The Student Room Group
University of Essex
University of Essex
Colchester
Visit website

Is University of Essex, Colchester Campus isolated?

I went to the open day yesterday. I loved the campus but then started to see a potential downside. Is it isolating/boring to live on campus?
There's 2 bars, as well as cafes/restaurants, but I imagine the bars get full up quick, also there didn't appear to be enough seating for the eateries. The library didn't have as much seating as I expected for the amount of students who attend either. If I live on campus, I can't park my car so will have to use the bus to go into town, the town didn't seem like it would have good night life? The dorms near campus had a small kitchen with a table that could only fit 2 people, which made me think less socialising. I am a mature student, and am a bit worried the social things to do will consist mainly of sitting in the park/field areas or queueing constantly.
Would appreciate info from anyone else who has been there.

(The other open days I am going to will be portsmouth, nottingham, plymouth, leicster, sussex, sheffield, southhampton)
Original post by Sophie555666
I went to the open day yesterday. I loved the campus but then started to see a potential downside. Is it isolating/boring to live on campus?
There's 2 bars, as well as cafes/restaurants, but I imagine the bars get full up quick, also there didn't appear to be enough seating for the eateries. The library didn't have as much seating as I expected for the amount of students who attend either. If I live on campus, I can't park my car so will have to use the bus to go into town, the town didn't seem like it would have good night life? The dorms near campus had a small kitchen with a table that could only fit 2 people, which made me think less socialising. I am a mature student, and am a bit worried the social things to do will consist mainly of sitting in the park/field areas or queueing constantly.
Would appreciate info from anyone else who has been there.

(The other open days I am going to will be portsmouth, nottingham, plymouth, leicster, sussex, sheffield, southhampton)

Hi! @Sophie555666

I hope you enjoy your other open days!
Think about these things that you are considering now and don't be afraid to ask them on your other open days. Here at Portsmouth, we have students who run open days, like myself, so it's a good chance to really get to know the social and nightlife in the area, as well as day to day activities.

Best wishes
Chloe - Official Student Rep :smile:
University of Essex
University of Essex
Colchester
Visit website
Reply 2
Original post by Sophie555666
I went to the open day yesterday. I loved the campus but then started to see a potential downside. Is it isolating/boring to live on campus?
There's 2 bars, as well as cafes/restaurants, but I imagine the bars get full up quick, also there didn't appear to be enough seating for the eateries. The library didn't have as much seating as I expected for the amount of students who attend either. If I live on campus, I can't park my car so will have to use the bus to go into town, the town didn't seem like it would have good night life? The dorms near campus had a small kitchen with a table that could only fit 2 people, which made me think less socialising. I am a mature student, and am a bit worried the social things to do will consist mainly of sitting in the park/field areas or queueing constantly.
Would appreciate info from anyone else who has been there.

(The other open days I am going to will be portsmouth, nottingham, plymouth, leicster, sussex, sheffield, southhampton)

Hi, how did Sussex campus compare with Essex?
Reply 3
Original post by clavic
Hi, how did Sussex campus compare with Essex?

Sussex is massively better than Essex (Colchester campus). It's now my number one choice. Anything you want me to compare between the campuses?
Reply 4
Original post by University of Portsmouth Student Rep
Hi! @Sophie555666

I hope you enjoy your other open days!
Think about these things that you are considering now and don't be afraid to ask them on your other open days. Here at Portsmouth, we have students who run open days, like myself, so it's a good chance to really get to know the social and nightlife in the area, as well as day to day activities.

Best wishes
Chloe - Official Student Rep :smile:

Thank you for your response. I actually visited portsmouth last week but was disappointed in their lack of disability support compared to other universities and the admissions team bigged up A levels over experience and as a mature student I've just gone and done 1 A level and am doing my second now so won't have three. So pretty much had to rule it out there and then
My friend goes there and says there’s never anything to do there so yeah it’s probably isolating/boring
Reply 6
Original post by Sophie555666
Sussex is massively better than Essex (Colchester campus). It's now my number one choice. Anything you want me to compare between the campuses?

