How to use the internet to help find the right university for you
When you're trying to decide which universities you're interested in it's usually prospectuses, league tables and open days that we first look to get our information from. But - as well all know - the internet can solve any problem and that holds true when it comes to picking a university too.
It can be great to follow whatever universities you're interested in via the various social media platforms for a number of reasons. Twitter in particular can be helpful - it's a great way to keep up to date with when they're holding open days or other events, but it can also give you some sense of the university's atmosphere. If they don't tweet much, or don't reply to people's tweets, perhaps that shows the university is a bit behind the times or isn't as engaged with students. Social media can also be a great way to get an idea of what students think of their university; if you search for posts tagged with the uni you're looking at you'll probably be able to find some current students singing the praises or bitterly complaining about where they chose to do their degree. Student unions often have social media accounts too, so you could stalk them if you'd like to know what exactly they're getting up to on behalf of students.
A great source for comparison is WhatUni, with the reviews providing an entertaining commentary even if some are lacking in terms of "intelligent" comment (it seems every university has at least a few one star reviews that slam every single aspect of the place, despite how highly others may be praising it). This no-holds-barred approach can be useful though, forcing you to look at the less than appealing aspects of some institutions - plus if you consistently see a criticism popping up you can guess there might be some truth behind it. Helpfully you can sort the reviews by subject too, and some reviewers do comment on the lecturers and helpfulness of the department their involved in. As a bonus the reviews all have an 'eye candy' section too, which can be amusing if nothing else.
Push are another comparison site, that proudly proclaim themselves to be 'ruthlessly independent'. There are pretty detailed profiles for each university, but the site's best tool is probably its 'uni chooser'; you enter various information about what you're looking for in a university (everything from the size of the city to how bothered you are about there being a women's officer on site) and afterwards you're presented with a list of institutions you might want to look at. This can work as a good starting point to provide you with a list of places you might want to look into further, and because you put in your predicted grades you won't be tantalised with options that are bit out of your reach.
The website you're most likely to have been told about by your sixth form or college is Unistats, the government run website packed with various statistics and figure that can, to be honest, be a bit overwhelming. The content's a tad dry, but there is useful information here; employment statistics can be dull but they are fairly important and the student satisfaction results for courses can be intriguing too (some of the less prestigious universities actually manage to satisfy their students better than those in the echelons of the Russell Group, which could be something to consider). This is basically WhatUni without the fun, but for serious data this is the place to look.
And in a round-up of online tools for university finding how could The Student Room itself be forgotten? If you're reading this you've already found your way here (well done!) and so you probably know what's on offer, but nevertheless TSR is a great way to chat to current students as well as bonding with the people who might be your fellow freshers next year.
If you're currently trying to narrow down your uni options what have you found to be the best resources, online or otherwise? And if you're already at university how does it live up to the impression you got when you were searching?
It can be great to follow whatever universities you're interested in via the various social media platforms for a number of reasons. Twitter in particular can be helpful - it's a great way to keep up to date with when they're holding open days or other events, but it can also give you some sense of the university's atmosphere. If they don't tweet much, or don't reply to people's tweets, perhaps that shows the university is a bit behind the times or isn't as engaged with students. Social media can also be a great way to get an idea of what students think of their university; if you search for posts tagged with the uni you're looking at you'll probably be able to find some current students singing the praises or bitterly complaining about where they chose to do their degree. Student unions often have social media accounts too, so you could stalk them if you'd like to know what exactly they're getting up to on behalf of students.
A great source for comparison is WhatUni, with the reviews providing an entertaining commentary even if some are lacking in terms of "intelligent" comment (it seems every university has at least a few one star reviews that slam every single aspect of the place, despite how highly others may be praising it). This no-holds-barred approach can be useful though, forcing you to look at the less than appealing aspects of some institutions - plus if you consistently see a criticism popping up you can guess there might be some truth behind it. Helpfully you can sort the reviews by subject too, and some reviewers do comment on the lecturers and helpfulness of the department their involved in. As a bonus the reviews all have an 'eye candy' section too, which can be amusing if nothing else.
Push are another comparison site, that proudly proclaim themselves to be 'ruthlessly independent'. There are pretty detailed profiles for each university, but the site's best tool is probably its 'uni chooser'; you enter various information about what you're looking for in a university (everything from the size of the city to how bothered you are about there being a women's officer on site) and afterwards you're presented with a list of institutions you might want to look at. This can work as a good starting point to provide you with a list of places you might want to look into further, and because you put in your predicted grades you won't be tantalised with options that are bit out of your reach.
