Nottingham from the US

Hi, I'm going to be an exchange student this fall to the University of Nottingham. I've never been to England, and was wondering what I should be prepared for. I'm a double major in Media Communications and International Relations Political Science. What campus/area should I live near to? Are there food markets near by? I have a lot more questions, but I guess I'll post those later as they come up? Any information about anything Nottingham or school specific or UK life in general would be wonderful.

[edit] What types of things do you think I should bring and what types of stuff do you think would be best to leave at home. At orientations, I know they always tell us to pack lightly, but I can never figure out what I really need and what I should leave at home.

Thanks ahead of time.

Josephine

www.myspace.com/josephine_chan

Reply 1

The Regend

So many American words!!! Well that'll be the first thing to change :wink:

On a more serious note, accommodation you have left rather late - I would definitely recommmend getting in contact with the accommodation office at the University (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/crs/) and seeing what's available.

Most of the "activity" as it were happpens on University Park, where most of the academic, social and library buildings are located and you generally have two options for living; on campus or off campus. As a general rule, all on campus halls are catered (more expensive) and all the off campus halls are self-catered. Depends what you prefer and what is available at the time. Obviously you have the choice of ensuites/single studies/shared bathrooms etc etc.

Food markets, there are a few about. There's Sainsburys in Beeston which is probably about 15-20min walk from the main campus and then your usual student snack shops on campus.

Any other questions, please feel free to ask.

University of Nottingham

Nottingham

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Reply 2

TB272

Oh no! And I was trying to be so neutral. Sorry about that :frown:

I don't know what exactly would be left for accommodation, the program that I am going through just sent me choices which were left to chose from. I know the whole idea of an ensuite room and single studies are new to me and probably many other US students --the dormitories we have over here are pretty different I suppose. I think as an exchange student, they make us live in the off-campus halls as all the options they offer come self-catered. I'm just trying to figure out the most economical way to study and still have some money left to travel with since that current exchange rate is surely going to be the end of me!

Thanks for the reply! I appreciate it and will definitely have more questions soon.

Reply 3

alex-hs

TB272

Oh no! And I was trying to be so neutral. Sorry about that :frown:

I've met quite a few exchange students living in catered halls on main campus - some for the whole year, others for just one semester, so if you want to live in catered accommodation, you may as well ask about it.

Reply 4

simeon

Like Alex said, there's plenty of exchange students that live in Catered Halls so it's possible of that's what you want to do.

As for what to bring, go with the 'if you'll definitely use it - take it, if you think you'll use it - leave it' approach and see how much stuff that is.

Reply 5

The Regend

TB272

Oh no! And I was trying to be so neutral. Sorry about that :frown:

Power to the pound!! :wink:

Haha only messing. I'm sure you'll have a great time here. There's lots to do but get in contact with the Accommodation office asap if you can :smile:

Reply 6

TB272

So they've replied to me and told me the options that I have are as follows:

University Park: Single Study
Jubilee Campus: En-suite
Broadgate Park: Single Study
St Peters Court: En-suite
Raleigh Park: Single Study: House

What exactly is a Single study? And what is the difference between a house and a flat at Raleigh? We have an information packet that is distributed by my home university that states: "Do not stay at Broadgate Park. Past exchange students have noted that Raleigh Park is far from campus." Is there a reason I shouldn't be staying at BP and is Raleigh really that far from campus? I will be taking Politics and media courses and I wasn't sure if there were separate campuses for different studies. Is University Park the catered halls (do they have kitchens)? What is St. Peters? I read the information Nottingham had online but I wanted to get student perspectives. Which set of residences are closest to campus?

Thank you again ahead of time.

Reply 7

LongGone

TB272

Single study is just a single room, it's the one most people have on uni park.
No particular reason not to stay at Broadgate Park that I know of.

Raleigh is a long way away from University Park, it's near the Jubilee Campus, which is for business and computer science, politics and media should both be on university park. St Peters is also miles away from UP, even further than Raleigh I think. Although there is a free bus you can get from Jubilee. Jubilee itself is all catered en-suite.

And yeah UP is all catered, they usually have small kitchens with either a very old cooker or just a microwave, so they're not great if you want to cook for yourself!

Reply 8

hockeychick@notts

Hi, I've just finished my first year at Nottingham, and the second semester we had an exchange student living in our block from Louisiana. She was in Cripps Hall on University Park in a single study and found it pretty good i think! As she joined half way through the year, she particulalry found the catered aspect good, as mealtimes etc gave her 3 times a day when she would see us all and talk to us from the very beginning, so she made friends quickly! She managed to live in these halls and travel a lot through Europe during her time here (often in breaks etc), so sounds like you're planning on doing similar things to her, she was an advertising/media major i think :s-smilie:

If you PM me, and give me your email or facebook or whatever I can pass them on to my friend, I'm sure she wouldn't mind answerin any questions as she's probably one of the people who'd be most useful to you!

one thing i would say is that often (but I'm not sure if always) international students on exchange programs have the option to fill in a form at the start of their time here saying that their grading will be purely pass or fail. If you don't choose to do this, then your marks will count and they will count towards whichever modules transfer back to your college back home. My friend found this really difficult as the 2 systems are just very different, and so is the marking. So if you get the option to fill in some kind of form when you get it then I would do it, or at least go talk to someone about it at your home college or go and see the international office when you're over here if you want to know if the pass/fail thing can apply to you! It'll mean you can enjoy your time here without constantly worrying about marks.