The University of Manchester Open Day - Your impressions and thoughts?

OP

Original post by JessEatsMonsters

Hey

I was just wondering, what was the accommodation actually like then? I didn't get chance to go and see it... where they mostly shared bathrooms?

But other than that I really enjoyed the open day... how about you?

The tour was pretty bad, they took us to one area, with a really old grand building (this was for shared bathrooms and catered) It was so bad inside! Not being a snob, but the place really needed a lick of paint and a good clean. It was the sort of dorms you would expect in an old fashioned boarding school, and yes those were shared bathrooms which looked pretty grim. The newer accommodation was pretty standard, same sort of size and layout to what you'd expect! Each set of flats had a common room as well with a pool table and TV which was a really nice bonus, haven't seen that anywhere else! We only got to see those 2 areas though, and at the time you couldn't even see the other 10+ buildings also part of it that were hidden behind (the tour guides didn't point it out either) This just made the campus look really empty and dead, but if you looked around yourself you can see it could be more lively.

I'd never had been to Manchester before, i really liked it, i'd probably get lost too often, but it's a good campus and the course i looked at was perfect.. i'll need another visit though, but it's looking good! :smile:

Reply 3

I thought it was pretty good, but it was my first open day so I have nothing to compare it to. I'm thinking of doing geography and that seemed very interesting (to me anyway!) I didn't get chance to see other things like accommodation but the buildings and library seem quite good too. I could see myself there in just over a years time

Reply 4

OP

Original post by brocklehurst95

I thought it was pretty good, but it was my first open day so I have nothing to compare it to. I'm thinking of doing geography and that seemed very interesting (to me anyway!) I didn't get chance to see other things like accommodation but the buildings and library seem quite good too. I could see myself there in just over a years time

Cool, i'm thinking of doing Management there, the course looks great. Might see you there :smile:

Reply 5

Original post by MeganRok

Cool, i'm thinking of doing Management there, the course looks great. Might see you there :smile:

Not bad! I was thinking along those lines at one point but decided it wasn't for me. Did you manage to see much else of the uni? I had to leave earlier than planned because I was running late for the train home :redface:

Reply 6

chantalx

I really enjoyed it, the old building are lovely and the library was fabulous. Also, I think I could see myself living there for 3 years - may have been won over already :tongue:

Reply 7

OP

Original post by brocklehurst95

Not bad! I was thinking along those lines at one point but decided it wasn't for me. Did you manage to see much else of the uni? I had to leave earlier than planned because I was running late for the train home :redface:

We spent like an hour waiting for the accommodation, so we didn't get too much time for anything else. But i did manage to see the Students Union which was really nice, and we also did a little drive around after of the main city center, i'd never had been to Manchester before, so it was nice to have a look around at the rest of the city, the more i think about it the more i can really see myself living there!

Reply 8

OP

Original post by chantalx

I really enjoyed it, the old building are lovely and the library was fabulous. Also, I think I could see myself living there for 3 years - may have been won over already :tongue:

Yes the buildings were lovely, i really like a mix of new and old buildings. I can see myself living there actually, the more i think about it :smile:

Reply 9

Strangey

15

I was helping out at the Open Day, so I might be able to answer any follow-up questions you have. I understand accommodation issues - there's something like 34 different halls at the university, with 29 commonly used (the rest are for families and postgrad or are tiny, that sort of thing), and not all of them will be the best. It's also worth reminding that first year undergrad would've just left a few days ago, so the halls will be in the state in which your predecessors left them!

Reply 10

chantalx

Original post by MeganRok

Yes the buildings were lovely, i really like a mix of new and old buildings. I can see myself living there actually, the more i think about it :smile:

couldn't agree more, I love the fallowfield area too!

Reply 11

Original post by MeganRok

We spent like an hour waiting for the accommodation, so we didn't get too much time for anything else. But i did manage to see the Students Union which was really nice, and we also did a little drive around after of the main city center, i'd never had been to Manchester before, so it was nice to have a look around at the rest of the city, the more i think about it the more i can really see myself living there!

Doesnt sound too bad! I had time to look at the main library (which was better than I thought) and there's 11 other libraries so it seems like everything is there if you need it. Also, if you're anything like me, sport is a big thing and I was impressed with the facilities too.
I live about an hour on the train from Manchester so I go there quite often and it's THE place to go for a day out. In the north anyway :P
Even if it is quite close to where I live, I wouldn't be complaining about going to Manchester uni!

Reply 12

OP

I wish i could of seen the sports facilities! Do you know if they have a pool close by? I swim 4-5 times a week so would be good if there was one close! I came from the Midlands, so it was just under a 2 hour drive!

Reply 13

Eugenie Grandet

10

Original post by MeganRok

I wish i could of seen the sports facilities! Do you know if they have a pool close by? I swim 4-5 times a week so would be good if there was one close! I came from the Midlands, so it was just under a 2 hour drive!

There's the Acquatics Centre on Oxford Road which has 2 huge swimming pools for students but has also hosted world championships.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

Catiexx

9

Original post by MeganRok

I wish i could of seen the sports facilities! Do you know if they have a pool close by? I swim 4-5 times a week so would be good if there was one close! I came from the Midlands, so it was just under a 2 hour drive!

Manchester has the aquatics centre which was built for the commonwealth games in 2002 :smile:

Reply 15

Original post by MeganRok

I wish i could of seen the sports facilities! Do you know if they have a pool close by? I swim 4-5 times a week so would be good if there was one close! I came from the Midlands, so it was just under a 2 hour drive!

I don't think you'll get a better place for swimming anywhere else, the commonwealth games aquatics centre is just over the road! :biggrin:

I'm not sure how good you are at swimming, but if you're good enough, there are about 100 sports scholarships on offer where you get all your memberships, kit, physio and everything (worth about £1000) paid for you!
A 2 hour drive isn't so bad, but I'm thinking of going down to see Birmingham university which is about 3 hours from where I live.
Just noticed this is going a bit off topic. Oopsy :tongue:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 16

Origami Bullets

19

This was the first time that the uni has opened up the accommodation on open days, so it was a bit of a pilot, and so I'm sure it will be tweaked for next time. If you want to see more accommodation, then you've got a couple of options
- Open House in March, where every hall the uni has is opened up
- Wednesday mornings - most Wednesday mornings in term time there are walking tours of the whole of Fallowfield campus
You can also get more info from the TSR accommodation FAQ http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2091577

You're never going to find that student accommodation (be that Uni of Manchester, any other university, or in the private sector) is palatial, but there is a range of accommodation that you can choose from, from the more traditional (e.g. Ashburne) to the more modern (e.g. Sheavyn). In addition, it's dead because the students all went home two weeks ago!

The others are right - the Aquatics Centre was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, is Olympic sized, and is really quite nice. It's at the northern end of the main campus.

Reply 17

EllEll

I didn't think the accommodation was that bad really. It felt a lot like a youth hostel, but my sister is at Liverpool Uni and her accommodation in first year was way worse. But we had a really bad student showing us the rooms, he didn't give us any information and was a bit pointless really, so that annoyed me a bit. And the 45 minute wait but I suppose that couldn't be helped.

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Reply 18

gscott10

I went to the open day yesterday too! I'm actually from manchester and wasn't even going to consider it as one of my uni choices because I thought it would be too close to home but I really liked it!! Could see myself studying there! The buildings were so impressive and the majority of people were really helpful with a few exceptions! I'm going to be studying nursing and the equipment I would be using is amazing!!!

I didn't get to see the accomodation but there's an open day for the accomodation on the 21st march where there are Open Houses and you can go and look around so ill be going to that :smile:

Reply 19

OP