Reading University (University of Reading in general)

Member Name: Roebuck

Product:	University of Reading in general
Date:	25/09/00 (446 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good atmosphere, plenty to do

Disadvantages: Pricy

Okay, so Reading is not many peoples first choice of university, in fact of the people I know best in three years of study very few say that Reading was the place they most wanted to be. It is not a cheap place to live, and it is hardly one of the most attractive towns in England, but it tries hard!

Reading's town is increasingly geared towards students and young people, you will never be short of a place to get beer or cocktails especially since the building of the new Oracle centre where bars such as Brannigans, Bar Med and Old Orleans are predominant. In competition with these the town main street has also opened a lot of places such as the new Irish bar O'Neills and three Weatherspoon pubs, offering cheap drinks and food.The opening of this centre has also increased the amount of shops by a third, and this is increasing all of the time.

For those of you that pregfer the clubbing to the pubbing scene, most of the new pubs have late licences, and there are plenty of clubs to chose from including Utopia (very trendy), RG1's (nicknamed shites), Level One's (are you sure you're 18) and the After Dark (some people call it a dive but its got a great atmosphere). Also for the more adventurous LOdon is only a short train trip away (trian fare about a tenner return)where there are the fam0ous clubs such as Ministry of Sound.

The University itself uis situated just outside of the town centre, with regular buses to and from town, and most student accomodation is within easy walking or cycling distance. On both the main and Bulmershe campuses there are shops and bars, with the bars providing different entertainment every night including bar footsie and bar golf, great chances to get absolutely wrecked. Live bands over the last three years have included Placebo, Hot Chocolate, Atomic Kitten, Texas and others.

The Halls of Residence range greatly in price and also in terms of the facilties they offer, although all halls
have their own bar and computer access including free internet and E-Mail. Accomodation ranges from shared rooms with wash basins and shared facilities to en-suite bedrooms with their own shower rooms and toilets (nice but pricy). The atmosphere is good in all the halls I have visited, meeting new people and arranging things to do are never difficult. Most people will find a place in halls in entering University, and there is plenty of rented accomdation available for when you get bored in living in halls, but this is not as cheap as in other places in the UK ranging from around £200 - £300 per month.

The University has a huge range of sports and games club ranging from your traditional football to role playing, outdoor pursuits such as canoeing, abseiling, paintballing and hand gliding, and for the lazier of you also beer appreciation and wine tasting. All of these clubs are easy to join, the majority showing up on the two days of freshers fayre, and all having their own notice board in the Students Union main building.

Both Bulmershe and the main campus have cash points on site, on the main campus this is Lloyd's bank where the staff offer finacial advice as well as arranging those ever important student overdrafts.

Summary: