Review: University of Southampton

Hi everyone, on the 4th July I visited the University of Southampton. I quite liked this uni and it is in my top 5, however it is not as high up on my list as I was expecting (it's 4th).

Positive

• EPQ: If you have done or are going to do an extended project Southampton is currently one of the only universities to lower their grades for it. For example my course (education and psychology) is AAB. However, if I get do an EPQ Southampton will lower it to ABBa which means I get ABB on my A-Levels if I get an A in my EPQ. Pretty cool right?
• Student Union: The SU is good at all the unis I'm looking at, however Southampton really stood out for me with over 300 groups to get involved in! Here is a list of all of them (sorry about the markings I did):

• Study abroad: Southampton offer students the chance to study abroad for a term or even a whole academic year and it still counts towards your course which is cool.
• Course - outline: Personally, I love the education and psychology course as it is so flexible but still covers everything you would want to learn. Also, I don't know if this is for other courses as well but in the education faculty they have a buddy system where you are mentored by an older student as well as having your personal tutor who is a teacher.
• Sports facilities: The sports facilities are amazing with loads of sports clubs to join or you get spend £165 and you get a gym membership for a while year which allows you to use the gym at the main site, at all the residential sites and one in town. This membership also allows you access to the pool and the license to book out the sports hall.

Negative

• Grade boundaries: The grade boundaries are very high but that is to be expected from a Russel group university and can be changed if you do an EPQ.
• Course - spaces: As with many courses at the uni they only take the best and have few spaces. Education and Psychology only have about 20 spaces per year for everyone who applies. Scary.
• Accommodation: The accommodation is not the greatest although I was debating where to put this as a positive or a negative. The accommodation was okay, I've seen better but it's something I could live with if I went there. However it is very confusing as at each site there are so many different types of accommodation and you get no say in which one you get apart from stating preferences.

Wessex Lane non en-suite category 2:

Wessex Lane non en-suite category 1 (catered):

This is shared between about 20 people with that tiny kitchen and those few toilets, sinks and showers. It may be catered but seriously?

Glen Eyre non en-suite category 3:

10 people - 2 showers/2 toilets

Glen Eyre non en-suite category 2:

Glen Eyre non en-suite category 3:

All this accommodation is nice but as you can see, even within the same category they are very different.

Also I did not look at any en-suite because it was not in my price range.

I do like this uni so if you are looking for a Russel group one where the grade boundaries are not as high as the others then I suggest you take a look at this one.

♥

*Disclaimer - these opinions are all my own*

Review: Durham University

Hi everyone, the second university I visited on my 'university road trip' was Durham University.

I didn't particularly like Durham University and therefore will not be applying to it. The reasons why are listed below.

Positive

Although I didn't like this uni there were still some positives:

• The college system: I really like the way this university has different colleges and you belong to one college. Although it is a pain to decide which one to go to. I decided to look around Collingwood and really liked their 'family' system similar to Cambridge (where you have 'parents' and 'siblings' and such within your college who you get to know really well. If you want more information on the colleges check out their accommodation page here. Also, I recommend doing their college quiz to get an idea of what colleges would be best suited to you and your needs.
• Course - Education: I really liked the education part of my chosen course (education and psychology) as the course was well thought out, the presentation was interesting and I really liked how they assessed.

Negative

And here we go into the long list of negatives I have compiled together:

• Course - Psychology: The psychology side of my course I did not like largely due to how the course was set out (it was quite repetitive), also that was the first course presentation I actually felt bored which is never a good thing; if I can't sit through an hour presentation how would I survive 3 years?!
• City campus: Like with UCLan the campus is in the city and even more spread apart - you can't really walk from one to the other quickly and I want a uni where everything is pretty much in the same place.
• Accommodation - Rooms: As I said I only looked at one college because that's all I had time for, however I did not what I saw. It was OK but I have seen much better and I didn't like how the college was set out. Here are some pictures I tool of the non en-suite accommodation at Collingwood:

• Accommodation - Prices: I personally thought the prices where a bit too expensive. I know they are catered but 1) I don't want fully catered which is what most of Durham is and 2) I don't have that kind of money. Here is the price list for 2015:

• Accommodation - Catered: As I said just before most of the accommodation at Durham is catered (only 2 colleges are self-/part-catered).
• Grade boundaries: It is a Russel Group uni so a lot of the courses have really high grade boundaries (such as mine is AAA) and although I have the potential to get that it's unlikely that I will because I am crap at exams...
• The area: As I drove through Durham to get to the main site I didn't really like what I saw. If you are one who likes character and culture then this is the city for you but I personally don't really like that.

I hope this was useful for you and helps you decide although I recommend that you do visit on an open day.

♥
*Disclaimer - these opinions are all my own*