fish.: University Choices

fish. 09.16.12	list includes digs In some ways it doesn't really matter. They all feel really nice when you're there.
Maniac! 09.16.12	Does it really matter where you get drunk and laid? You get a diploma at the end anyway.
Maniac! 09.16.12	Not that diplomas mean much now anyway
fish. 09.16.12	some places you get drunk and laid more than others probably
Maniac! 09.16.12	GOOD POINT Look up the male:female ratio for each school pick the one with the highest percentage of females ??? profit
fish. 09.16.12	dude of course I got a book which tells you exactly that Bristol/Nottingham then. 57%
Adabelle 09.16.12	12 days what?
Ssssssss 09.16.12	Luckily I'm done choosing and i start going to drexel on Tuesday.
fish. 09.16.12	12 days what? Our school has an internal deadline for Oxbridge applicants (28th of September)
Adabelle 09.16.12	Oh, i think even for oxbridge people my school says half-term (/midOctober)
fish. 09.16.12	Yeah the main one is on the 15th of October, but cos so many people from my school apply there there's an early internal deadline so that they have time to process all the applications
Maniac! 09.16.12	"57%" THOSE MARGINS ARE NOT HIGH ENOUGH
AliW1993 09.16.12	Durham is a lovely city, and the university itself is excellent. I'm not sure what it'd be like with regards to night life etc though. I've got loads of friends that go to Sheffield. It's supposed to be a great student city, although personally I've always found it to be a bit, I dunno, 'grey.' It does have the best independent record shop I've ever visited though, not that that'll help when you're crippled by 27k debt.
fish. 09.16.12	Bristol is meant to be the best student city in the country and it was my first choice until I got my results and thought "fuck it, I'll give cambridge a shot". But I love the community feel of the campus as well, so I like nottingham and exeter. I'm not sure what bristol is, this book says it's a mix between city and campus. I guess I'll find out soon. "THOSE MARGINS ARE NOT HIGH ENOUGH" THEY'RE THE BEST I COULD FIND FROM THOSE
tlob 09.16.12	Bristol's always a good choice.. nice city, music-wise there's a lot of local bands and lots of bands play there (various venues) and decent universities
fish. 09.16.12	Bristol Uni's more than decent. Actually I know/knew someone who went to UWE. Not sure if he's still there, I know he had to retake a year.
fish. 09.16.12	I'm gonna cut Lancaster off. Leaves me with 6
sspedding 09.16.12	I went to Sheffield Uni mate, its a cool city though it isn't the booming, metropolis style city like London, Manchester, Birmingham etc. You are also right next to the Peaks so its a city but not far from the countryside. I wouldn't mind moving back even now I've graduated.
Blackbelt54 09.16.12	I'm applying to 7 schools
Sanders 09.16.12	I went to Lancaster, it was sweet when I was there, but I've a feeling the social side of stuff there's died down the last couple of years. It's collegiate though, which is pretty cool when you want to avoid retards on your course.
Xenophanes 09.16.12	That's crazy I only had one school in mind, and only applied to that one school. 7 down to 5? Holy hell.
fish. 09.16.12	we apply to 5 unis. We get offers then pick a first choice and an insurance choice (in case we don't get the grades required for the first). That's if you get more than 1 offer, of course. They're pretty competitive. I think Nottingham has 180 geography places a year and normally 900 apply.
fish. 09.16.12	I reckon I've got a good shot at most of them though
phishing 09.16.12	stirling
FromDaHood 09.16.12	I applied to two schools and got into U-M the day after I applied to American so I didn't care after that.
AliW1993 09.16.12	I actually considered withdrawing then reapplying this year, but the whole tuition fees situation put paid to that.
fish. 09.16.12	my parents keep going on about the new tuition fees but they fucking voted tory. well, my dad did. my mum can't vote
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	Talked to a geography student when I went up to Cambridge, apparently it's all right. I really wouldn't recommend oxbridge unless you put your studies above everything else. Cambridge, for example, has a disgustingly high depression and suicide rate - though as far as teaching goes you're supposed to be getting the best in the world. Durham was way too private-school-y for me. I remember being told that this one college has a tradition called "spooning" where they bash the tables with spoon to call the waiters. Yeh... A mate next door goes to Sheffield and loves it, can't comment on Lancaster. I don't suppose anyone on this site goes to Bath Uni or is about to?
ChuckyTruant 09.16.12	European schooling is so odd
fish. 09.16.12	"I really wouldn't recommend oxbridge unless you put your studies above everything else." that did put me off it, but it could be worth it in the long run (if I even get in). "Durham was way too private-school-y for me. " you're probably gonna get a lot of people with a private school mentality at all unis at this level though.
fish. 09.16.12	"European schooling is so odd" you're implying all european schooling is the same, which is an ignorant statement in itself
clercqie 09.16.12	Glad I'm living in Belgium: I picked the uni that I thought was the best and I enrolled. Done.
