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Choosing a uni - Where do I start?

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

There are so many sources of information that it can become overwhelming trying to work out what is right for you – luckily, we are here to help answer any questions and point you in the right direction 😊

There may be lots of questions to consider such as:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

toothysmile

Is there any way of visiting Uni Bath in person? I've signed up to the virtual open day but would love to visit the facilities?

Reply 2

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by University of Bath

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

Some advice I have as a final year student studying Psychology at Kent:
- Have a look/ask about the pastoral/academic and careers services/support they offer.
- If you can, talk to other students/alumni about your concerns and worries (but do bear in mind that everyones experiences at university is different).
- Take a closer look at the module topics offered in first year, can you see yourself doing them/being interested in them?
- If you can, visit an open day. If that is not possible see if the university you want to visit does open days.

I hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you have! Good luck everyone with choosing universities. Remember, the university you choose needs to be a right fit for YOU not your family/friends.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 3

Chester Student

Official Rep

Original post by University of Bath

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

Hi @University of Bath,

There is loads of information out there for prospective students, so my first piece of advice would be to do your research!

Choosing a course - UCAS (https://www.ucas.com/) is a great website to explore courses and universities, and would be a great place to start. The Student Room also has a useful page (https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer) where you can explore where your A-Levels can take you. When deciding on a course, it is important to consider the modules (are they topics you would be interested in studying?); the assessment types; entry requirements; workload; teaching methods; and opportunities it could offer you.

Distance from home - it is important to consider whether distance from home will factor into your decision when selecting universities. Would you want to be close to your family, or would you be okay seeing them less often/traveling further? Would you want to live at home, or would you be happy living in student accommodation? Make sure you do sufficient research on the types of accommodation and costs. For me, being far from home wasn't a big deciding factor, but for some it is.

City or campus uni - city universities are often spread throughout the town and are associated with better nightlife and transport, whereas campus universities often have more of a 'community feel' with lots of resources and amenities. This is down to personal preference - where could you see yourself living?

University rankings - personally, I don't think university and course rankings matter too much, as finding the right university for YOU matters the most. It might be useful to have these as a rough guide when doing your research, but don't place too much pressure on rankings!

Universities that offer your course - again, the UCAS website is really helpful for this. It will take time to look through all of your options, but seeing what is out there for you is important.

Overall, deciding on a university takes time. Do your research, ask questions, and attend in-person/virtual open days, and most of all - do what feels right for YOU.

Good luck!
Isabella

Reply 4

jonathanemptage

Original post by University of Bath

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

The second question is quite a big question because al though it is one question there are many sub questions to it. One is what is your motivation to live at halls or not. If it’s financial it’s easy to think “oh I’ll save money by living at home” it’s not quite as easy as that not only do you get less loan but it can actually cost more. don’t believe me lest do a a case study (me in my first year) I was in 3 days a week most of those days were from 9am-6/7pm. so a commute for me would look like this
£4 Return bus fare from Home to Reading Central train station.
£25.60 Return train fare to Southampton central
£5-£10 Food and Drink
£39.60 a day (depending on how much you spend on food and drink)
£118.80 a week
£3564 a year

Accommodation (what I chose) works out like this
£113.40 Rent a week (cheapest halls)
Food can be very cheap if your smart about it there is a knack which I can explain if you want.
so that’s £3402 over a year giving you a saving of £162 a year.
So it’s worth checking that out before deciding to live at home or not. Also it’s worth nothing i was always popping in to uni for some reason or another (to work on assignments with specific software or something) so what was 3 days was more like 4 or 55 days so my weekly cost would have been more like £198 a week.

If your reasons for moving our are for social life yes you will have a much better social life at uni if your in halls (sorry commuters that’s just the way it is) but home sickness can hit pretty hard sometimes but you will get through it.

If your parents want you to stay home you’ll need to be strong and maybe just go anyway (escape).

The thing a lot of people don’t consider is how the commute is is it tireing is it long (over half an hour each way and your wasting time). To discover this I’d advise someday runs in varying weather conditions so you go in the morning like you would for uni (on a weekday) and kick around until the end of the day (if you can find the time table for your prospective course so much the better) lets say 7pm. You’ll want to do some in nice dry or warm weather others when it’s raining and some in cold wet nasty weather (February is usually good for that.) and really think can id o that every day for 3 years or would i find it a bit more comfortable having a short walk to halls so I can have a meal and a shower at the other end I mean you could have that at home too but in halls you can do that and then still do stuff that night if your commuting believe me you won’t feel like it.

Spoiler

Reply 5

University of Bath

Official Rep

Original post by toothysmile

Is there any way of visiting Uni Bath in person? I've signed up to the virtual open day but would love to visit the facilities?

Hi there,

Great to hear you'd like to come visit us! There is some information here about booking onto in-person tours with student ambassadors: https://www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/undergraduate-campus-tours/.

Otherwise, feel free to contact the events team directly by email for any questions you may have : [email protected]

Hope to see you soon,
- Sophie (uni of Bath)

Reply 6

UCLan Student

Official Rep

Original post by University of Bath

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

Hey everyone!!

Choosing a university can be a really difficult decision but here are my top tips!

UCAS fairs
UCAS fairs are a great way to see loads of different universities in one place and let you ask the staff any questions you may have, this helped me to narrow down my choices a bit!

What can they offer you?
Depending on your course, you may have certain things you’re looking for. When choosing your uni’s, have a mental checklist of what you want from them and see which ones fit for you!

Open days
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, open days are a great way to go down and meet the university! You’ll be able to chat to current students and lectures and find out what life on campus is really like! I found this really great for making my final decisions!

I hope this helps!

Rebecca, UCLan Student

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 7

De Montfort University

Official Rep

Original post by University of Bath

Trying to decide on a university?

Choosing a university is a big decision and with so many factors to consider it can be difficult to know where to start. :s-smilie:

•

What courses can I do with my a-levels?

•

Should I live away or stay at home

•

Should I choose a city or a campus uni?

•

How much does ranking matter?

•

Which unis offer my course?

Here is the perfect place to post any questions or concerns you might have, or any advice you can offer for new students looking to apply. :wink:

Hiya,

I am in my second year at De Montfort University and when I was in college and got advised to start thinking about where I would like to go :dontknow:

the best thing I did, and I recommend to all is going to Open Days :smile:

. Open Days are days where you prospective students can visit universities and see what we have to offer and our chance to show you what life would be like for you as a student at the university. I’d recommend doing your research :cyber:

before visiting as it can be overwhelming on the day as it is all new and exciting. For me in particular Open Days were essential as it was DMU’s Open Day that sold it to me and made me determined to put DMU as my first choice on UCAS :elefant:

due to the high standards of the event and visiting the campus in person.

So, if you can try and visit the different universities in person to get a better idea of what it is like – I don’t know about other universities but if Leicester is a bit far to travel DMU also offers a virtual campus tour which isn’t the same as being here in compared to seeing us in person but it is still very good!

Also if you already know what course you would like to study at university still have a look at what is taught within that course as even though many universities will offer the course the modules within the course may be different and this could influence your decision if there is a topic you find really interesting and be beneficial for your career or not.

Hope this helps those who are making a big decision about which university seems right for them, if have any questions please leave a message

Thank you
-Maddie :heart: