Kent Questions

[Found this on another uni thread and it's asking everything I want to know so thought I'd send it for Kent]

Please could Kent students complete the following questionnaire, it would help alot when comparing with other uni's...

Personally how was/is the nightlife for you?
Are you/Were you/Have You been ever bored studying at Kent ?
How much were/are you paying for accomodation? (average)
Was/is that accomodation en-suite?
If not was sharing a bathroom with fellow students decent? was it clean? was it available when you needed it for that morning shower?
Does Kent uni take in idiots/trouble makers, any experience of trouble erupting there? e.g. (halls of residence)?

How does Kent deal with TV License officers (if known) in terms of residence (allowed entry if your out?)?

Does Kent uni have good laundry facs?
Any problems you encountered at Kent that gave it a negative worst mentioning (rules/unforeseen costs/rude staff)?

How much would you spend in a average week (social costs)?
How would you rate Kent uni out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
How would you rate shops in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
How would you rate the nightlife in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
How would you rate your experience in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?

Important
How would you rate YOUR ACCOMODATION out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
Any complaints (are the walls thin/loud music at night/internet is slow)?

Reply 1

makeshiftwings

Personally how was/is the nightlife for you?It's all right, only two nightclubs in town though which aren't amazing. Loads of pubs though, which are GREAT.
Are you/Were you/Have You been ever bored studying at Kent ?Studying isn't the funnest thing in the world but I have fun doing it because I love my course! Making sure you do all the reading makes studying so much easier. The library is fantastic.
How much were/are you paying for accomodation? (average) Nearly a grand a term, apart from the last term because it was a shorter time period. I had the best accommodation you could get though, Kemsdale court in Park Wood.
Was/is that accomodation en-suite? Yes, it was a wet room style, with a toilet with a shelf above it, sink and shower with a curtain, towel rail and hook.
If not was sharing a bathroom with fellow students decent? was it clean? was it available when you needed it for that morning shower?
Does Kent uni take in idiots/trouble makers, any experience of trouble erupting there? e.g. (halls of residence)? Not in my halls - though I heard the halls in Darwin College were quite bad for noise and people helping themselves to flat toilets and kitchens whenever they wanted.

How does Kent deal with TV License officers (if known) in terms of residence (allowed entry if your out?)? I don't know, I had a tv in my second term onwards but it only picked up channel 4 so I didn't think I'd be liable. If you're on the ground floor or if the room had had a license before then you're more at risk of getting caught.

Does Kent uni have good laundry facs? Park Wood (at the back, not Woody's) is excellent but costs £1.60 per wash. Tumble dryers are useless unless you feed them like £3. Al colleges have laudry rooms but I get the impression that some can get quite crowded.
Any problems you encountered at Kent that gave it a negative worst mentioning (rules/unforeseen costs/rude staff)? None, apart from the old biddies in the Park Wood shop that are always in a mood, and the useless receptionists at Park Wood. On campus, the staff haven't been a problem.

How much would you spend in a average week (social costs)? Around £50 :-S
How would you rate Kent uni out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 7/10
How would you rate shops in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 9.5/10, they are awesome, all the mainstream shops you need.
How would you rate the nightlife in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 5/10.
How would you rate your experience in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 7/10, I've had some good times and enjoy the course, but the place is just a bit boring.

Important
How would you rate YOUR ACCOMODATION out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? Kemsdale was 9.5/10 for me, it was private, large and had a lovely kitchen. The only drawback was the lack of social interaction sometimes.
Any complaints (are the walls thin/loud music at night/internet is slow)? In exam time you have to keep the noise down to avoid complaints. The walls in Darwin are thin, but the internet is pretty speedy.

Reply 2

*starry_eyed_*

Personally how was/is the nightlife for you? its ok. There's 2, maybe 3 clubs(i think!) in Canterbury. But the Venue, on campus is by far the best, for the fact thats its so easily accessbile, and a good atmosphere. I generally feel much safer on campus as well. :rolleyes:

Are you/Were you/Have You been ever bored studying at Kent ? I do tend to get bored easily, with the fact that I should be more interested in my course possibly. But meh. I'm in a corrdor with 8 other people, its hard to be bored in theory.
How much were/are you paying for accomodation? (average) £400 a month i think it is.
Was/is that accomodation en-suite? Yeah this is en suite, can't remember how this compares to catered, or other self-catered accomodation.
If not was sharing a bathroom with fellow students decent? was it clean? was it available when you needed it for that morning shower? My boyfriend is in shared accomodation and generally its not too bad. Its ok so long as you don't get passers-by using the facilities as well. But that only really happens if you're close to the bars.
Does Kent uni take in idiots/trouble makers, any experience of trouble erupting there? e.g. (halls of residence)? There will always be idiots, wherever you go. But people are there because they want to be there. Who would pay £3000 to muck around? :rolleyes?