The website you're most likely to have been told about by your sixth form or college is Unistats, the government run website packed with various statistics and figure that can, to be honest, be a bit overwhelming. The content's a tad dry, but there is useful information here; employment statistics can be dull but they are fairly important and the student satisfaction results for courses can be intriguing too (some of the less prestigious universities actually manage to satisfy their students better than those in the echelons of the Russell Group, which could be something to consider). This is basically WhatUni without the fun, but for serious data this is the place to look.
And in a round-up of online tools for university finding how could The Student Room itself be forgotten? If you're reading this you've already found your way here (well done!) and so you probably know what's on offer, but nevertheless TSR is a great way to chat to current students as well as bonding with the people who might be your fellow freshers next year.
If you're currently trying to narrow down your uni options what have you found to be the best resources, online or otherwise? And if you're already at university how does it live up to the impression you got when you were searching?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by starryeyes1103
When you're trying to decide which universities you're interested in it's usually prospectuses, league tables and open days that we first look to get our information from. But - as well all know - the internet can solve any problem and that holds true when it comes to picking a university too.
It can be great to follow whatever universities you're interested in via the various social media platforms for a number of reasons. Twitter in particular can be helpful - it's a great way to keep up to date with when they're holding open days or other events, but it can also give you some sense of the university's atmosphere. If they don't tweet much, or don't reply to people's tweets, perhaps that shows the university is a bit behind the times or isn't as engaged with students. Social media can also be a great way to get an idea of what students think of their university; if you search for posts tagged with the uni you're looking at you'll probably be able to find some current students singing the praises or bitterly complaining about where they chose to do their degree. Student unions often have social media accounts too, so you could stalk them if you'd like to know what exactly they're getting up to on behalf of students.
A great source for comparison is WhatUni, with the reviews providing an entertaining commentary even if some are lacking in terms of "intelligent" comment (it seems every university has at least a few one star reviews that slam every single aspect of the place, despite how highly others may be praising it). This no-holds-barred approach can be useful though, forcing you to look at the less than appealing aspects of some institutions - plus if you consistently see a criticism popping up you can guess there might be some truth behind it. Helpfully you can sort the reviews by subject too, and some reviewers do comment on the lecturers and helpfulness of the department their involved in. As a bonus the reviews all have an 'eye candy' section too, which can be amusing if nothing else.
Push are another comparison site, that proudly proclaim themselves to be 'ruthlessly independent'. There are pretty detailed profiles for each university, but the site's best tool is probably its 'uni chooser'; you enter various information about what you're looking for in a university (everything from the size of the city to how bothered you are about there being a women's officer on site) and afterwards you're presented with a list of institutions you might want to look at. This can work as a good starting point to provide you with a list of places you might want to look into further, and because you put in your predicted grades you won't be tantalised with options that are bit out of your reach.
The website you're most likely to have been told about by your sixth form or college is Unistats, the government run website packed with various statistics and figure that can, to be honest, be a bit overwhelming. The content's a tad dry, but there is useful information here; employment statistics can be dull but they are fairly important and the student satisfaction results for courses can be intriguing too (some of the less prestigious universities actually manage to satisfy their students better than those in the echelons of the Russell Group, which could be something to consider). This is basically WhatUni without the fun, but for serious data this is the place to look.
And in a round-up of online tools for university finding how could The Student Room itself be forgotten? If you're reading this you've already found your way here (well done!) and so you probably know what's on offer, but nevertheless TSR is a great way to chat to current students as well as bonding with the people who might be your fellow freshers next year.
If you're currently trying to narrow down your uni options what have you found to be the best resources, online or otherwise? And if you're already at university how does it live up to the impression you got when you were searching?
It can be great to follow whatever universities you're interested in via the various social media platforms for a number of reasons. Twitter in particular can be helpful - it's a great way to keep up to date with when they're holding open days or other events, but it can also give you some sense of the university's atmosphere. If they don't tweet much, or don't reply to people's tweets, perhaps that shows the university is a bit behind the times or isn't as engaged with students. Social media can also be a great way to get an idea of what students think of their university; if you search for posts tagged with the uni you're looking at you'll probably be able to find some current students singing the praises or bitterly complaining about where they chose to do their degree. Student unions often have social media accounts too, so you could stalk them if you'd like to know what exactly they're getting up to on behalf of students.