Thanks, I was thinking also about Colchester town and if it is a good place for students. Brighton is much livelier isn't it?
Reply 7
Original post by clavic
Thanks, I was thinking also about Colchester town and if it is a good place for students. Brighton is much livelier isn't it?

I did not like colchester town, It was cramped, and altho it had a lot of shops, it looked very run down and was very crowded for a small town.

Sussex uni has a train station right outside i think, but has a bus actually in campus so can get you to brighton easy
Original post by Sophie555666
I went to the open day yesterday. I loved the campus but then started to see a potential downside. Is it isolating/boring to live on campus?
There's 2 bars, as well as cafes/restaurants, but I imagine the bars get full up quick, also there didn't appear to be enough seating for the eateries. The library didn't have as much seating as I expected for the amount of students who attend either. If I live on campus, I can't park my car so will have to use the bus to go into town, the town didn't seem like it would have good night life? The dorms near campus had a small kitchen with a table that could only fit 2 people, which made me think less socialising. I am a mature student, and am a bit worried the social things to do will consist mainly of sitting in the park/field areas or queueing constantly.
Would appreciate info from anyone else who has been there.

(The other open days I am going to will be portsmouth, nottingham, plymouth, leicster, sussex, sheffield, southhampton)

Hi @Sophie555666,

Thank you for visiting us during the Open Day. I am a final year student here at Essex and I am happy to share my experience with you. As you mentioned there are quite a few cafes and restaurants on campus (definitely more than 2), club, cinema, gym and many sports facilities. To be honest, during my 4 years at uni I have been always able to find a place in a café or restaurant.
There are also car parks around the Campus and you can park your car there if you buy a permit.

The town is also not that far away so when you want to switch up the things you can go there.

Our students often organize different mixers on campus and some of them are specifically for mature students which might be of your interest!

Leonarda
Reply 9
Hi Leonarda,

Thank you for your response!
I did end up choosing Essex as one of my uni options so it is interesting hearing your perspective.

I hope it is okay that I have some more questions for you:
- How long did you live on campus for and how did you find it vs living off of campus?
- Did you drive or take a bus from the campus to town centre?
- Did you mostly make friends from people on your course or was there other opportunities you found it easy to get to know people from?
- How did you find the teaching? And what course did you do?
- Where is the cinema on campus? The lively part during my tour seemed to be the square with the eateries etc in
- Did you find the library had enough seating when you would use it?
- What would a typical week look like for you living on and off campus with classes, studies, socialising, entertainment?
- Were you able to keep a balanced diet using facilities on campus?

Thank you
Original post by Sophie_6666
Hi Leonarda,

Thank you for your response!
I did end up choosing Essex as one of my uni options so it is interesting hearing your perspective.

I hope it is okay that I have some more questions for you:
- How long did you live on campus for and how did you find it vs living off of campus?
- Did you drive or take a bus from the campus to town centre?
- Did you mostly make friends from people on your course or was there other opportunities you found it easy to get to know people from?
- How did you find the teaching? And what course did you do?
- Where is the cinema on campus? The lively part during my tour seemed to be the square with the eateries etc in
- Did you find the library had enough seating when you would use it?
- What would a typical week look like for you living on and off campus with classes, studies, socialising, entertainment?
- Were you able to keep a balanced diet using facilities on campus?

Thank you

Hi @Sophie_6666,


No problem at all, I am more than happy to answer your questions. Also, I am glad to hear that you chose Essex as one of your options!

So I lived on campus during my first year and to be honest that was my favourite year at Uni. I got to meet many new people, socialize quite a lot and everything was short walking distance (lectures, gym on campus, library). Then in my second year when I made a group of really close friends we decided to live off-campus in a privately rented accommodation. The benefits of living off-campus are cheaper rent and you get to choose the people you live with. Benefits of living on campus: more social, you don't have to think about bills and you are on campus so everything is close to you.

