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: Liverpool Hope University

Hi everyone, my final stop on my 'university road trip' was Liverpool Hope University.

I did quite like this university however the negatives (particularly the first one) were too major for me to ignore.

Positive

• Accommodation - Space: All the rooms were very good sizes and you could fit a lot in them - no storage problems at this uni!
• Accommodation - Prices: All the accommodation is very cheap and affordable and to be honest (unlike UCLan) you could tell why. Here is the accommodation page for first year students.
• Joint: For a lot of the courses it has to be joint which I think is a good thing as it broadens your options and what you are learning.
• Study abroad: If that is something you are looking for that is a huge bonus however I am personally not bothered if a uni provides this or not.
• Campus: The campus is absolutely beautiful!
• Small university: The uni is really small which means everyone knows everyone and you have a really close relationship with your teachers which I think is really nice. However this does mean it would be quite hard to get in to as they have a strict number of students they let in to keep the uni small.
• Staff/Students: All the students and staff were really friendly and always up for a chat which I have only experienced at UCLan (must be the area). Spent most of the day with 2 third-year students who were lovely and really informative, wish I knew their names but for some reason it never came up in the 4 hours I was talking to them..

Negative

• Linear not modular: I don't know about the other courses but psychology is assessed in linear not modular. I don't know if you know what that means but basically rather then doing a module, being assessed, doing a module, being assessed, etc.. it means that you learn the entire year and are assessed on all of it at the end (apart from assignments) which I really don't like. I've been doing linear at school for 3 years now and it is not fun, trust me.
• Accommodation - continuing students: I got the impression that after the first year you have to find your own accommodation for second and third year and do not get assisted by the uni in this process.
• Accommodation - character: This is a more personal one but I didn't really like how old all the accommodation was and that there was no attempt to modernise them at all. I couldn't take pictures as the tour was very rushed and there was no time unfortunately.
• Course confusion: Again this is a personal one but I want to be an educational psychologist and the uni could not decide whether me doing psychology with early years or psychology with childhood & youth would be best as they are fairly similar.

I did like the uni and if the assessment was not linear I would actually seriously consider this and just deal with the old accommodation so that is a shame. If it was possible to give students the individual option to do linear or modular that would be great and I would definitely be applying here so if this does not bother you then I urge you to visit it and apply!

♥
*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*

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*

This or That Tag Update

Hi everyone,
I was going through my old posts and I saw this one. As I was reading it I realised my answers are actually very different now and it was very interesting to read my answers from a couple years ago so I thought I would do it again.

Makeup:

blush or bronzer - Bronzer
lip gloss or lipstick - Lipstick
eye liner or mascara - Mascara
foundation or concealer - Foundation
neutral or color eye shadow - Neutral
pressed or loose eye shadows - Still pressed, although I have heard good things about loose
brushes or sponges - Brushes always! I feel like sponges make it look too cake-y

Nails:
OPI or Barry M - Barry M
Long or short - I love long nails and I used to have them really short because I bit them but I have got rid of that habit now!
Acrylic or natural - Natural 
Brights or darks - Usually pastels so neither really...
Flower or no flower - No Flower

Body:
perfume or body splash - Perfume definitely, the smell stays longer I think
lotion or body butter - Body butter, but I hate waiting for it to dry
body wash or soap - Body wash; soap is really weird...
lush or other bath company - I really love Lush but I actually really like Zoella and Body Shop as well

Fashion:
jeans or sweat pants - Leggings?
long sleeve or short - Short sleeves with a jumper or cardigan in the winter
dresses or skirts - Dresses, over the past year I have started wearing more dresses (since I started sixth form) and I really like them!
stripes or plaid - Plaid; iabsolutely adorable!
flip flops or sandals - Sandals; I don't like those things in flipflops that go between your toes
scarves or hats - Hats, like a cute beanie or something
studs or dangly earrings - I don't have my ears pierced but if I did I would wear studs
necklaces or bracelets - Bracelets
heels or flats - Flats; I'm getting better at walking in heels but I would still choose flats over heels any day
cowboy boots or riding boots - Cowboy boots, I couldn't pull them off personally but my friend wears them all the time and they look really cool!
jacket or hoodie - Jacket if I'm dressing up but a hoodie if I really can't be bothered
forever 21 or charlotte russe - Primark?

Hair:

curly or straight - I have straight but I love loose curls
bun or ponytail - Ponytail
bobby pins or butterfly clips - Bobby pins
hair spray or gel - Hair Gel, it's so easy to work with
long or short - My hair is getting quite long now
light or dark - Dark but I want to go ombre (really scared to do this as I've never done anything to my hair but brush and wash it)
side sweep bangs or full bangs - Side sweep bangs
up or down - Down

Random:
Rain or shine - Shine, but not too hot or Rain when I'm inside as it's really calming
Summer or winter - Winter
Fall or spring - Autumn, I love all the crunchy leaves of beautiful colours
Chocolate or vanilla - Vanilla, it's a lot more freshing I think

Hope you enjoyed this tag update, try it youself! It's really fun to look back at your answers later

♥

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*