Applied Geography at Bournemouth Warning!

Hey

I have almost completed my first year of Applied Geography at Bournemouth but have decided to transfer to Kingston uni for 2009.
I thought i would let new applicants know why I have decided to transfer.

When applying, i was drawn to the 'applied' aspect, being told by the university itself it had an emphasis on the workplace. I achieved BBC for my A-levels and this course requires a single E for entry. I chose this course due to the friendly atmosphere and of course the help they seemed to offer for your future career.

However after a year, I have been very shocked at the little amount of geography that has been taught. The course is padded out with irrelevant modules such as accademic practise which teaches students...how to write reports and essays. I am faced with 3 hours of these pointless lectures a week. Environmental Law is a huge aspect of the course which i soon lost interest in as it seemed that it has nothing to do with the environment. In total only 2 hours of pure geography is taught each week in a single seminar.
It seems 'applied' is an excuse to stitch other lectures together to form a course that only just qulifies to be a course in geography.

In total, i am only in uni for 3 days a week. Earlyest start is 10, latest finish is 3. A workplacement is a compulsory part of the course and I have recieved very little help in finding a place even when help was requested.

However, the people on the course are very nice and friendly, and i can understand why people chose this course. This course would suit anyone who does achieve a grade E at A-level. In total there are only 20 students studying the course in the first year, and would suit those who prefer a smaller quieter atmosphere.

For those who are applying, be warned about the 'applied' aspect.
any more questions i am happy to answer :smile:

Reply 1

Siâny235

Hi =)
I have just read your comment about the geog at Bournemouth. I was thinking of maybe applying just as a backup option cos im not exactly sure what i want to do (i have also been looking at portsmouth at environmental or physical geog) but having read this its a bit off putting.
What sort of work was expected of you? on what topics and in what format (and how much!!)?
was it a combination or human and physical geography? Did it improve throughout the year or not? Do you think that this was just becasue it was your first year or just the course at bmth in general?
Did you move in the end and if so to Kingston? and is it better?

Sorry for so many questions but its really nice to be able to speak to people who have a students view. and im just trying to get all my questions out before i forget them!!!
Thank you xxx

Reply 2

georgeb01

Hi,

This is a bit of a late reply, but I am in Dan's year and also attending Bournemouth University studying Applied Geography.

I have just completed my second year and I would like to "clear the air" with some of the comments made earlier.

The course itself does not require a Grade-E at A-Level no longer, that may or may not have been the case three years ago but the course requires 220 UCAS points now and is jumping to 260 for the next academic year (2011-2012).

The term "Applied" is vague and meaningless with the course Applied Geography, in the first year we did share a lot of the units/subjects with other courses and not much geography at all. The course is based on a lot of theory and concepts, for instance in the first year there is a unit called "Earth Systems" where you get taught Snowball Earth and Goldilocks theories and more.

The second year is much of the same and we do get taught Environmental Law which is interesting personally for me, the unit is shared with lawyer undergraduates too - so the pace is picked up in terms of learning rather than an introductry approach that was in year 1. The highlight of the course in year 2 was a field trip to Malta for 10 days - really good fun!

One of the course's better subjects is remote sensing and cartography. The University uses the map suite called ArcMap which is great if you want to persue this kind of area as a lot of other insitutions such as councils also use the same software and it is globally recognised.

I originally applied to Kingston and changed during my GAP year having favoured for the environment Bournemouth had to offer and I can't say if I am happy or sad with my decision as I don't know what Kingston is like.

Having said that the most disappointing factor for Applied Geography is the little resembelance it bears with classical geography. Traditional physical geography is a no no in this course - we touched on it this year but that was it. The universty's approach for geography is much more "people" orientated with lots on climate changeand mitigation strategies.

A reply to Sian's questions asked earlier:
What sort of work was expected of you?
Some times, the work load can really pile up on you if you don't keep on top of it, at times we had 3 assignments on the go at once, but overall the workload is fairly managible. The work initself is realatively straight forward some subjects require you to do more work than others. The first year you could literally breathe through though.

on what topics and in what format (and how much!!)?
Biggest workload was probably Academic Practice but it was the easist. Academic practice requires you to keep a journal of every week and write some reports on individual lectures, so really pointless. The harest subject would probably be statistics because no one understands it and there is quite a lack of support.

was it a combination or human and physical geography?
not much physical but a lot of human geography with concepts such as land planning, climate change mitigation etc..

Did it improve throughout the year or not? Do you think that this was just becasue it was your first year or just the course at bmth in general?
First year was deffinately an introductory year and quite easy, second year builds on the knowledge but it is more or less the same topics covered but in greater detail. Third year will be much the same but in even bigger detail.

If you want to ask any questions about Applied Geography you can ask me or the original poster.

Thanks

Reply 3

Gabby'93

I'm thinking about doing something with sustainability after university, and was wondering if you think Bournemouth teach you enough on that side of things for me to be able to get a career with it?

Reply 4

Jod.d_391

Hey,

Applied Geography is my firm choice and im hoping to attend September 2010. The Course content last year has been scrapped and a new content containing 70% physical modules have been put into place. I firstly applied to do Marine and Coastal Management but got told there wasn't enough people to take on the course so i switched to Applied Geog...and the whole talk of "theres no physical modules" is a rubbish...doesnt the degree title Bsc imply its a Science!!

It just depends on the person..if your after a mix of theory and work placements then the geog degree is for you! If not then maybe its not!
After all your in one of the most beautiful counties in the country...Geography is all around you!

Reply 5

joeinaus

Hello,

I graduated from the Applied Geography BSc (Hons) course back in 2005. I was the only student to have gained a 1;1 on this course so I have a pretty good understanding of the course on a whole.

I started the course in September/October 2002 and we studied a lot of Biology, Chemistry etc etc etc in the first year. I had had 3 years away from education at that point so was going in fresh and unpolluted from A-Levels. I only got a B, D at A-Level back in 1999 which equated then to 120 points but they allowed me in as I was a semi mature student.

I found the first year pretty interesting and as has been stated already it is an introductory year as many units were shared with other courses. As you're aware grades at the end of the first year do not count as part of your final grade so we have to take it all with a pinch of salt and take out of it what you like. My main issue at this point though was that many of the 30+ students who started the course knew the grades didn't count so they essentially switched off and had to make up a lot of ground in the second and final years...many of whom struggled as they had a gap of knowledge which the first year provided.

The course I'm sure is much different now, but my second and third years were pretty tough. The units were understandable but the manner in which the course was conducted made it difficult in light of the quality of other students that I had to work with. For example, group work was pushed a lot as being something to carry over into the workplace - but this only works if the people in the group want to work. In my case, I was 22/23 and the rest of my group were 19 and still blinded by the bright lights of Bournemouth which made group work extremely tedious as the worst students dragged down the better students...and if complained about I was often told to shut up and accept lower grades...not good!

Our fieldtrip in 2004 was to Albufeira in Portugal. I must say one of the best parts of the course. In fact, 2004 was one of the best years of my life as not only did we go to Portugal, but I got an overall 1;1 for my exams, then I went on a work placement/internship to the State Government of Western Australia (which I received no help from the University in organising at all) and then when I got back I went to Normandy to conduct research for my dissertation and then by the end of 2004 I had written my first draft. So, I have only good memories from my second year, despite the difficulties of groupwork.

Final year was one of the toughest times of my life. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to get an overall 1;1 but at every turn I was facing opposition from coursemates. Again, there was a lot of group work and the big unit was one where we had to produce a Press Pack, a presentation, posters etc regarding disability etc. The name of the uni eludes me I'm afraid but it was under the tuition of Dr Emma Treby who left many years ago for pastures new in the charitable sector. For each piece of work we had 4 or 5 weeks to produce it and despite my best efforts my group wanted to do it all in one night the night before hand in which as you can imagine is fine for someone wanting a 2;2, but even in 2005, a 2;2 from Bournemouth isn't going to land you a job paying more than GBP12,000 per year. As it turned out, the guys in my group thought it more effective to use their time to try to work out ways in which to sabotage the group work in order to prevent me getting a 1;1 rather than do the work to help themselves get good grades. Mr Murphy, McKechnie, Matthews and Duffy (now the lead singer in Fenech Solar) spent their time lying, reproducing work I had already done and producing seperate work...so that was the type of student who attended back then.

As for what I managed to do post course. I had a few different jobs but I found that 'Bournemouth University' on my CV didn't help me at all. In fact, between 2005 and 2009 I didn't manage to succeed in any applications to positions within the environmental sector (as organisations within it knew that Applied Geography wasn't a sufficient course to provide candidates with the type of knowledge required for the sector without further, expensive and time consuming training (ref. Terence O'Rourke)) and so most jobs ended up being administration based. I was successful in securing a position at JARIC in 2009/10, successful with my Army and RAF officer selections and I am currently a Flying Officer in the RAF based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, so the course did put me in a good place for something, just not a career within the environmental sector!

Another interesting subject is 'Landscape Institute Accreditation'. Back in 2003/4 the lecturer Richard Burden worked tirelessly to get Applied Geography accredited by the Landscape Institute so that when students graduated you not only had BSc (Hons) but MLI (Member of the Landscape Institute) as post nominals. However, when 'my lot' were asked whether this accreditation be pursued for 2005 graduation, all except me on the course said no - an indicator of the type of people on the course. In late 2011 I telephoned the Landscape Institute to investigate and it turns out that as the course in 2005 was very similar to that of 2004 there is no reason why I cannot secure individual accreditation via application. This is something to investigate yourselves as prhaps the new course at Bournemouth would offer this as it adds value.

So, as with all courses, I would say investigate and select them extremely carefully. If I could go back to 2001 which is when I did my UCAS forms I would have stayed away from Uni until 2003 to graduate in 2006 because I would have had more time to look into what to get into post degree and have had more time to save up and maybe go to a better University for Geography.

Overall, I am proud of my achievement at Uni. A degree is what you make it and I came out of it a totally changed person whereas others came out of it in the same place they entered it at age 18 having essentially hidden away from the workplace for 3 years. The skills I developed and learned at Bournemouth were a mixture of tangible and intangible that allowed me to be successful in areas of life that I had not imagined although less successful in areas where I believed I would have been successful having studied 'Applied Geography'.

If you're going to study it at Bournemouth, good on you, I hope you enjoy it, but to get the most from it you will probably have to work extremely hard for 3 full years to come out of it on the other side with a Degree that has value for both yourself and employers.

Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your course wherever you wish to study.

Fg Off Joseph A, Hall BSc (Hons), CMLI, LCGI, RAF