Review: Edge Hill University

Hi everyone, last weekend I went to the applicant day at Edge Hill University (open days and applicant days are a little different, but i'll get into that in a different post) and I was very pleased with what I saw and I will explain why in this blog post.

However, first I would like to highlight the importance of planning ahead; by this I mean think of questions beforehand, along with other preparations (I have plans for a blog post on this as well), but I also mean looking up traffic before you leave as I did not and got stuck in over an hours traffic on the motorway meaning I missed over half hour of the applicant day. However, since I also went on a university residential there last year I am going to put my views from both together to form this review.
Right, enough waffling, here's the review:
Positives:

• Accommodation: The accommodation here is really nice and there is one for everyone, from the back halls (the cheapest of the accommodation) to the new and more pricey halls. If you wish to know more about each accommodation along with a rather useful little video of each click here. I personally like the look of Forest Court as it was the middle accommodation but still very nice and has a mixture of shared bathroom and en-suite (en-suite being more expensive of course). Also, I found that not just at this university, but at all the others I have gone around, that the bedrooms with shared bathrooms are much larger with more storage so it depends what you're looking for. Unfortunately, I was unable to take pictures as applicant days are during term time so I was looking in people's actual bedrooms so it seemed  bit rude and inappropriate to  take photos. However the videos are very good :)
• Campus: I absolutely love the campus at Edge Hill, 160 acres with all the buildings really close together and then just loads of tracks/pitches and fields perfect for revising on or exercising in. I have put an extremely bad quality picture of the campus map below (sorry if you can't read my writing!). 

• Scholarships: There are loads of scholarships available at Edge Hill, and cater for a variety of people's backgrounds. If you wish to know more about their scholarships click here.

• Societies: There are loads of fantastic societies and sports to join and there is a huge variety. There are so many I like the sound of that I fear I'm not going to have enough time for anything else! If you wish to see what societies they have on offer click here.
• Location: For me personally the campus is in the perfect location; in the countryside with a little town called Ormskirk nearby and Liverpool 20 minutes away. This means that you are away from everything but night clubs and great shopping areas are close by.

Negatives:

• Cohort: This is just a negative for me and others on my course really (although it may apply to others) but for Educational Psychology the cohort is no more than 30 and the head of this course told us that there is a possibility that they may have to turn people away after they have firmed it which of course is a big negative. I only hope they will tell us before the beginning of May if this is the case so we can ask UCAS if we can firm another.

Despite this negative I really really like Edge Hill and i'm 90% sure that I am now going to put this as my firm choice. I can definitely see myself going here and it really is a lovely university. Hope this has helped some of you and has given you some useful information however I would still suggest going on an open day to get a feel for it yourself as this is just my opinion.

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*

Review: University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Hi everyone, last month I went on a 'university road trip' and the first uni I went to was UCLan. I was quite impressed with UCLan overall so I thought I would give you a run down as to why I have decided to apply for this one as one of my 5 choices.

Positive

• Studying abroad: UCLan give students doing (I think) any course the option to spend a term or even a year abroad studying at another university. They also have lots of students come to UCLan as part of the programme so the diversity of students at UCLan is very wide. If that is something you are into at a university or have ever wanted to go to another country this uni offers you the best opportunity to do so. If you want more information on this visit the page on their website here.
• Accommodation: The accommodation here is really cheap - like the cheapest I have found! Here is a price list of all the accommodation:

4 of the accommodation blocks where open on the open day (two non en-suite and two en-suite). These are the ones that were open and where they were:

I was very impressed with all the accommodation I saw and you definitely get more then your money's worth. However, my favourites were the en-suite rooms I saw (IQ Preston and Roeburn). The en-suite Boatmans/Bowran I was told are the nicest although they have more advanced equipment and a but further out than the rest so those are usually given to mature students.

I took some pictures of each of the accommodation I saw which I will show you now:

Whitendale

Ribble

Roeburn

IQ Preston

As you can see the en-suite bathrooms have been updated already as has the bedrooms (the showers now have a curtain rather than a shower door apparently for safety reasons) and I was told the other rooms will soon be receiving the upgrade as well although the prices are fixed apart from the annual increase so these upgrades won't make it really expensive. 

The accommodation is randomised but you can request a certain hall (however it's not guaranteed you will get that hall).

If you want more information of the Halls of Residence visit the page on their website here.

• City campus: It is a positive as it means the uni is pretty much surrounded by shops.
• Course: Of course I am just talking about the course I am interested in (psychology) so if you wish to study psychology then read this point. The professors were really nice and it's great how they do things there - for the first couple of assignments they provide you with a template of how to write it and the sorts of things to include to help you where as at other universities they tell you briefly then leave you to it. Here is the course structure for the psychology courses at UCLan:

Negative

• Cars: Not a negative for me as I don't have a car but for those of you who do they do not allow cars on-site so you can't bring it with you basically.
• City campus: Although I put this in the positives I also think this has some negatives: as you are near the shops it is a lot easier to spend more money then you should, and also I like it when the university is kind of a bit away from the near-by town.

Although there are negatives I don't see these as big enough to put me off the university.

I hope this helps some of you

♥
*Disclaimer - these opinions are all my own*

What I got for my birthday 2015 (17th)

Hello everyone, last week it was my 17th birthday so I have decided to do a 'What I got for my birthday' post as I always like to read/watch them myself so I figured why not? Anyway.. I have put the presents into 4 categories: beauty, technology, stationary, and other. 

Btw, everything I got will be listed at the bottom with hyperlinks if you want to get them yourself. Your welcome in advance :)

Beauty

 The first thing I opened was this: Real Techniques Travel Essential Kit which consists of (left to right) an essential foundation brush, a domed shadow brush, and a multi-task brush. I really like this as it is all the basics you need to put make-up on and I have lots of other brushes but not the basic essentials which seems a bit weird to me so I'm glad I got this!

This is an Avon massager which is really soft on the skin. I My skin is noticeably softer after using this.

These are various foot care products from Avon: (left to right) foot work cooling lotion pineapple sorbet, foot works foot scrub, foot works cooling lotion pineapple sorbet, foot works cooling spray pineapple sorbet. These smell amazing and are great for the summer. My feet feel and look so much nicer since receiving these products!

I got some money from my gran to spend on Zoella beauty things and I chose to get the two fragranced body mists: let's spritz from her new range, and blissful mistful from her original range. Once I get more of each range I am going to do a blog post on these products but I will say this now; they are AMAZING!

The last 'beauty' present I received was these Soap and Glory: (left to right) pulp friction body scrub, foam-call body wash, thank inside the box gift.I love Soap and Glory so this present was heaven to me!

Technology

A laptop bag is essential for university, and just for carrying your laptop round in general really. This one is a laptop rucksack which has loads of different compartments which I love as well as retractable rucksack straps so there is the option to carry it round like a briefcase which I really like.

I got the Sims 4 main game for christmas and I am obsessed so I asked if someone could get me the Get to Work expansion pack and I have played it so much since getting it, it's amazing! My man-sim is a photographer and my girl-sim is a detective! It is so much fun, if you like the sims I really recommend this! It is so worth the money :)

I have a few favourite comedians, two of which is Jack Whitehall and Miranda Hart so I was ecstatic when I received these for my birthday! They are both so funny and would really recommend them both! (Although the Jack Whitehall one is definitely not for under 15s! No exceptions! Seriously.. trust me on this one, you do not want a 10 year old watching this).

Stationary

My friend gave me a £10 W H Smiths gift card because she knows how much I love stationary. Which is very true. I don't think it will take long to spend this ;)

My other friend bought me 2 note pads and some ballpoint pens which I like making revision cards using and important/key points in my notes during class. These will also be well used. Also, I like that they are click-y ones and not pens with lids and I tend to chew the lids which I definitely regret afterwards.

Other

Now don't think that these others aren't important as these are some of my favs that I got (although I love it all).

The first 'other' is money (of which I did not take a picture) which I have put straight in the bank (after pre-ordering several youtube books, shh...) to go towards driving lessons and uni stuff and things like that.

This is a monster plush that my friend got me because apparently she "saw it and thought of me" which I think is a bit strange but there you go.

This is definitely one of my favourite presents: it's a Harry Potter crate that my parents got from the nearest shopping centre. I am going to take this to uni and put skin-care stuff in it on my desk which I am very excited for. There is currently no room for it in my room so I think it is going up in the loft but I look forward to using it at uni!