Pentagon 09.16.12	"Sheffield or Cambridge." ????
ChuckyTruant 09.16.12	No fishy don't jump to conclusions, I haven't a clue about any European schooling. I'm making the statement that it seems odd from reading his thread and that alone. I'm not bashing anything so don't get all defensive.
Rail 09.16.12	Bristol and Cambridge are both in the top five for Geography, so those 'should' be the most suitable. I mean, if you're loaning all that money you may as well choose the best. Luckily for me, I went to study in England when the fees were £3000 or so. Though the prices for accomodation in and around Oxford were ridiculous. I imagine Cambridge would be similar.
someguest 09.16.12	I hate to say this and be so negative about your college experience, but regardless of where you go you're just doing your time. Unless you're some sort of prodigy or something.
Hyperion1001 09.16.12	what someguest said is not necessarily true, you will learn things, and most of them wont be from classes. it just depends on how much you want to get out of it. you can go through the motions and "just do your time" or you can try to make something out of it and more than likely you'll succeed college is about learning more than just what they teach you
robertsona 09.16.12	yeah i dont get how you can say that you wont get pretty vastly different experiences from different colleges
fish. 09.16.12	Yeah, I'm not really focussing much on the quality of teaching cos they're all right up there and there isn't much difference between all of them. At this point, it's more about "where do I wanna live for 3-4 years?", "where will I have the best experience and enjoy myself the most?". I wanna do some study abroad too, especially to somewhere like Grenoble, Singapore or Montreal, and not all of them offer that. In no way is it just "doing my time" for a bit cos I could really get something out of this. "No fishy don't jump to conclusions, I haven't a clue about any European schooling. I'm making the statement that it seems odd from reading his thread and that alone. I'm not bashing anything so don't get all defensive." why lump all of Europe together though? It's such an odd American habit.. "Bristol and Cambridge are both in the top five for Geography" so's durham. But they're all great for geography. Most are top ten in at least one league table somewhere (although you have to take them with a pinch of salt anyway).
someguest 09.16.12	You guys are thinking of the social and extracurricular end of it I suppose. As far as the education, it's just a piece of paper to gain so older people who already have their piece of paper will accept you into their group.
ChuckyTruant 09.16.12	All right here dumby, UK schooling seems very odd TO ME. Clear enough for ya?
fish. 09.16.12	Yeah, I kinda agree with you. Although saying you went to Cambridge probably gives you much more of an edge than the others though, but I'm thinking more about the other stuff.
fish. 09.16.12	"All right here dumby, UK schooling seems very odd TO ME. " Well of course it does, you're not used to it. Other education systems seem really weird to me. Our country is a minority in that we still have single sex schools but to me that's normal. We have uniform, but again that's normal to me.
Hyperion1001 09.16.12	"it's just a piece of paper to gain so older people who already have their piece of paper will accept you into their group." you learn things in college that are difficult to learn in any other situation. is it worth the money you spend? thats another debate, but saying you dont learn anything new or useful in college is asinine
jdennis31 09.16.12	does anyone else that has graduated find it harder to party and get laid now than it was back in college when you were broke and living off mac and cheese? god i can't even find a good gold digger. oh and people saying it's just a piece of paper [2], i graduated from UTSA and still got myself a very kushy job.
someguest 09.16.12	"but saying you dont learn anything new or useful in college is asinine" I hope it didn't come across that way because I'm definitely for a college education. It's just a really broken system like everything else, at least here in America.
fish. 09.16.12	I'm lucky to be in a position where the education available to me is very valuable
Recspecs 09.16.12	South Harmon Institute of Technology
fish. 09.16.12	That means nothing to me
ChuckyTruant 09.16.12	^ precisely asswipe
Recspecs 09.16.12	Urghh never mind you've obviously never seen the film.
fish. 09.16.12	nope Chuck what do you want now
someguest 09.16.12	Accepted
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	"you're probably gonna get a lot of people with a private school mentality at all unis at this level though." Some are a lot worse than others. Durham and Exeter are the main ones. Good luck for Cambridge though if you decide to apply, just don't shave your head 2 days before your interview - it didn't work for me ;)
TBliss2 09.16.12	I went to Cambridge, good times.
fish. 09.16.12	I have heard that about Durham. Exeter I didn't notice. Bristol's meant to be all right. Ahhh fucking interviews.
fish. 09.16.12	@TBliss2, what did you study?
apert 09.16.12	if i were you i would go for Cambridge, Durham and Bristol which are all top 10 unis in the country, then put 2 slightly easier ones in case you get unlucky. Bristol espicially don't like oxbridge candidates and teachers at my school reckon that Bristol reject a larger amout of applications that arrive before Oct 15 because they know they're oxbridge candidates
fish. 09.16.12	"Bristol espicially don't like oxbridge candidates" why not?
