Geology/Earth Science Applicants 2012

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Reply 940

carsonator

Any people firmed or insured Leeds here?!

Reply 941

her17

Original post by carsonator

Any people firmed or insured Leeds here?!

Insured

Reply 942

ChloeGemma

Original post by Tinberry

Hello lovely Geology and Earth Science applicants.
Congrats to all those getting your offers.
I am applying to Earth Science courses at clearing. I have all my UCAS done and its just a case of waiting to see what comes up but in the mean time I want to do some background reading and online research etc. Partly to get started early if I manage to get a place but mainly to add a bit of evidence of my interest in Earth Science into my Personal Statement. Any suggested sites? Books? You tube channels maybe?

Thanks for any help guys :smile:

Hello Berry! :biggrin:

I'm new into the Geology world too, I haven't learnt it at A level, so most of my information is self-taught or observed. In my personal statement I included that I read Books such as Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey, and anything by Prof Ian Stewart - Also watched all his documentaries, really enjoyed them. I read many magazines such as Natural Geography. Ah this is just off the top of my head, I've got a few more books at home, I'll gladly write again later (in work at the moment :P), but there is so much, it depends what intrests you too. I really enjoy Earth Sciences, the composistion of what the Earth is made of, and the inter-relationships of the sciences co-existing and complementing each other. Anywho hope your day is going well! If you don't mind me asking, what Universities are you looking at? I firmed Southampton! :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 943

ChloeGemma

Original post by oort

I visited Birmingham, Leicester, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Exeter and Southampton :smile:

I really like Southampton, Ive been there for a couple of gigs at the Guildhall which was fab xD, they have a massive shopping centre and IKEA which is great and just thought that the city looked pretty much like any uni town; I come from Kingston and its much nicer than here :P plus its only 20 mins from the Isle of Wight which is definitly a plus :smile:

Hey Oort!

Sorry haven't be able to log onto TSR, so my response is a month late. Yes! Another Southampton firmer! Good news lol! I live all the way south-west in Newquay, so Southampton is quite different. Town to City - I was curious I went to the open day but never had the chance to check out the city and Highfield Campus, what are they like? And is there any green areas, lol I think I will miss grass and some semi-quiet location to sit and relax! xD Hope your day is going good! :smile:

Original post by stobyw

Out of the unis that you applied to I have only visited/applied to Bristol and Southampton, but this is my opinion:

Firstly one factor is that 3 of the unis (Leeds, Bristol and Southampton) are Russel group Unis and would perhaps stereotypical be the more respected Unis by the majority of people.

In terms of location, it depends where you want to be. Southampton, in my opinion, is quite good location wise as it is on the coast, so a beach is only a short bus/train journey away. Also Southampton is close enough to London if you ever wanted to go and with megabus this journey can cost as little as £1. Bristol is also in a pretty decent location, again for beaches or other nearby cities. Obviously Aberdeen, is a bit more out of the way and I don't really know much about the other two cities.

I must point out that 'dadrock' is exaggerating a bit with the bus situation, as it would only be one bus journey from accommodation to the NOC (granted not a short one) and the good thing is that as students you get a free bus pass for the first year. As pointed out before, most lectures in the first year at Southampton won't be at the NOC and will be at the closer 'Highfield Campus' and the buses are very regular (as many as 5/6 an hour from Wessex Lane Accomodation, 2/3 from Glen Eyre). In contrast accommodation in Bristol is not particularly close to the department, yet buses are not free.

Southampton also has really good sport facilities (built quite recently) and the NOC is a fantastic department as it is jointly run with the national environmental research council, and has this year got a refurbished library specifically on Earth and Ocean Sciences. I found Southampton and in particular the NOC to be very friendly both when i visited on an Open day and when i went for Interview. The friendliness and passion shown is why i personally firmed Southampton over the likes of Durham and Bristol, where I thought staff just felt their reputation alone was enough for people to choose the uni.

Overall, however, if a campus uni is what you want then perhaps Southampton is not for you

Hey there Stobyw! As before, Hooray, another Southampton Firmer, great to hear! :biggrin:

Reading your latest post on here I have a couple questions, if that's okay! I went to the open day and had my interview, we were shown around all of NOC, and had a talk on what the Geology course would entail. However I'm slightly confused. I'm yet to apply for accomdation, was going to do today. (My Uncle wants me to have a dorm close to NOC lol since He thinks I'll be hopeless at being organised or ready to travel from dorm to NOC each morning xD). Anywho on the open day I thought they said First years would be spending majority if not all, lectures in the NOC? I was looking at Gatwich/Romero dorms, which are quite close. However looking at what you and Oort said, it seems we're at the Highfield Campus? :O Mind explaining where first years are going or such like? And if possible which dorms are good then if we are there. I have a few friends doing different courses there and they said Wessex and Glen Eyre are good. Anywho any help and feedback will be much appreciated, thank you in advance! :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 944

stobyw

Original post by ChloeGemma

Hey there Stobyw! As before, Hooray, another Southampton Firmer, great to hear! :biggrin:

Hey! Basically I visited an open day last July and then obviously again for the interview and both times I was informed that in the first year the majority of our time/lectures will be in Highfield, although some (maybe all - i can't remember) of our practical sessions will be at the NOC. Therefore in terms of accommodation in first year it really doesn't matter if you are near the NOC - if anything you are better to be further away and closer to Highfield. In the 2nd, 3rd and 4th (if your doing it) you spend more and more time at the NOC so it is these years that I would imagine you'll want to get a house closer to the NOC.