How does Kent deal with TV License officers (if known) in terms of residence (allowed entry if your out?)? I'm not sure about this, as I don't have a tv...

Does Kent uni have good laundry facs? They're ok. The ones in the college are coin operated and it doesn't get any major problems I don't think. The ones in Tyler Court (part of the en suite accomodation), you have to put money on your student ID card and swipe that. Its £1.80 a cycle, and generally no problems. Since I've been here, there's only been one machine not working.
ny problems you encountered at Kent that gave it a negative worst mentioning (rules/unforeseen costs/rude staff)? Not really, some of the reception staff didn't know where half the rooms were at the start of term, which I found annoying, but they generally try their best.

How much would you spend in a average week (social costs)? It really does varies. Before xmas, I could get away with spending no more than £15 going out (so £5 a night) but this term I've been spending more like £30 a week, due to the boyfriend wanting to go out constantly, numerous take aways etc. Remember to be flexible with your money, allow for outstanding cases of spending more money. :smile:

How would you rate Kent uni out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?8.5.
How would you rate shops in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? I'd rate them 9.5. The high street has a good range of high street/designer..but only complain is no primark! There's also a shop on campus, which does the essentials, food, stationary, cleaning etc.
How would you rate the nightlife in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 6/10. It really depends on what you like doing. There's a few clubs, plenty of bars both on campus and in town, some people spend most of their nights in the kitchen!
How would you rate your experience in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? so far..8. I've changed a lot since being here, and though I mkight have had a rough patch, kent is definitiely a great place to be.

:smile:

Important
How would you rate YOUR ACCOMODATION out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 8/10. I'm in tyler court, so have en suite which I worship. I'm in a corridor with 8 other people, which means the kitchen gets into a mess easily, but as long as you sort out a rota, that'll be no problem.
Any complaints (are the walls thin/loud music at night/internet is slow)? umm the walls are thin, but its not been too much of a problem, just the occassional paying of loud music.

Reply 3

steveuk82

(Note that I was at Kent 2000-2003.)

Personally how was/is the nightlife for you?
When I was at Kent, it was fine - in our first year we got mashed most nights at the Venue or Churchills (now Chicago Rock), and sometimes Studio 41 or Alberry's. Today, Westbar is also late opening, and Studio 41 has a reasonable regular gay/mixed night. Pub-wise (which was more my scene), Canterbury is unbeatable, with a reputed 366 bars spread across the city. The high street and the surrounding roads are filled with bars, Pub Golf is a reality, and half of them are Shepard Neame so do a decent range of lagers/beer. During the summer, though, the place is absolutely dead (except for the Camra festival, if that's your thing)!

The campus has a cinema and a good theatre, there's a big theatre in town and an Odeon. There's lasarquest in town too... these all make good nights out.

Are you/Were you/Have You been ever bored studying at Kent?
I studied history, which I enjoy, so no I wasn't particularly bored. Towards the end I did get tired of writing essays, so looked forward to having a break from study and earning real money, but actually it was quite fun. Plus if you do stuff on top of studying then you'll be fine (join a sports team, a society, or be active in the Union). As other people have said, the library is a fantastic resource and an asset to the uni.

How much were/are you paying for accomodation?
You'll love this - I lived in Eliot College in my first year, and paid about £700 a term. In my second year, living in Blean, I paid £200 a month, and in my third year in Tenterden Drive £216 per month. I understand prices are higher now!
Contrary to what anyone says, there is no 'best accommodation' at Kent - it's what you make of it. Eliot rooms that aren't being lived in look like prison cells, but I'm so proud to have lived there, made the room my own, had corridor-mates who were fun, and made the most of it. It helped that I was next to the laundry and the bar.

