The Student Room Group

Reply 1

I'm about to start my third year at SB - doing animal science. SB is about 11 miles from uni park. In my first year the campus was pretty dire, there was a free shuttle bus between uni park and SB in the week, which was pretty irregular and often late, there were no buses on bank holidays and only a couple a day at the weekends (one in the morning and one in the evening.) You were stranded there to a large degree if you didnt (or a friend didnt) have a car! The shop was only tiny and open a short time mon-fri, nothing at the weekend. It improved last year, they upped the bus services and improved them (still not great though!) The shop was open all week and for longer, they finally got a cash machine on campus etc. The vet school has opened at SB this year and they have improved it lots for that, probably to try and increase uptake for the vet course, they built lovely brand new accommodation blocks for it etc. When I have been back in this week there is a new (bigger) shop, they have extended the bar and cafe etc, sorted out some of the old rubbishy rooms and other stuff.

The campus itself is nice, out in the country if you like that kind of thing. It has a good atmosphere with it being quite small and you get to know most people by sight. It can be a bit isolated, it is difficult getting it Nottingham for a night out without organising to go with a big group of people so you share a taxi back. Also, UP tends to forget about SB and you dont get told about things happening at the main campus, although that seems to be improving as well.

I lived on campus in my first year and it was good, you get to know people who are in your lectures/doing your course etc. People I knew who lived at UP found it harder to mix in, not impossible, but took more effort as people already knew each other in lectures. It takes time travelling between the two sites each day as well, (can be between 30mins-1hr each way.) A lot of it would depend on if you wanted to live where you are based or want the extras that UP offers and are happy travelling out there each day.

The only halls at SB are Bonington Halls, but they are then split into smaller kind of 'sub-halls.' Some people live on uni park and commute each day, but they are def in the minority. It was catered when I lived there, but then last year it changed to self catered, but had a canteen on campus so you could buy meals if you wanted. I havn’t seen any of the new accomadation they have built inside, but it looks nice from the outside.

Overall I would say that it is a nice campus, it was quite isolated, but they seem to be improving it abit now, mainly due to the vet school opening and there being more students there. You can socialise with people from main campus, but it just means making more of an effort to travel over to UP rather than already being there.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head, but if theres anything else you want to know – just ask!

Reply 2

hey 1st year here at SB so I can only comment on the past 6 days (all of which i remember. Go me).

Well the new halls are very nice cos everythings new and stuff but you do have to clean your own room, ensuit and the rest of the flat. But its worth it and they give you a hoover and iron. The down side to the accommodation is that it's run by Opal who have stupid rules like not allowing people to use frying pans. But no one listens to them.

On the social front. You do tend to get to know everyone at least by sight. I've only been here a few days and i recognise most people around.

On the transport issue i can't really say anything cos they take you to loughborough (for shopping) and the parties in the city by bus or coach so I haven't needed to take the shuttle but I am trying to plan a trip to the sports centre on saturday for a society and it is proving to be a bit of a nightmare. This however could be because of inexperience.

On the whole the campus is very nice and you'll never have to walk far to get to your lectures however if you have a car see if you can bring it cos it will save you some bother.

Hope this helps

Reply 3

oh and all first years are part catered (no choice). that means you dinner mon-fri which is quite good cos you dont have to cook all the time

Reply 4

When I was there it was fully catered (all meals included), last year it was changed to self-catered and then they have changed it again to part-catered, like TurnipHead says. Some people will like that others won't - just personal preference, personally I found that the dinner times were abit of a pain cos they were quite early (don't know what time they are now) and often meant if a lecture finished late you had tko rush straight to dinner. Also, I went to UP a couple of times a week societies which meant that I ended up having to miss dinner to be able to catch the bus because of the timings so ended up spending money on food as well as being in catered halls.

The bus into loughborough shopping was an addition last year, which I guess makes it abit easier for people. LIke TurnipHead said, if you have a car then that helps alot as Nottingham and Loughbrough aren't actually that far in a car, its just when you are messing around with stupid buses that it seems likes miles and miles!

Reply 5

Thank you so much everyone for your posts. They have certainly made me have a re-think about doing Food Science at Nottingham. I do like the idea of being in the country, but I wanted to be fully self catered which is a bit annoying!! Could I opt then to live on UP campus for the first year and commute? Is that wise?

Also...seeing as the SB campus seems so close-knit, does anyone know anyone doing food science? I would love to here some opinions about the course there at nottingham if poss!!