Another thing for uni (a recurring theme it seems). It's called Nosh for Students: A Fun Student Cookbook. I am terrible at coming up with ideas of what to cook (and actually how to cook it...) so this is perfect!

There you go, that is everything I got for my birthday, I hope you liked it and are interested in some of the things I got.

♥

List of what I got and where to get it:

Real Techniques Travel Essentials Kit - http://www.feelunique.com/p/Real-Techniques-Travel-Essentials-Kit

Avon massager - in Avon catalogue

Avon foot works items - in Avon catalogue

Zoella Let's Sprtiz Fragranced Body Mist - http://www.feelunique.com/p/Zoella-Beauty-Tutti-Fruity-Lets-Spritz-Fragranced-Body-Mist-45ml

Zoella Blissful Mistful Fragranced Body Mist - http://www.feelunique.com/p/Zoella-Beauty-Blissful-Mistful-Fragranced-Body-Mist-45ml

Soap and Glory Pulp-Friction Body Scrub - http://www.boots.com/en/Soap-Glory%E2%84%A2-Pulp-Friction%E2%84%A2-Foaming-Fruity-Body-Scrub-250ml_1222483/

Soap and Glory Foam Call Body Wash - http://www.boots.com/en/Soap-Glory%C2%99-Foam-Call%C2%99-Bath-and-Shower-Wash-500ml_1222481/

Laptop Bag - http://www.amazon.co.uk/SunSmart-Multi-functional-Waterproof-Convenient-Transformed/dp/B00SAIZ1U8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1436710729&sr=8-4&keywords=laptop+rucksack+15+inch

Sims 4 Get to Work expansion pack - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sims-Get-Work-PC-DVD/dp/B00T971Z7C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436712917&sr=8-1&keywords=get+to+work

Jack Whitehall DVD - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Whitehall-Gets-Around-Wembley/dp/B00BMVD6MA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436713020&sr=8-1&keywords=jack+whitehall

Miranda Hart DVD - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miranda-Hart-What-Call-Live/dp/B00HQE3K96/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436713057&sr=8-1&keywords=miranda+hart

Nosh for Students cookbook - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nosh-Students-Student-Cookbook-Recipe/dp/0956746470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436713081&sr=8-1&keywords=nosh+for+students

*Disclaimer - these opinions are all my own*

Review: Bath Spa University

Hi everyone, last weekend I went to the Bath Spa University Open Day for the applicants of September 2016. I did a review of Northampton Open Day a few months ago, which you can click to read here if you would like to, and it was such a great success that I have decided to do a review of each of the universities I visit, not just for you but also for myself to look back on in a few months to help me decide which unis to apply for. So lets get started with the review shall we!

Positive

• Nice place: Now I know this probably isn't the best way to start off a review but it's true; Bath Spa is set in the gorgeous countryside and all you can see is fields and trees and lakes and it is honestly beautiful. If you are looking for a university which offers amazing nightlife such as clubs then this is not for you but if, like me, you want to be surrounded by nature where you can go on long walks and revise in the sunshine in the summer then this is definitely a university that you should check out.
• Great facilities on campus: There is an amazing gym near the Gardens (the new) accommodation and lots of buildings each having classrooms but also offices full of staff ready to help you.
• Accommodation: Not the prices, which I will get to later, but the actual accommodation is very nice. At Northampton I was able to get pictures of each accommodation to show you but they did not have showcase rooms for each of the choices at Bath Spa and I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of people's actual rooms with all their stuff in. However, the en-suite at the Commons was a showcase so I managed to sneak some sneaky pictures for you:

As you can see the desk is very large; stretching from one end of the room to the other so there is no problem work-space wise. 

The bed is also quite large for a university bed and quite comfy, I'm one for a soft mattress and I would say this one is a medium/firm but it's still quite soft. Probably from the amount of people that have slept on it over the years.

The wardrobe is a double with lots of space and some shelving on the left hand side, a lot bigger than I was expecting so no problem with clothing storage either which is great.

The bathroom is a good size as well, plenty of room to fit everything in and it is not cramped. Some en-suites that I have seen it's less than a step from the toilet to the sink but this is not the case. Okay you couldn't do some pirouettes in it or something but it is just the right size for what you need out of an en-suite in your first year at uni.