Pentagon 09.16.12	because they choose to go there rather than Bristol?
apert 09.16.12	dunno, but alot of people apply to bristol as a 2nd choice with oxbridge as a 1st. I applied last year and a alot of people in my year who got into oxbridge got rejected from bristol may be cause it was a private school. Not saying your get an automatic rejection tho
fish. 09.16.12	"because they choose to go there rather than Bristol?" Everyone has 5 options? I don't see why it should make a difference, if anything it should encourage them that the candidate is a good one. Seems like a hazy rumour if you ask me.
fish. 09.16.12	I go to a state school so lucky me
Sanders 09.16.12	When I went through UCAS, none of the unis knew which other ones you applied to, I don't see why that'd have changed now, or make any difference if they could.
fish. 09.16.12	Cos you have to apply earlier for oxbridge, but do all the universities even receive the application earlier? I really don't think it makes a difference either way.
apert 09.16.12	oxbridge applications are earlier, so most unis receiving applications early make the assumption they're Oxbridge candidates and thus the candiadate only put their uni down as a 2nd choice which they don't like. Im not saying all the unis do this but in my year they were a lot of people who got in to oxbridge with like straight A* at GCSE and straigh A's at AS level and they also got rejected from Bristol. Just saying
fish. 09.16.12	Sounds like a scary story little private/grammar school children make up to frighten themselves, like the concept of universities that /aren't russell group/ or the idea that it's possible not to do maths for a level
fish. 09.16.12	their personal statements probably weren't good enough to battle stiff competition. unis aren't toddlers that throw their crap out of the pram when they're not 1st choice. they're businesses, they want the best students so that they improve their standings and make more money
apert 09.16.12	just saying, im sure it will make no difference for you
fish. 09.16.12	eh are you in Uni now?
apert 09.16.12	i'm starting at the beginning of october
fish. 09.16.12	where?
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	"oxbridge applications are earlier, so most unis receiving applications early make the assumption they're Oxbridge candidates and thus the candiadate only put their uni down as a 2nd choice which they don't like. Im not saying all the unis do this but in my year they were a lot of people who got in to oxbridge with like straight A* at GCSE and straigh A's at AS level and they also got rejected from Bristol. Just saying" I don't think this is really a thing. I applied early and got Bristol and so did a couple of mates, I think Bristol are quite weird in what they look for though. The ones that failed were the type who've been spoon fed their whole life so Fishy's on the ball with that one.
fish. 09.16.12	my personal statements got lots of stuff like dofe, wallacea and world challenge so I think it should be ok, and I'm doing 4 a levels which is a plus.
apert 09.16.12	Imperial college London doing medicine
Sanders 09.16.12	Wait, doesn't everyone do 4 Alevels?
Sanders 09.16.12	"Imperial college London doing medicine" Haha, I had an interview to do graduate medicine there, pretty glad I didn't get an offer, the interview was horrendous
apert 09.16.12	no, most people drop 1 after 1st year
Sanders 09.16.12	Ahhhh, must have just been my school then, I assumed people did AS and A2 in whatever they started
fish. 09.16.12	"Imperial college London doing medicine" nice "Wait, doesn't everyone do 4 Alevels?" Everyone does 4 AS Levels (I did 5 (Some people in my year did 7 fuck)) Everyone does 3 A2 Levels. I'm doing 4.
apert 09.16.12	oh, my interview was pretty easy they just asked the standard Qs
Sanders 09.16.12	Are you including general studies in those? 7's mental whatever way you look at it though. apert, are you doing undergrad or postgrad med?
NoMeansYes 09.16.12	In my school we had to take 5 AS and drop one for A-Level so we had 4 A levels no matter what
apert 09.16.12	undergrad
fish. 09.16.12	Can't do general studies in my school. My 5 were geography, maths, english, economics and french and I dropped economics for this year. The people who did 7 did 4 as normal, then did further maths which in my school you can couple with maths as one subject. They then did critical thinking which a lot of people in my year did as a side thing. And the 7th subject, idk where that came from. Maybe they were similar to me and did a subject they're extremely strong in anyway (i.e. french for me).
