Hi Astudy,
I am Coral, a student ambassador at the University of Exeter. Firstly, congratulations on your offer to study at the university and we are pleased to hear you have decided to firm Exeter! It will be great to have you on campus here at the University. I thought given the original question I could give you a little insight into what studying at Exeter is like! The campus itself if very green and decorated with beautiful gardens, so although you are in a city there is plenty of green open space to relax and enjoy spending time in! The university first year hall accommodation is split between on campus (located within the university grounds) and city based (some of the halls are located in the city centre or just off campus site). Exeter is easily accessible by train, bus and car so it would be very possible to travel home should you wish to! Many people find that once they are at university and fully immersed in their program and social activities that the semesters fly by before you’ve even had the chance to think about returning home for the weekend! Exeter has over 300 sports clubs and societies so there really is something for everyone. If for whatever reason there isn’t a sports club or student guild society that takes your fancy then you can always gather some like minded individuals and propose a new society to the guild which they can then assist you in setting up. Exeter is the perfect combination of country, city (Exeter is a relatively small city but has everything you could ever really need or want from a city) and seaside life, with close links to Dartmoor (1hr away), beaches (30mins on the train). Another big factor for me was that as far as cities go Exeter is considered a relatively safe city where most students travel around on foot or by bicycle. The academic reputation of the university is fantastic so you can start university with the confidence that you will leave with a top quality academic qualification. The welfare support at Exeter is incredible, I have leaned on their support services throughout university. They work in a totally non judgmental, positive outcome orientated fashion, going above and beyond to ensure you get the best possible student experience at the university of Exeter. The disadvantages are that it is considered a smaller city, so the nightlife is perhaps not as varied or there is not as much choice as other universities. However, I found the nightlife to be perfect for me as you could go out pretty much any day and be sure to bump into other people that you knew from university! Despite being easily accessible Exeter is somewhat more ‘remote’ than Bristol. The same as most universities, you may arrive at university to find that perhaps you don’t get along with your housemates, however, the university accommodation team can work with you to figure out a solution that works for both parties. This may be moving accommodations provided there is space in your preferred accommodation. Again, this was a position I found myself in and the university team was super in helping me get sorted!
Hope this is useful to you!
Coral, Exeter Student Ambassador.