In terms of accommodation it is really up to you as there is a lot of different types. The majority of people are in Wessex Lane and Glen Eyre, so these are more likely to be lively and there will always be people about. All the other ones are 'small halls' which i don't know much about but obviously have less people and are quieter. Glen Eyre is slightly closer to Highfield, is greener, but rooms are more expensive and buses (i believe) are less frequent (a consideration as we will still have to get over to the NOC). I have never seen accommodation at Glen Eyre, other than photos, so I can't say whether it appears to be worth the extra money. I personally chose Wessex Lane as this was where my sister had accommodation. She really enjoyed it and it is cheaper if you don't want to spend as much/ want more money for other things. Oh and there is a massive park area/ pond just around the corner as you seem to want grass :P

Overall, unless you want to be in small halls, I would recommend Glen Eyre or Wessex Lane. I'm obviously biased towards Wessex Lane, but whichever place you choose you'll end up thinking is the best so it doesn't really matter. Hope this helps :smile:

p.s. From what i've read and heard from my sister's boyfriend unless you desperately want en-suite it isn't really worth the extra money. It makes your room slightly smaller and you have to clean it, whereas the shared ones are cleaned a few times a week. There is generally a fear of having to wait to use showers, but from my sister's experience this isn't an issue as people have lectures at different times. Ultimately it is down to personal preference though :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 945

Tinberry

Original post by ChloeGemma

Hello Berry! :biggrin:

Thats awesome to get me started. Thanks.
Im aiming for Environmental Geoscience at Edinburgh but was also looking at Enviromental Science ones but its really down to what turns up in clearing for me.

Reply 946

oort

Original post by ChloeGemma

Hey Oort!

Yay for Southampton firmers! I live in London so not too far away, though Southampton will seem a little quieter to me! Highfield is really nice, there's the student union, bars and shops including things like a hairdressers etc. The city itself is lovely too plus there's a massive shopping centre and IKEA around 30 mins from Highfield which is really handy as a student :P. As for green areas Highfield has a nice pond/mini river through it with quite a large park on campus :smile:

there are also a far few parks in the city itself so they'll be plenty of places to relax :biggrin:

. Hope you're good as well C:

Reply 947

bicyclesky

Hi, I'm looking to apply in 2013 for geoscience/earth science but I can't find work experience anywhere. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas of things they had done since I am really struggling. The best I have come up with so far is helping out a bit over summer in a local rock shop.
Any tips or advice? Thanks.

Reply 948

hash007

Original post by bicyclesky

You don't really need work experience for a subject like this. Just an interest in the subject which you can back up in your personal statement and interview. There's not much point getting work experience unless you actually get something out it that you can talk about. If I were you i'd just relax a little and enjoy the summer :tongue:

But if you really want some, try emailing a few museums that have fossils and see if you can volunteer. I had no work experience and I was interviewed by Oxford and Imperial!

Reply 949

joshrh16

i just gained work experience with a local oil company but most countys have a geological society that offer work experience.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-S5363

Reply 950

her17

Original post by bicyclesky

I had no relevant work experience (I'd done my work experience at an architects...) but I still got offers from everywhere I applied to. I don't think work experience is as important for this kind of degree as it is for a medicine or law etc degree

Reply 951

ChloeGemma

Original post by bicyclesky

Original post by her17

Hey There Bicyclesky! Yep It's tough to find geo-related work experience. I live in Cornwall and that was tough too to find any. The work experience I did was Conservation and management. (Being responsible for 28 students and carrying out conservation and jobs, learning about the landscape - Talked about what I did, role of responsibility, interpersonal skills and learning about the land's composition/substances). I also managed to talk with a few people with jobs linking in with the landscape. Doing guilded walks around Cornwall's landscape and talked of its Geo history and structure. I don't think Univeristies will based students against one another due to work experience. As long as the work you did helped develop skills and aided you in some way. I managed to get accepted into all my University choices, and firmed Southampton (Chose over Bristol xD). Anyhow Good Luck! Enjoy your summer! :smile:

Reply 952

lukas1051

Just to re-iterate what everyone else said, don't worry about work experience if you can't get it. I didn't have any and I received an interview from Oxford and offers from everywhere else. It's not easy to find relevant work experience, admissions people will understand this - just put something in your personal statement that shows your commitment and interest in the subject.

On a completely unrelated note - hope everyone's exams are going/have gone well. Just finished C4, my last one (don't worry mods, I'm not discussing it :tongue:

), hope you all get into your respective universities, maybe I'll see some of you at Imperial :biggrin:

Reply 953

Morkike

If any one is stuck personal statement for geology they can send me a message and will happily show that you dont need to include all this work experience, or at least relevant work experience in their personal statement.