building site at the moment, and whilst i appreciate they're trying to 'improve' things, they seem to be mainly disrupting everything that was alright to begin with. e.g. quiet accommodation and library. The 'bars' are terribly overpriced, the shops are quite often understocked, and there really isn't much to do. Some of the only decent things such as one lovely cafe is being closed as part of their 'regeneration'.

* Academically, it's very inconsistent. I do enjoy my course and elements of it are well taught/delivered, but on the whole you do tend to get the impression that nobody can really be arsed. The staff are actually okay; it's more that you can sense their hopelessness with their students and so they don't bother as much as they otherwise would. I'm certainly not one to be overly geeky or work-focused but yet I still seem to achieve far more than most, regardless of how little work I actually do. I don't feel stretched; I feel like I could have 'done better' and I wouldn't be so lazy if I was actually in an environment that was intellectually stimulating.

* Job prospects are rubbish. The general feel here is that students are academic and could do better but choose not to because they'd rather be getting off their faces 24/7. I like going out just as much as the next person, but i REALLY didn't imagine that everyone's idea of a good time would be laying around getting stoned all day every day.

* To top it all off, the entire town/university/surrounding area reminds me of my ex boyfriend and a time in my life which is.. over. This is a pretty trivial thing, but it's sort of the straw that breaks the camel's back!

Have i whined enough now? I actually do feel significantly better for that; I think i'll leave all my negativity here.

I've often wondered that myself. Perhaps at universities like Manchester/ Birmingham/ Sheffield etc, which tend to attract more diverse groups of people. I think I thought that, as a London university, UCL would be like that too, when it just isn't.

However, I have managed to find a great bunch of like minded friends who don't fit into any of the above categories. Also, the facilities are generally good (the student union really is s**te though) and it genuinely does have some excellent departments. So don't rule it out completely!

I'm in a vile mood and am going to take the opportunity to rant now, seeing as it's been given to me.

I hate (well, immensely dislike) my university for the following reasons:

* About 95% of people can be placed into one of the following categories. 1) Those who do nothing but talk about and take excessive quantities of drugs morning, noon and night. 2) Those who were privately educated in London/Surrey, live off daddy's money, go home every weekend and are too up themselves to associate with anyone else. 3) Those who think they are the most unique person to walk this planet because they shop solely in thrift stores and want to spark a socialist revolution. 4) Those who are from London daaahling, and spend their time drinking 'cocktails and vods' and air kissing everyone they met once or twice in Shoreditch. (corr, do I sound like a judgemental cow or what?!)

* The SU is, quite frankly, a pile of ****. We have no real 'events' as such, we have what can only be described as an 'excuse' for a club, and the only thing the union involves itself with is relentless campaigns to ban coca cola, free palestine and STOP THE CUTS!!11!2! blah blah blah. There is a fine line between being politically active and just spreading propaganda.. One which the union here crosses. The majority of societies are also related to stuff like this, and any one which isn't is so unpopular that it isn't worth joining anyway.

* Accommodation is, on the whole, dreadful. At the lower end of the scale you have rabbit-hutch like drug dens, and at the higher end you have travel lodge-esque rooms at London prices (without the London loan). In the middle, where I am, you pay only £10 a week less than the expensive housing, only to still have no-ensuite, non-refurbished rooms and builders outside your window from 7am to 7pm EVERY DAY. something they never bothered to inform us of before we moved in.

* Facilities are very hit and miss. Some lecture theatres/buildings are brand new, whereas others look like they've been here since time began. Campus is basically a building site at the moment, and whilst i appreciate they're trying to 'improve' things, they seem to be mainly disrupting everything that was alright to begin with. e.g. quiet accommodation and library. The 'bars' are terribly overpriced, the shops are quite often understocked, and there really isn't much to do. Some of the only decent things such as one lovely cafe is being closed as part of their 'regeneration'.

* Academically, it's very inconsistent. I do enjoy my course and elements of it are well taught/delivered, but on the whole you do tend to get the impression that nobody can really be arsed. The staff are actually okay; it's more that you can sense their hopelessness with their students and so they don't bother as much as they otherwise would. I'm certainly not one to be overly geeky or work-focused but yet I still seem to achieve far more than most, regardless of how little work I actually do. I don't feel stretched; I feel like I could have 'done better' and I wouldn't be so lazy if I was actually in an environment that was intellectually stimulating.

* Job prospects are rubbish. The general feel here is that students are academic and could do better but choose not to because they'd rather be getting off their faces 24/7. I like going out just as much as the next person, but i REALLY didn't imagine that everyone's idea of a good time would be laying around getting stoned all day every day.

* To top it all off, the entire town/university/surrounding area reminds me of my ex boyfriend and a time in my life which is.. over. This is a pretty trivial thing, but it's sort of the straw that breaks the camel's back!

Have i whined enough now? I actually do feel significantly better for that; I think i'll leave all my negativity here.