Sanders 09.16.12	"undergrad" - yeah, the interviews for undergrad and post grad were different when I did them, postgrad was retardedly abstract and intense. @AF, why don't they let you do GS? I did Biology, Chem, Maths and Further Maths at A-level, and everyone had to do general studies
apert 09.16.12	one guy at my school did 7 got A* in all of them and went to Harvard, was a bit of a twat tho
andcas 09.16.12	save money and kill yourself.
fish. 09.16.12	They just don't offer it. I think they see it as a waste of time and make us focus on the core academic subjects
apert 09.16.12	tbh General Studies is a waste most of the decent unis say it doesn't count in an offer
robertsona 09.16.12	are a levels like aps how is that works
Sanders 09.16.12	Fair enough I guess. When I ballsed up my chemistry A-level and lost my medicine offers, my general studies helped get me into a Biochem degree, and that got me onto my graduate medicine course. But I can see why schools'd rather focus on other subjects.
andcas 09.16.12	okay walter.
apert 09.16.12	Sanders, you're the 1st person i have ever seen where general studies actually helped them get an offer
fish. 09.16.12	I have no idea what aps is. 4 A levels gives me a bit of a cushion in case a balls up one of them too. Although they're all pretty safe As at the moment.
fish. 09.16.12	the way A* works at A level is fucking retarded
Sanders 09.16.12	Haha when I rang the uni to check, I was pretty astonished that they accepted it, but wasn't about to argue. Before that moment I thought it was a massive waste of time though.
Sanders 09.16.12	Yeah we didn't have A* at A levels when I did them... how does UCAS work these days, do you have to hit a certain number of points, or is it subject specific depending on your degree?
apert 09.16.12	nah i think its fair you have to do best in the hardest modules to get the highest grade
apert 09.16.12	Sanders, to get an A* you have to get 90% in the A2 modules and 80% overall so AS doesn't really count to getting an A* so some people think its stupid
fish. 09.16.12	fuck that I got 97% in my geography and 94% in french and it will basically count for fuck all if I don't get 90% this year. "how does UCAS work these days, do you have to hit a certain number of points, or is it subject specific depending on your degree?" how do you mean?
apert 09.16.12	if you got 97% at AS it shouldn't be too hard for you to get 90% at A2
Sanders 09.16.12	Well for example when I went through the system I had to get As in Bio and Chem, then an A in one other subject and a B in the final one. Do you have to get certain grades in specific subjects for Geography, for instance? Or do they assign points to different grades, give you a target in order to get into uni, and you then have to hit that target through either gettings a few high grades, or more lower ones, if you see what I mean?
fish. 09.16.12	Why is there more weight places on A2s for an A* but not for other grades though? For the overall mark, it's still 50/50. You could theoretically get a lower mark than someone who got an A and get an A*. But surely doing worse in an easier exam should level it out. Fuck it, maybe I'm just frustrated with my (possible) personal situation
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	Yeh A* is retarded. I got 92% average in Ancient History but got an A while someone else got 83% average and got an A*.
apert 09.16.12	i know where your coming from, i beat one guy in 5 out of 6 modules in maths but he got an A* and i got an A which is annoying, but i can see why they did as they did because otherwise alot of people would get A*s by just retaking AS and getting really high marks
TBliss2 09.16.12	I did history mate
fish. 09.16.12	"Well for example when I went through the system I had to get As in Bio and Chem, then an A in one other subject and a B in the final one. Do you have to get certain grades in specific subjects for Geography, for instance? Or do they assign points to different grades, give you a target in order to get into uni, and you then have to hit that target through either gettings a few high grades, or more lower ones, if you see what I mean?" I think both the points and the grades go... I haven't really paid much attention to the points but I think I'm pretty safe in that zone if I get my predicted grades. I have to get AAA in most of the unis. Sheffield normally want AAB but cos I have maths and geography I only need ABB. Durham and Cambridge need A*AA. Although those are only typical offers. I might get different ones. Some of them also ask for a B in Maths at GCSE, and Nottingham needs A at A Level for geography which is actually a bit unusual. Most of them don't even ask for geography
Sanders 09.16.12	Ahh fair enough, sounds similar to the kind of offers we were given. Don't envy you with the new tuition fees... I thought I had it bad being in the first year of the original tuition fees!
fish. 09.16.12	haha. I'm trying to forget about it. Tbh money never really turned me on anyway. Of course I want to have a healthy living to carry me through, but I'd much rather live my life to the full and enjoy it than obsess over large sums of money. I've barely spent any money these past two years cos I'd been keeping it all for my south america trip last month. And now I have to keep it for south africa next year. It should be worth it all
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	Think of it as graduate tax - you'll only ever pay a tiny fraction of it back unless you're absolutely raking it in, in which case you probably don't care. Personally I'm moving country so I don't have to pay any of it.
fish. 09.16.12	Wait, seriously? I've been thinking about moving to Canada or France afterwards. Shame my french citizenship doesn't exclude me from the fees in the first place. Where are you moving?
StrangerofSorts 09.16.12	I'm thinking Canada, could be Germany if I get my German up to snuff.
dunksman23 09.16.12	Good List?
fish. 09.17.12	Thinking I'll drop durham.