How to decide on a Uni?

I'm having trouble on deciding what Uni I want to go to. I want to know what things I should look for what choosing a uni.

Hi Tasha,

When I was looking at universities last year (I’m now nearing the end of my first year, studying Marketing at Derby) these are the things that helped me the most.

Open days are the best way to get a feel for the university, the course, the staff and the city/campus all in one day. I can’t recommend them enough. For me, this was how I decided to come to Derby as I was able to have a 1 to 1 discussion with a lecturer and he was able to explain to me exactly which course would be right for me. This also made me realise that the staff here were genuinely interested in what I wanted to do and so I knew that when studying here I would have a lot of support available to me. At some other universities I was pushed into management talks and told ‘it’s basically the same as marketing’ (it’s really not). Open days are great to see if you feel welcomed at a university and was ultimately what made my decision for me.

You also need to consider what opportunities your course will give you. For example, on my course I’ve been able to become the social media ambassador (a flexible 4 hours a week, doing things like this on student room). This is great experience for me without it being so much work that it impacts on my studies. There’s also a great internship programme here, a study abroad scheme and lots of links to companies for work placements. Have a look at the universities website or contact them directly and see what they offer.

You may also want to consider whether you want a self-contained campus university or a city university. I chose a city so I would have lots of options for shops, restaurants and things to do but you may prefer a more contained campus with more of a community feel. It’s just personal preference with that really.

It’s also important to think about how far you want to be from home. I’m from Shropshire so Derby isn’t too far away for me and I quite often pop home on a weekend to see my family. You may want some distance from home, I have friends who’ve gone all over the place, from Brighton to Cambridge to Edinburgh.

There are a lot of aspects to consider but take your time choosing as it is 3 (maybe more) years of your life and you want to be happy with wherever you choose.

Hope this helps,

Molly