University

[Polka.dot]

did any members here go to uni? if so which and for what course? ppl thinking of going to uni and which ones they want to go to can post here too.

[Ruth*Star]

I'm still in school and I'm thinking about when i go to uni in 3ish years time i want to do some sort of business study because i want to be a real estate agent.

[Red Moon]

University of Teesside - Chemistry (Degree)
University of Brighton - Computing/Digital Electronics (MSc)
University of Durham - Parallel Computing and Telecommunications (Research assistant)
University of Leeds - Traffic Management Systems, Artificial Intelligence and Vehicle Growth Forecasting (Senior Research assistant)

[MarkWaldorf]

Lmao Red, check you out! :laugh:

I'm thinking about it. I've been told with the right A-Levels I could transfer to an American University, which I would like to do.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by MarkChap?!
Lmao Red, check you out! :laugh:

I was bored after I left school..... LOL

[Shaun]

I've applied with the UCAS scheme, and my 5 choices are, in order:

University of Exeter - English
University of Exeter - English and German (BA Combined Honours)
LSE - Politics
University of Exeter - Politics
University of Cardiff - English.

[Red Moon]

LSE is the one to do politics at I would have thought, but the others are not so far from home I guess. Good luck with your choices and I hope the grades you get offered are not to high.

[Lauren]

About to do :

Psychology BSc - Lancaster University.

Later will be doing :

Psychology PHd - Durham University.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Lauren
Psychology PHd - Durham University.

Why Durham although it is very good the following have better research records:

University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
University of Newcastle
University of Oxford
University of Reading
University College London
University of York
University of Glasgow
University of St Andrews
University of Wales, Bangor
Cardiff University

[Lauren]

Cambridge and Oxford are definitely out of my reach. Thanks for the list though, I automatically assumed that Durham came 3rd in terms of "PHd Uni's"... I'd be interested in St Andrews/Glasgow/Cardiff... going to check those 3 out.

[gracie24]

Applying through UCAS in a few months:

Aston University - Psychology (4 year sandwich course)
Brunel University - Psychology (4 year sandwich course)
Coventry University - Psychology
Nottingham Trent University - Psychology and Criminology
Sheffiled Hallam University - Psychology

then I'm decided afterwards whether I'm going to do my Masters or PHd, definitely going to do either but not sure which one :)

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Lauren
Cambridge and Oxford are definitely out of my reach. Thanks for the list though, I automatically assumed that Durham came 3rd in terms of "PHd Uni's"... I'd be interested in St Andrews/Glasgow/Cardiff... going to check those 3 out.

There was a research assessment of Universities back in 2001. You can get the results here:

http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/Pubs/4_01/

The next one is due to take place in 2008. You should have time to check that one out before you finally apply for you PhD.

All the Universities I listed were graded 5* - which means - Research quality that equates to attainable levels of international excellence in a majority of sub-areas of activity and attainable levels of national excellence in all others.

[Billy]

I really want to go to Uni (strathclyde i think) to do a media course

[Red Moon]

Just a thought, I posted the link for the research assessment for Universities, but that just gives you there research rating so you know your in the right place to get your PhD.

Getting a degree is different and you need to look at a different site to see how good the place you are going to is for a particular subject. At degree level Universities are inspected by the QAA and they write reports on each individual department. The Reports can be found from the link below:

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/instIndex.asp

Hope that helps you decide where you want to go.

[Lauren]

Thanks for the Uni help Red :thumbs:
I'm bookmarking it all then comparing different Uni's.

[CassetteFinger]

I dont think i could get into uni well it must be easy all sorts seem to be able to get in these days.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Rice_Square
I dont think i could get into uni well it must be easy all sorts seem to be able to get in these days.

You could always look into to getting the qualifications to do a Foundation Degree or a HND/HNC which are a bit easier than a Honors Degree and then may be convert it later.

You can normally do Foundation Degree or a HND/HNC at a College so you don't have to move away from home. You will also find the teacher/lecturer to student ratio is much lower so you tend to get more personal support in class.

One advantage about a college is you can start there at 16 and go for vocational A levels and move onto one of these higher qualifications without even leaving home. Even if you got really bad GCSE's the college will offer courses to get you up to the standard to do the vocational A levels. :thumbs:

[Lauren]

Originally posted by Rice_Square
I dont think i could get into uni well it must be easy all sorts seem to be able to get in these days.

It depends which University.

The more prestigious Universities have entry requirements like AAA-BBB, then there are the middle Uni's (that are still good) from BBB-CCC, then there are other Uni's that are usually ex-polytechnics which usually require lower than CCC (it doesn't mean these are bad Uni's, it depends on which subject you're doing and whether it's vocational or not).

Edit: Posted this before I saw Red's post - yes, there is always the option of HND's etc for if you're not ready for the step up straight to Uni.

[dupin]

I'd like to go to study English Language at Bristol University.

[Benji]

I am going to Huddersfield Uni. I have my Interveiw in May. I am doing a Ba(Hons) in Primary Education 3-7 years.

[gracie24]

Originally posted by Rice_Square
I dont think i could get into uni well it must be easy all sorts seem to be able to get in these days.

I don't mean to be offensive but getting into Uni isn't easy, well it certainly hasn't been easy for me. I'm working very hard right now and I'd hate to be put into the cateorgy as one of the people who is part of the "all sorts" that "seem to be able to get in these days."