A great source for comparison is WhatUni, with the reviews providing an entertaining commentary even if some are lacking in terms of "intelligent" comment (it seems every university has at least a few one star reviews that slam every single aspect of the place, despite how highly others may be praising it). This no-holds-barred approach can be useful though, forcing you to look at the less than appealing aspects of some institutions - plus if you consistently see a criticism popping up you can guess there might be some truth behind it. Helpfully you can sort the reviews by subject too, and some reviewers do comment on the lecturers and helpfulness of the department their involved in. As a bonus the reviews all have an 'eye candy' section too, which can be amusing if nothing else.
Push are another comparison site, that proudly proclaim themselves to be 'ruthlessly independent'. There are pretty detailed profiles for each university, but the site's best tool is probably its 'uni chooser'; you enter various information about what you're looking for in a university (everything from the size of the city to how bothered you are about there being a women's officer on site) and afterwards you're presented with a list of institutions you might want to look at. This can work as a good starting point to provide you with a list of places you might want to look into further, and because you put in your predicted grades you won't be tantalised with options that are bit out of your reach.
The website you're most likely to have been told about by your sixth form or college is Unistats, the government run website packed with various statistics and figure that can, to be honest, be a bit overwhelming. The content's a tad dry, but there is useful information here; employment statistics can be dull but they are fairly important and the student satisfaction results for courses can be intriguing too (some of the less prestigious universities actually manage to satisfy their students better than those in the echelons of the Russell Group, which could be something to consider). This is basically WhatUni without the fun, but for serious data this is the place to look.
And in a round-up of online tools for university finding how could The Student Room itself be forgotten? If you're reading this you've already found your way here (well done!) and so you probably know what's on offer, but nevertheless TSR is a great way to chat to current students as well as bonding with the people who might be your fellow freshers next year.
If you're currently trying to narrow down your uni options what have you found to be the best resources, online or otherwise? And if you're already at university how does it live up to the impression you got when you were searching?
This should definitely be an article on here, very useful information!
An extension of the idea of open days I found taster courses to be very useful in getting a sense of the universities I was looking at applying for. A lot of universities offer them in conjunction with open days, giving you a taster lecture whilst you visit the department, but some offer specific taster course days too. The University of London offers taster courses at a variety of different institutions based in the capital - http://www.london.ac.uk/tasters. Theyre good for your referee to mention on your reference too, especially if you decide to apply to one of the universities mentioned!
Weirdly, I found Instagram useful. It gives you a true sense of what the university is like from a students perspective as opposed to how it is portrayed in a glossy, probably somewhat exaggerated prospectus. Similarly, theres a fair few people who make YouTube videos whilst at university who discuss what uni life is like.
As I went through official university websites, The Student Room and some of the others mentioned above, I had an Excel spreadsheet where Id rank each of the universities on a number of categories (e.g. student life, academic reputation) and also include aspects such as distance from home, which made me realize that a 5 hour journey to St Andrews just wasnt going to be for me! Such methods are useful in the early days of searching for the right course, when youve got 20+ that you like and somehow have to bring that figure down to 5.
Looking up modules lists was important for me too, a lot of the universities Id looked at only provided a brief overview of the modules that (might) be available. Module lists are subject to change, but generally speaking, should give you a rough idea of what you could expect to study. A simple Google search of uni name + subject + module list should hopefully bring it up, allowing you not only to discover whether the course is right for you, but also give you an idea of the universitys specialisms which you can then tailor your personal statement to suit and maximize your chances of receiving an offer!
Lastly, liking the location was an important factor for me, so looking up the city or surrounding area to get an idea of where Id be living for three years is really helpful too. As a Londoner, and a central one at that, Ive grown used to everything practically being on my doorstep, which made me realize a university campus in the middle of nowhere wouldnt suit me. There was one university I applied to, for example, where there were less nightclubs than there are days of the week! Even just a whizz around on Google Streetview can be useful in determining whether or not youll like the place, and when you visit the university (particularly if youve travelled 2+ hours to get there), its always worth booking a later train back at around 6-7pm to give yourself a gap in the afternoon following an open day to have a look around the town/city and come to the conclusion as to whether or not its somewhere youd like to call home.
Wow thank you!!! So useful
Similarly, there�s a fair few people who make YouTube videos whilst at university who discuss what uni life is like.
I'd forgotten about this, but YouTube was a really good source of information and if you're lucky you can fins someone who's on your course at the university you're interested in.
I'd never thought to use Instagram, but I can see how - like Twitter or Tumblr or whatever else - that would give you a bit of insight, however stalker-ish it might seem
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