When I lived on campus I would usually take the bus to the town, but now when I live off-campus I often walk to the town it is a 30-40 minute walk from our house.

I made a lot of friends during my first year (as mentioned previously) in the accommodation I lived in (South Towers). I also met quite a few people on my course, then people that I worked with and people in the societies I joined, definitely many opportunities to meet new people and make friends so don't worry about that.

I am studying BSc Actuarial Science and I love the course and teaching staff, they are very knowledgeable and always ready to help and offer support. Many of them have an open door policy which means that you can go to their office any time they are in and ask questions.

The cinema (Cine10) on campus is inside the Lecture Theather Building (LTB) which is near Square 3 (the main square where a lot of bars and restaurants are). We also have Lakeside theatre and an art gallery on our campus.

For the library, my answer is definitely yes. It is a huge library with many spaces and I never struggled to find a place even during exam season. There are many study spaces other than the library depending on your preferences (labs, quiet study spaces, group study spaces, individual pods etc.).

So my typical week looks like this; Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays are very similar, I have between 2 to 4 hours of lectures/classes/labs and before or after lectures I go to the library to study. If I don't have an early start I usually go to the gym before lectures. In the evening when I get home I make dinner do some more studying and then I try to have at least an hour each day where I relax and do something for myself. On Wednesdays, I don't have any lectures but I work 9-5 on campus as an Outreach Intern. Fridays I have few classes but it is also the day when I like to take it slowly and socialize with my friends. At weekends I catch up with cleaning, grocery shopping, meal prepping and studying.

For me, a healthy diet is very important so I like to meal prep and cook in bigger batches on Sundays so I can bring food with me during the week. On-campus there are different food options, but many places do soups, salads, chicken dishes that are more on the healthier side.

I hope that helps and please feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Leonarda
Original post by Sophie_6666
Hi Leonarda,

Thank you for your response!
I did end up choosing Essex as one of my uni options so it is interesting hearing your perspective.

I hope it is okay that I have some more questions for you:
- How long did you live on campus for and how did you find it vs living off of campus?
- Did you drive or take a bus from the campus to town centre?
- Did you mostly make friends from people on your course or was there other opportunities you found it easy to get to know people from?
- How did you find the teaching? And what course did you do?
- Where is the cinema on campus? The lively part during my tour seemed to be the square with the eateries etc in
- Did you find the library had enough seating when you would use it?
- What would a typical week look like for you living on and off campus with classes, studies, socialising, entertainment?
- Were you able to keep a balanced diet using facilities on campus?

Thank you

Hey I'm currently a first year student, send me a message privately if you want an honest opinion on everything we can have a chat!!
Reply 12
I did not find University of Essex, Colchester campus to be ioslated, however I had a bike and the cycle into town was easy. (I think I used the bus one to two times in my 3 years.). If you are thinking of using a bike, read Cycle craft if you have not already done so

The University is not part of the town (unlike Manchester for example) but travel time from halls etc are also a lot quicker then a none campus university.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Sophie_6666
I went to the open day yesterday. I loved the campus but then started to see a potential downside. Is it isolating/boring to live on campus?
There's 2 bars, as well as cafes/restaurants, but I imagine the bars get full up quick, also there didn't appear to be enough seating for the eateries. The library didn't have as much seating as I expected for the amount of students who attend either. If I live on campus, I can't park my car so will have to use the bus to go into town, the town didn't seem like it would have good night life? The dorms near campus had a small kitchen with a table that could only fit 2 people, which made me think less socialising. I am a mature student, and am a bit worried the social things to do will consist mainly of sitting in the park/field areas or queueing constantly.
Would appreciate info from anyone else who has been there.

(The other open days I am going to will be portsmouth, nottingham, plymouth, leicster, sussex, sheffield, southhampton)


Hey,

Essex is great. The actual campus is a bit boring, but in town, we have two clubs: Silk Road and Atik. None of my friends actually use the campus bars because the clubs are better!

Quick Reply