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Which University?
Know what subject you want
to study?
Found out which universities teach this subject?
But - which one is
for you?
Choosing HE courses – checklist
Do I want to live there?
Where is it?
- How far away is it from
home?
- Is it in a city centre,
suburb, small town, in the country?
- Is it on a single campus
or on multi-sites?
What about living costs
and accommodation?
- How much does it cost to
live there?
- Will I be guaranteed university
accommodation in my first year?
- How easy/costly is it to
get private houses and flats after the first year?
- How far will I have to
travel from where I live to the university. What
are the buses like?
What about the other students?
- How many students are there?
- What’s the student mix?
Young/mature? Full-time/part-time? Local/UK/Overseas? Male/female?
What’s the social life
like?
- Students’ union?
- University clubs and societies?
- Pubs and clubs?
- Music scene?
- Cinemas and theatres?
- Sport and outdoor?
- Shops?
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HOT
TIP!
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Go and have look for yourself.
Invest in a coach or rail card and attend university open days.
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Will I get in?
You might want them – but
will they want you! Courses at popular universities tend to be harder to get into, as one way for universities
to reduce the amount of applications they get is to ask for higher grades.
Of course this will vary by subject.
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HEALTH WARNING!
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Popularity is not the same
as quality! Check out the quality of teaching and research in different university
departments.
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Check out the quality of teaching and research in different university departments. You can get this information
from some league tables, prospectuses or by asking students via university bulletin boards on the
internet.
League tables should be viewed with some suspicion. Some adjust the rating by looking at the grades universities ask for. Therefore, a
university will geta slightly higher rating if it asks for A and B grades rather than Cs and Ds.
This kind of assessment will always 'skew' the rating in favour of most traditional universities,
as the newer universities will still tend to ask for slightly lower grades.
Newer universities may well be far more likely to offer sandwich courses, allowing you to get a year's
work experience. This undoubtedly gives you valuable job skills and could well make you more employable in the future.
Another good research tool is to contact the Careers Service for each university and look at the figures for graduates
from a specific course.
Got special requirements?
For advice on facilities
for disabled students visit the SKILL site.
Visit HE Links to get answers
to some of the questions on this page.
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