University Open Days

I've been on quite a few open days to various unis recently. Two weeks ago, we went up to Chester which is a bloody long drive away, something like five hours. It's also around 200 miles away from home but there are trains so it's not a big problem. The campus was pretty nice and the accommodation was lovely - really spacious and bright and airy. With a garden. Bonus! I really liked the look of it and it's all fairly campus based which is something I really like. The town is also absolutely lovely and I know I sound like such an old lady right now, but the architecture is amazing. 

www.bbc.co.uk

On Wednesday, I took a look around the Royal Holloway, University of London. Oh my god. It's so beautiful, and also mega hard to get into which isn't so good. It's about an hour's drive from my home which is good but they don't really do the course I want which is a bit of shame - they do English lit with creative writing but not English language with it, bummer, especially as the lecturers were so passionate and animated. The accommodation is fab, all sparkly and modern but with eight people to a flat. Is that a bit much? I don't know. Anyway, like Chester, everything is all in one place and it looks like Hogwarts. Both inside and outside. The only problem is that there are two villages near it and nothing else. Wave goodbye to nightlife. I don't think I'll be applying to here but it's absolutely beautiful and just looking around it was a treat. (Plus I got a free notepad, pen, bag, and bar of chocolate!)

royalhollowaymarketing.blogspot.com

Yesterday I visited the University Gloucestershire which was my first choice when I shortlisted a few unis, and is still my first choice having been there. It's just over two hours away from home which is perfect, I think. The Francis Hall Close campus is for humanities so it's the one we visited and I absolutely loved it. This uni has so much more of a community vibe than the others I've been to or read about and the facilities are amazing. The content of the course is also exactly the kind of thing I'm interested in and so many of the lecturers have books or research papers published. It's inspiring. The accommodation is kind of bleh but apparently it's average and the only other two I have to compare it to are exceptional. Either way, I don't mind a great deal because the course is exactly what I want.

www.eauc.org.uk

I have a few more open days booked for a few months' time for Essex, Hertfordshire and Anglia Ruskin which I'm pretty excited for. If you're at this uni-hunting stage, which ones are you interested in? 

Song of the day:

Wasting My Young Years - London Grammar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkeDBwsIaZw