Possibly the best University in Hampshire? (University of Southampton in general)

Member Name: newb00ts

Product:	University of Southampton in general
Date:	20/02/04 (1970 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great campus, great sports facilities

Disadvantages: a little money orientated

When people think of Southampton as a city what they probably think is that its on the coast (not quite true as its the solent), its a major cruise port, its got a premier league football club and its near to the New Forest. All of the above are true but very few people will say when asked that it has one of the best Universities in the country, a member of the prestigious Russell group.

I came to Southampton as a fresh faced undergraduate in 1997 not sure what to expect. I've been here 7 years now and before leaving this year it seemed like time to write a review of the University. Southampton itself is a thriving and vibrant student city with a student population of over 50,000 and a general population of over 250,000.

----Location----

Southampton has a great location in the center of the south coast around 1 hour drive south of London. It has good road links with the rest of the country, with the M27 and M3 only 10 minutes drive from the city centre. Portsmouth and the channel ferries are only 20 miles away while ferries operate from Southampton itself to the Isle of Wight, a journey of 30 minutes by the fast service and 45 minutes by the car ferry both of which leave from town quay. Southampton also has a large central train station located 5 minutes away from the centre from which it takes between an hour and an hour and a half to get to London Waterloo. Just opposite the train station is a new National Express bus station with regular services to London and the rest of the country. Located just outside the city is the airport, with flights to Guernsey, Jersey and the rest of the UK and Europe, the low cost airline FlyBe also flies from here. The University itself is located 2 miles north of the city centre a significant walk (around 45 minutes) but there are plenty of bus routes linking the two.


----The University----


The University is composed of four main campuses. The principal one (the Highfield c
ampus) is two miles north of the town centre in the Highfield area of the city next to a great expanse of open space called the Common which forms the lungs of the city and on which the annual balloon festival and pop concert are held. Satellite campuses are located at Winchester in the form of the School of Art and down near the docks in Southampton is the internationally renowned Oceanography centre. Arts subjects are taught in a converted school five minutes walk away from the main Highfield campus (the Avenue Campus). The Avenue remains my favourite campus, its smaller than the average secondary school and well designed. It was in fact a school when the University purchased the site and converted it in 1996. It doesn't over power you and its impossible to get lost which for a fresher is important. It even has its own library, courtyard cafe and tennis courts and is probably the most relaxed campus. There is also a campus located close to the city centre called New College which the University is in the process of closing, this deals principally with adult learning. All these campuses are linked through the University?s own bus service (UniLink). All first years receive a years free bus pass for this service.

Iam going to base this review principally around the Highfield campus and the Avenue campus the only two campuses I have personal experience of. The University moved to the Highfield campus from a city centre location in the early 1950's, which coincided with it gaining its University charter. Consequently the Highfield campus is composed mainly of 1960's concrete buildings though this is now starting to change. Within the past 4 years the University has embarked on a major rebuilding and demolition programme, which is now nearing completion. The fruits of this labour are a new nursing building, a new computer science and social science building and a complex containing all the banks, the post office and the book sellers called the Gower
building

The earliest two buildings are the Library, an imposing brick structure which is currently in the process of being refurbished and doubled in size and the west refectory which was the principal student Union in the early days but which is now composed of offices, a bar and a self service restaurant. The main student union buildings built in the dark architectural days of the 1960's is not particulary attractive but over the last few years it has been refurbished and extended to cope with the growing student population. Its now an up to date and modern building with two cafes and two bars as well as a nightclub (the cube) and a cinema.

----Sports----

The main Union building contains the majority of the indoor sports facilities including a four court sportshall, gym and squash courts. At the time of writing the University has embarked on an ambitious building programme to increase and improve the sports facilities. The new 8 court sports hall and olympic size swimming pool located to the south of the main union building are just about to open. This enlargement of the previously woefully inadequate facilities is principally down to the introduction of a Sports Card which has to be purchased to use the Sports facilities (cost £45). You also need to join the Athletic Union which provides you with insurance, this costs around £12 for lifetime membership. Sports wise then the University now has some of the best facilities in the country.


----Clubs and Societies----


A lot of University social life revolves around the clubs and societies, they are also a great place to make friends! Southampton has perhaps the largest number of clubs and societies in the country. They cater for all interests from windsurfing, sailing, paragliding, skiing, mountaineering to badminton, squash and riding. At the start of the University year all the clubs and societies canvas for new members through an event known as the bunfi
ght. I?ve been involved in loads of clubs and believe me its well worth getting involved as many of the activities are heavily subsidised and University will probably be the only place where you can afford to try them.


----Social Life----

The main student social life centres principally around the Halls Bars, the Student Union Bar, the Bridge Bar also in the Students Union and the Cube nightclub. Outside of this complex the principal student pubs are located 10 minutes from the University in the Portswood area and are the Mitre and the Hobbit. Also in Portswood is the renowned Jesters nightclub and Clowns Bar, mainly for the ridiculously cheap happy hour where pints cost around 50p. Be warned though Jesters is not a place to get dressed up to go to its really pretty grimy. Two great pubs which have some character and do good and cheap food are the Crown and Highfield located 5 minutes to the south of the University and near the arts campus.

Away from this area the towncentre and the Leisureworld complex offer further choices for nightlife. Leisureworld is composed of 3 clubs a cinema and a number of bars while just north of the town centre are located two student clubs Rhinos and Academy as well as a number of student pubs notably Avondale House.

----Shopping----

To do that all essential student shopping use Portswood High Street. It contains a wide range of shops including Boots, Iceland, Safeway and Woolworths. From both Portswood and the University frequent bus services run to the town centre (cost around £2 return). The town centre itself contains many specialist shops and chain stores. The massive new West Quay complex contains John Lewis, Waitrose and Marks & Spencers as well as a wide range of smaller shops. The Asda store located just behind another shopping centre called the Marlands is probably the cheapest place to buy food (significantly cheaper than safeway).


----Academically----
r>Southampton has a vast range of subjects on offer in particular the two departments I?ve experienced Law and Archaeology have received the governments highest rating 5* as has computer science and engineering. The University also has a strong international reputation in Chemistry, Medicine and Oceanography. Though I don?t think I can go into depth on the academic side, what I can say is that the larger departments such as law and Chemistry are often very impersonal while the smaller departments such as archaeology and podiatry are much more friendly, within these departments you even manage to get to know your lecturers. Its really worth checking in depth the teaching and research quality of the department you apply to as even at Southampton some of the departments which I won't name are pretty poor.


----Accomodation----

The two principal halls of residence for the main University campus are the Glen Eyre Halls and The Wessex Lane Halls. The Glen Eyre Halls are the closest to the University being only a 10 minute uphill walk away. The Glen Eyre complex is comprised of Hartley Grove (a very new hall and very nice), Southhill also pretty good, Chamberlain a bit more old fashioned, Brunei House not particulary great and Glen Eyre Hall.

Glen Eyre Hall itself is huge and the quality of the accomodation varies considerably with Terrace 2 being the most modern. Glen Eyre Hall itself provides both catered and self catering accomodation, as well as a bar, squash court and gym. Its also situated in landscaped grounds. I spent my first year here and I still think this is the best hall.

The Wessex Lane Halls are around a 20 minute walk away from the University and are usually the second choice accomodation for most students. Montefiore is comprised of a number of outdated blocks as well as some very nice self catering accomodation, like Glen it has a bar and the usual facilities. South Stoneham is the one hall I would advise you t
o avoid. Its situated next to a Grade II listed manor house, which the university uses for conferences and in beautiful grounds. The downside of South Stoneham is that its a towerblock which is strangely grade II listed. Its pretty grim inside with the kitchens and bathrooms being really quite bad. Due to a recent lack of accomodation the University has also started to put two students in each room at least at the start of term.

If you want a smaller hall then Highfield located 2 minutes from the Avenue Campus is the place to be. I've been told by many people thats it's the friendliest of all the halls. One word of warning in relation to the accomodation. After having talked to many friends and having experienced them myself I feel justified in saying that the accomodation office at the University is one of the most unhelpful anywhere.

----To Conclude----

Southampton is a great University I've had the best years of my life here and I would not have wanted to go anywhere else. Just be careful in choosing the right hall and course for you. Its often easier to change a course than it is to change a hall