[Benji]

I agree ^ - it certainly is hard to get into uni -

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Benji
I am going to Huddersfield Uni. I have my Interveiw in May. I am doing a Ba(Hons) in Primary Education 3-7 years.

Here is the department review:

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectLevel/q297_01_textonly.htm

I'm not sure what the highest grade is it could be 4. They changed the grading in 2002 and I never knew the old system.

[Benji]

WOW - red ur just jam packed full of usefull all be it sometimes useless information!

[CassetteFinger]

I see i only got 1 d thats was the highest grade i got now im redoing a year of GCSE again and im only allowed to retake english and maths such a piss take.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Rice_Square
I see i only got 1 d thats was the highest grade i got now Im redoing a year of GCSE again and Im only allowed to retake english and maths such a p**s take.

Where are you retaking them? And what other grades did you get (the subjects are unimportant)?

[CassetteFinger]

At my secondary school i carried on well i got
1-D
3-E's
1-F
1-G
1-U

[Red Moon]

You could go to a college and do a level 1 qualification that would give you 4 D's at the end of year. While you are doing the that course you could also study extra maths and english and retake those at GCSE level.

Next year you take a level 2 qualification which lasts another years and that will give you 4 C's.

Now we are rolling because with 4C's you can start a level 3 course that will get you to University.

Okay it's taken longer than most people to get there, but with hard work you can get there. School isn't for everyone and sometimes they mess up. I know people that have worked hard get HND's, Foundation Degree's or even Honors Degrees with the grades you have got. Just takes the right type of teaching and approach.

So why not you?

Also while you are doing this you can pick a subject area you are good and drop the area's you don't like.

Give your local college a call and go see them. It still might not be too late to start.

[Lauren]

Good luck Rice_Square, you can do it!
Nothing is ever out of anyones reach.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Lauren
Good luck Rice_Square, you can do it!
Nothing is ever out of anyones reach.

I agree Lauren, you just have to believe in yourself.

[CassetteFinger]

Wow thanks guys red thats so much help thanks and thanks lauren for the good luck :D

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Rice_Square
Wow thanks guys red thats so much help thanks and thanks lauren for the good luck :D

You can do it... just believe in yourself.... Lauren's good luck will get you started and you can do the rest

Prove that school wrong and when you get as far as you want to go... take all the qualifications and wave them in their sorry face and tell them where to go :thumbs:

[Matt08]

I think that exams are a bad way to see what someone's ability is like. Some people worry in exams and get worked up so they don't get the grades they deserve.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Matthew
I think that exams are a bad way to see what someone's ability is like. Some people worry in exams and get worked up so they don't get the grades they deserve.

I agree and that is where vocational courses come in. Not everyone is good at exams. Even the Universities have noted this and course work is an important part of any degree.

Once you leave School what value does the coaching in how to pass exams have? Very little. It's good for Government league tables but it's no measure of a person.

Rice Square is a good example of how the system fails people through the examination system. I'm sure he has more potential then his results would suggest. He has been wasted by the system.

For him it is time to prove them wrong and show he is not going to be beaten.

[Lauren]

This is why FE colleges with vocational routes are very important - although they have an examination element, they also take into account the indvidual and determination through hard work to allow someone to get far, despite them not being able to vomit facts like a robot (which, generally, most exams require despite this not showing any real intellect).

Red's advice is sound - do it for yourself, but also do it to throw it back in the face of anyone who thought you couldn't do it - and this is the one of the main things that I personally attribute to me getting into University.

From primary school they thought I had dyscalculia whereby I couldn't do maths - at all. I passed my maths GCSE just to show them that with the right encouragement on their part I could have gained even higher.
Then, I was in hospital during my AS levels so every single one of my teachers lowered my predicted A Level grades to CCC and below - so on results day when I got ABB(last was a C but coursework is being remarked as it was 2 marks off) not only did I feel proud of myself but I felt happy that I was able to show teachers that sometimes encouragement is all it takes.

(Actually... I'll quickly outline a sociological study done on this; they found that if they made pupils take fake mock tests and then randomly selected 50% of students and told the teacher that those were the ones that were going to pass because of their "mock" scores - the teachers showed them more encouragement and it turns out that despite being randomly selected they all were the top achievers in the forthcoming examinations).

I appear to have gone off on a tangent here - but the moral of my story is this: Don't let anyone make you believe you can't do something, because all that means is they've given you ground to prove them wrong.

[Legend]

I'm thinking of Uni, thinking of a lot of diff courses and a lot of diff Uni's to go to ... preferably far away.

Luckily I don't even have to start going to open days or applying for another year.

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Legend
I'm thinking of Uni, thinking of a lot of diff courses and a lot of diff Uni's to go to ... preferably far away.

Luckily I don't even have to start going to open days or applying for another year.

Good luck and I hope the links help you find one that is good at what you want to do.

Ask them if they have access to this site from campus, we would hate to lose you.

[Tom4784]

I was going to go to Uni but I decided against it, I'll be happy enough with my college qualifications.

[gracie24]

I'm applying this year and I'm really worried about writing my personal statement!

[Bells]

I’m going through the application process this year, but a year early. I'm kind of glad because I want to take a gap year, particularly to sort my A levels out - I'm not doing too well at the moment. I'm doing difficult subjects and expect to get ABC, but would like to get higher for university.

[James]

I have a Software Engineering Honours degree. Before that I did an HNC/HND at college so I recommend that route also. :hugesmile:

[sol]

I'm going to the University of Southampton to do BA History in 2 days! :bigsmile:

[Matt08]

Good luck Sol!