Was/is that accomodation en-suite? If not was sharing a bathroom with fellow students decent? was it clean? was it available when you needed it for that morning shower?
Each corridor had a communal toilet, a shower room, and a bath-room. In my view, if you desperately can't stomach the idea of sharing bathroom facilities, you're not a real student and you'll be disappointed in your second and third years. We had an informal agreement (i.e. a inherent respect for our corridor mates) that if you thought your toilet business was going to be exceptionally aromatic, then you'd walk the 10 yards to the college public loos. You would also leave the corridor facilities how you'd want to find them. I do remember once that one of the lads on my corridor left a sweaty jockstrap hanging over the towel rail though... so much fun!

Does Kent uni take in idiots/trouble makers, any experience of trouble erupting there? e.g. (halls of residence)?
The only trouble I had in Eliot was that there were regular fire alarms at weekends, because someone had come back drunk from the Venue. This can be annoying, but actually at 2am most people are still up and awake. The fire alarm also progresses through the college, so you train yourself to hear it coming, giving you time to put your ear plugs in. I used to make a cup of tea before going outside in the freezing cold to oogle at the sexy firemen (but then my corrdiro was by the fire exit and was on the ground floor, in case it was a real fire). In the exam term, there were no fire alarms, and the uni has a noise ban in place. Kent does take idiots, but nowhere near as many as some other unis.

[B]How does Kent deal with TV License officers (if known) in terms of residence (allowed entry if your out?)?
In halls, you need a license for each room. However, the guy next door to me didn't have one, and so when he heard they were coming, he unplugged his aerial and hooked up his playstation... cue "I only use it for playstation" claim to get him off. Best off buying on though, for piece of mind. I understand that they can come in your room but can't touch anything, so hide it under a towel or put it in your cupboard and there's no problem.

Does Kent uni have good laundry facs?
I lived in the corridor next to Eliot laundry (each college has one, as does Parkwood). It cost £1 a wash, and 20p for 3 minutes drying time when I was there - this will have increased by now, no doubt. Washing is fine, but dryers are useless - take an airer. You can also only put in one 20p at a time - woe betide you if you put in lots of 20p's, as you'll still only get 3 minutes! There's also an iron and board, but I'd take my own or not bother. Crowding was not an issue for me as I used to crawl out of bed, put my laundry on, and go back to bed for an hour - it was a short journey for me.

Any problems you encountered at Kent that gave it a negative worst mentioning (rules/unforeseen costs/rude staff)?
Not really; I had one rude canteen worker in rutherford once, but luckily I was the mystery shopper so I reported it! Security can be a bit mean-spirited, which I suppose is their job.

How much would you spend in a average week (social costs)?
I budgeted £50pw pocket money, which was generally enough. That was in 2000 though.

How would you rate Kent uni out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? 9/10

How would you rate shops in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)? I was there before they built Whitefriars, so it was about a 5/10, but now that's up and running it's probably somewhere like 9/10 - everytihng you need and more, although try McCarthur Glen in Ashford for cheap designer stuff.

How would you rate the nightlife in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
6/10

How would you rate your experience in Kent out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
9/10 - I had some really excellent times there, and just wish I'd joined a few more sports teams (but then I was swamped with Union work - I was a complete hack!). University - whichever one you go to - is entirely what you make it.

How would you rate YOUR ACCOMODATION out of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest)?
Eliot was 9.5/10 for me - neat, clean, and a great communal atmosphere. But anywhere you go will depend upon who you fall in with, how nice your corridor/housemates are, what friends you have outside your accommodation... it's what you make of it. At Kent, 2nd/3rd year housing is also mixed - avoid the Letting Shop, and go for anything let by John and Penny Morgan, or Olivia Harrison.

Any complaints (are the walls thin/loud music at night/internet is slow)?
Not really. Eliot walls are solid brick. There are occassional instances where people complain about noise on adjacent corridors, but that's no biggy really.

Steve

Reply 4

lasttoiletroll

Personally how was/is the nightlife for you?
pretty good, but that's because i much prefer pubs to clubs, i've only been to the works once, it wasn't really my thing, but i've had some good nights out at the venue
Are you/Were you/Have You been ever bored studying at Kent ?
yep occasionally but most people get like this sometimes, i'm enjoying it at the moment though