This is the kitchen-diner and although it is not the biggest of kitchens, I can't remember how many it's between... I think it's 8.. Anyway, each student has their own cupboard which can be locked and there is one shelf in the fridge and one in the freezer for each student. There is also a lovely view and the design allows for lots of natural light to come in. Lovely.

However, I only showed you Commons accommodation and cannot talk about the Gardens accommodation for I did not visit it for reasons I will go into now.

Negative

• Accommodation prices: The one main problem I have with this uni, and the reason it will most likely not be in my top 5 that I apply to in a few months is how ridiculously high the accommodation prices are. If you would like to check out the accommodation page click here to go to the accommodation page on their website. I can only talk about my experience of the Commons as I did not even bother going to the Gardens knowing that I could never afford it which leads me on to my next negative:
• Accommodation allocation method: For those of you who don't know, whilst I was there I found out that when you apply to Bath Spa university, if you put it as your FIRM CHOICE you get to apply for accommodation. However, Bath Spa require that you put 6 accommodation choices down and you randomly get one of those. This means that, for people like me who can only afford 2 of the accommodation types, I have a less than 50% chance of getting accommodation I can actually afford. Ridiculous.

• Staff: I know this may sound horrible but some of the staff that I encountered either where not friendly or where not helpful at all. I will use two examples: the accommodation lady that I spoke too is the person who allocates the first year accommodation and when I explained to her my situation (only being able to afford 2) she said, and I quote, "everyone gets into debt at uni", she didn't even try to understand nor reassure me that she would do something about it if I got accommodation I physically couldn't afford, even with a loan. The other example is the psychology professor who did the psychology talk, he didn't really seem to know much about the course and the 2 students who were there as well ended up answering most of the questions!
• The course: Now this is just a personal one for me but when I listened to the talks, the course doesn't sound 100% what I want to do which, at Bath Spa, is the accredited major in Psychology and a minor in Education. However, when I spoke to each subject I found out I would have to do the core in each which I don't mind in the Psychology but I don't like the core Education and would much prefer to take some of the optional ones available. However, this means I am not eligible to graduate that course which sucks.

I realise there are more negatives than positives which is what has led me to believe this is not one I will be applying to.

HOWEVER, if you have the money to be able to afford the accommodation here and you like the course IT IS A GREAT UNIVERSITY, just not for me personally.

I hope this helps some of you :)

♥
*Disclaimer - these opinions are all my own*

Interviews

Hi everyone, So today I am going to a sixth form interview at one of my local grammar schools and once I have done the interview I will tell you all what my experience was and what sort of questions they asked so you may be as prepared as you can be. See you on the other side!
Okay, so it is the next day and I thought I would give you some of my tips for doing a good interview:

1. Stay positive - interviewers don't like it if you are negative, talk about your achievements and favourite subjects, not about the ones you hate.
2. Keep talking - obviously not too much but don't stay silent until spoken to.
3. Don't be afraid to show off - you want to sell that you will be perfect for this job/school so don't be shy to tell them about your achievements or skills.
4. Have a good handshake - this may sound stupid but if your handshake is confident and strong it will give the interviewer a good first impression.
5. Be honest - this also may sound a bit strange but some people lie about things they have done to hopefully seem more appropriate but I am telling you now; it will come back to bite your ass later!

Hope some of you found this useful, there are obviously a lot more tips and over the years I will probably add to this post but at the moment, this is what I found the main things.

♥

Choosing the right A-Level choices

Hi everyone,
So as it is coming up to when you all have to, like me, choose your a-level subjects and where you are going to take them I thought I would give a little piece of advice:
If you are not sure what you want to do as a career do things that interest you and you know you will enjoy, because if you enjoy a subject you will do well in it.
Secondly, don't pick subjects because that is what your friend is doing, it may not necessarilybe the right subjects for you; my friend BeingLaurita is into all the academic stuff (maths and science) where as I enjoy the more essay-based subjects (english and psycology) so we are doing completely different things.
If you are sure what you want to do as a career then research that career to find out the best subjects to take for that career.
If you have a careers adviser at your school go and talk to her to be confident about your subject choices.
Talk to your teachers and find out if they think you will be able to do well in that subject.
Check out the requirements for that subject because if you don't meet the requirements there is no point in even looking it the subject (sorry to be blunt, but it's true).

Hope this helped you.

♥