cardiff people share their application journeys

Hi, I'm in yr 12 and applying to Cardiff this year. I want to ask current and previous Cardiff students about their application journeys, namely these things:
- how they found it
- what they did (specifically)
- how they prepared
- top things they included in their personal statements
- something they would like to say to someone applying to Cardiff
- why did they choose Cardiff?
- how did they decide which course to apply for?
- what was the interview process like (if applicable) and what sorts of questions were asked?
- tell us about the entrance exams (if relevant - not every course requires this)
- did they take any online courses (for their personal statement) and if so, were they helpful?
- (this is just a fun one) what was something they didn't expect when arriving to Cardiff?
- and feel free to give us a fun fact about either Cardiff Uni or the city itself if you want to
You don't have to include all of this - these are just some ideas and you can absolutely talk about other stuff as well. I would greatly appreciate any responses as this would be very helpful not only for me but for other aspiring Cardiff students as well. Thanks in advance, and if you haven't graduated yet, then best of luck for your uni studies and congrats for getting accepted!

Hiya! These are some great questions - I'll try to answer all of them
For context, I'm a final year Psychology student, having also done a placement year! I actually applied during the COVID lockdown - so I didn't actually get to visit campus in person haha. I went to online open days and online offer holder days so it was a bit of a gamble - but really happy with my decision now!
In terms of how I prepared, I made sure to start my personal statement early! Also I tried to get bits and pieces of extra volunteering down, and do some extra reading for my application. In terms of personal statement advice, I recommend this page - the university has lots of helpful advice on what they're looking for!
I chose Cardiff over other top universities personally for the vibes - I really liked how active and inclusive the student community was and how it was a nice mix of the city and nature! Stuff about the course definitely contributed to it though - especially with the work experience and placement year opportunities they offered for my course
When I first came to Cardiff, I didn't expect how close everything is! Everything you need on the Cathays campus is basically just one one big long road, that leads straight to the city center I think I only ever had to take the bus twice in first year haha.
I think deciding what course you want to take depends on a lot of things, like what your interests are, what you're taking, and what job you'd like to do in the future - but its totally okay if you have no idea at the moment! What are your ideas currently?
Personally I chose psychology because I love brain stuff and wanted a degree where I can understand the science to how people behave a bit more
~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Thanks for your detailed response - much appreciated. Those are all great advice! As for subject course, I'm definitely going for english literature. I have considered history but after reading some academic history books and papers I decided that, though they were very interesting, not something I'd be prepared to spend 3 years of my life doing intensively. I have always loved reading and writing and have one of the best GCSE English scores, and I am taking it in sixth form as well, so it only makes sense that I go for this subject.
I love psych too actually - I used to study some random brain stuff in my free time but lately have been a bit too preoccupied with school work (I'm gonna have to start doing that again soon!).
The stuff on uni campus is very interesting - is there anything else campus-related that you think someone considering Cardiff should know or would like? I know this comes down to personal preference at the end of the day but it'd be nice to get a current student's advice as well.