Thanks

Cam

Reply 6

Finnstar does food sience, haven't seen him on for a while, you could PM him though. xx

Reply 7

I know a few ppl doing food science. but cos of the new vet school i've talked to a tonne of them and animal sciences. But only the vets have actually done any "work".

p.s. I went on my first bus trip to UP. Got the shuttle there which was ok (although theres only 2 on weekends). And got the rainbow 5 back. OMG the longset bus journey ever. It wouldn't be so bad but they take the longest route to get to SB. You go past the turning that goes to SB and take a trip around the airport and derby and some other village then you get to SB. It does drop you to the front gate though.

My advice is to try and make your trips to UP in the week.

Reply 8

I realised that the rainbow 5 was a rubbish bus when I tried to get to work in Nottingham for 9:00 from SB on a saturday morning. It involved getting catching the 6:20 bus or something stupid, travelling through Kegworth, East Mids Airport, Castle Donnington, Sawley, Long Eaton, Chilwell, Beeston and then getting to Nottingham! It did mean I could catch up on some sleep on the way though!

There are people who live on UP and then travel out to SB each day. The main thing is that it does take a fair amount of time travelling and the shuttle bus isn't great. There were times last year when everybody would finish a lecture at say, just before 5, and go to get the bus, it would end up full so you had to wait until the next bus (just gone 6:00) to get back to UP. Also, a lot of the people doing food sci will be living at SB so will already know each other, that doesn't have to be a problem, but it does mean you might have to make more of an effort to talk to people and meet people on your course. If you just turn up to lectures and sit on your own and don't talk to people they will already know each other and you'll end up lonely! If you are willing to make a bit of an effort you should be ok. I can't think of anyone doing food sci of the top of my head, (other thanyou PMing finnstar - like mousey said!) But a lot of the first year modules are the same for all courses, I could fish out my module handbook from the first year and let you know what the module titles for food sci are and could tell you a bit about the ones I had to do that are the same if thats any help?

Reply 9

Thanks Cathie that would be really helpful if you could do that! I'm just getting so worried about choice of degree now I cant decide!! Any help would be much appreciated!!

Reply 10

If you have a look here

this has some information about the course and all the modules for each year. The qualifying year is your first year, Part I is your 2nd year and Part II is your 3rd year. I think all the first year modules are compulsory, then for the 2nd and 3rd year it has some compulsory modules and some optional. I’m not totally sure how it works for food science, but it gives you a bit of an idea as to what modules you have. If you click on the module code which is written before the name of the module that gives you the module information for each module.

I have copied the first year modules out below the ones that I had to do I have put in bold,

Autumn
Industrial Applications of Biology
Foundation Science
Food: Manufacturing, Nutrition and Health
Introductory Biochemistry: The Molecules of Life
Genetics and Cell Biology
Whole Organism Biology

Spring
Data Transfer, Analysis and Presentation
Food Science: Food Analysis
Chemistry of Sugars, Proteins and Lipids
Fundamentals of Food Processing
Microbial Physiology
Introductory Biochemistry: Metabolism


The problem with a lot of the first year is that so many of the modules are compulsory for a large group of people. This means that they are quite wide in the range of topics they cover, there are animal science, plant science, food science, environmental science, microbiologists, nutritionists all having the same lectures. I am doing animal science and have had to cover a lot of plant/crop science, human nutrition and food science. I would assume you will find the same in reverse!

Industrial Applications of Biology Most people have to do this one, it is quite ‘farming’ orientated. There is a lot of work on crops/cereals etc, some work on farm animals and some work on the production of food from the animals and crops (quality of the food produced, what the farmer can do to increase quality and what the factories etc do.)

Foundation Science Basically to bring everyone up to the same level, pretty easy if you did biology and chemistry at a level. Even if you didn’t its not too hard, there is also a bit of maths work, mainly just GCSE level though. Lecturers for this one are ok, maths person is a bit strange, but the science ones are quite good.

Introductory Biochemistry There are a lot of biochem modules, I have had to do most of them and am pretty fed up with it by now! Not too hard if you are ok at biology and chemistry. It is pretty dry stuff and the lecturers for this module can be boring so not a great combination, but overall a fairly easy module to pick marks up in!

Genetics and Cell Biology Another one which is quite dry and has boring lecturers, can be very tedious and has a lot of jargon to learn. I found this module quite hard, most people seemed to and it had a lot of people resitting it in the summer!

Whole Organism Biology This was a bit of a strange one, basically it felt like a very quick recap of all the a-level biology work. It meant that there were huge parts of it which weren’t relevant to people. There was a lot of plant sections, and then animal sections, can’t remember as there was much relevant to food sci people though! Some good lecturers for this module, which helps to make it abit better.

Data Transfer This was a lot of work on spreadsheets, databases etc (all on computer) its a bit boring at the time, but helpful later on in the course as you are expected to be able to use the various programs. This module is virtually all coursework, so is really easy to pick up a high mark in and boost you average. Most people get somewhere in the 70’s.

Biochem (Spring) Same as the other biochem really, still quite dry and tedious, but the exam is fairly easy (long essay questions, so easy to waffle and pick up marks.)

I don’t do any of the same 2nd and 3rd year modules so can’t comment on them sorry! It looks like they get a lot more specific to your course though.

Have you been to an open day at SB yet, it might be worth you seeing if you can get to one. I don't want to put you off by what I have been saying about it being further out of Nottingham etc, but there are a lot of people I know who never came on an open day and didn't realise what it was like and were really shocked when they got here. It is a lovely campus, esp in the summer. It is nice that you get to know people really well, it seems more 'friendly' than a big campus like UP, but there are down sides as well, so it really depends what you are wanting.

Reply 11

apologies for my absence.. finnstar's back :smile:

i've replied to your PM cameleon.. cathie's done most of the same modules as me.. but where food science is concerned:

Autumn
Food: Manufacturing, Nutrition and Health
very basic (and fun!) module, my fav for the year because we are given a topic of which we research, write an essay and present it to a panel of 3 lecturers. it's a very fun assignment and usually will give u an idea on what your course is all about, and wether you fit in or not.


Spring
Food Science: Food Analysis
lots of food chemistry here, practical reports to do, and essentialy the first step in a serious course in food science.. you study how to determine how much protein, fat, carb, water, ash (mineral) are in foods.. very sciencey - fun if youre into it, a nightmare if you couldn't care less! (literally!)

Chemistry of Sugars, Proteins and Lipids
speaks for itself, its about the structures of sugars, proteins and fats.. kinda chemistry-ish but always going back to the application in food.. (in lipids you study about cocoa butter in chocolate!) practical reports are here as well.. and it's not hard if you have the internet to refer to..

Fundamentals of Food Processing
suprisingly undersubscribed course, excellent lecturers! its about food manufacturing, factory operations, and a fair bit of physics. all will be well if you paid attention during foundation science in your first sem! otherwise, be prepared to ask the lecturer questions, they always do their best to explain multiple times!

Microbial Physiology
i hated this to the bone. lectures were dry to me, and pracs made no sense. very biological based and thats why i didnt appreciate it. however, if you do a exchange year to melbourne you will do a course similar to this which is MUCH more interesting and you learn the same thing. although its a difficult course, it's worth it as bacteria are an important part of food science and your later years especially as you study cheese, beer, yoghurt, fermented foods etc etc.

cheers!
hope that helped!

Reply 12

Been to my first couple days of lectures and everything seems to be going ok Lots of grumbles from the animal scientists though cos half of its been on crops and plants.

cathie86 you mentioned having to get to UP for a job. I was planning to get a part time job this year but the mileage is kinda off putting. How did you find it? Where did you work and what hours? thanks

Reply 13

Thanks finnstar (again) and cathie! Those posts were very helpful indeedy!

Reply 14

Turniphead - Very long story! I am from Nottingham originally, moved away and then moved back for sixth form college. The college I was at was in the city and I ended up with a job sort of through college at the library in Nottingham. I ended up at Notts uni through clearing and managed to keep my job during my first year when I was living at SB. I moved back into Nottingham for my 2nd and 3rd year. I got fed up with being isolated out at SB and decided I would prefer to travel out there on the days when I had lectures rather than living in Kegworth or somewhere like that like some 2nd years do. Quite a lot of the 2nd/3rd years I know move out to dunkirk/beeston/lenton etc which are all near UP. Some people live in Kegworth or Sutton Bonnington village, and some people move into the houses on college road.

If you have a car then you could get a job in loughborough, nottingham, beeston, kegworth etc. Without a car then you would need to start looking at the shuttle bus times and/or rainbow 5 and seeing what hours you could work. I know I few people who worked in the various shops etc in kegworth in their first year and who used to bike there and back - don't know if you have been there yet but its about a half hour walk or alot quicker on a bike. There are also sometimes jobs going in the bar etc on campus which you could look out for.

Reply 15

Just curius, do you actually have 4 hours of one lecture, lets say from 9:00am - 12:00. Please answer, i would really appreciate it

Reply 16

Painkiller
Just curius, do you actually have 4 hours of one lecture, lets say from 9:00am - 12:00. Please answer, i would really appreciate it


You wouldnt have one lecturer speaking non stop for 4 hours. You might have one from 9-10 about one topic, then maybe a 5 min break, then another(or the same) lecturer might talk on another topic till 11ish etc or something like that. Basically dont worry, it wont be 4 hours solid with no break.
Hope this makes sense and helps a bit.

Reply 17

Oh thanx 4 e feedbac, basically i was just lookin @ e SB timetables & saw something like 4 hours &more per module, i was freakin out like:yikes: :shock: :eek: coz i have an attention span of like 30minutes:lolwut: