The Time of My Life!!! (University of Wales, Aberystwyth in general)

Member Name: PrincessAngharad

Product:	University of Wales, Aberystwyth in general
Date:	18/06/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Such a great Uni town

Disadvantages: 2hrs from a big city/town

I have just finished a three year Law degree at Aberystwyth. If your looking to strudy in a friendly Uni in a smallish town this place is for you.

There are lots of benefits of stydying at Aberytwyth for e.g:
*Smallish town so within a few weeks you will know a lot of faces and make plently of friends, unlike city uni's where you may never see them again.
*close-knit cammpus with plenty of facilities.

Accomodation:
*In fist year I stayed at Rosser Halls, which are self-catering and have theyre own en-suite, the downside is that the rooms are tiny and the wardrobes are even smaller. If you do not mind aharing a bathroom i would urge you to live in the newly re-furbished Penbryn, which is a more socialble and esy option as all your meals are included and will eat with your mates every day.
*In second year i lived in a shared rented house in the town- ours was a dump, so I'd look around before committing to one place. Do not sign a lease aggreement untill your certain. Check the ?Uni list for the best places to live and check them out in plenty of time.
* In third year i stayed in town but i would urge you to live in the student village Pentre Jane Morgan PJM which are student houses that are clean and hall-like. this is close to the campus which is important in your final year.

Univerity Facitilities:
The Uni have brilliant facilities from extensive libraries to its own cinema.
*Lecture theatres are large and roomy and the library will contain every book you need for the course (and you can recomnebd it if it isnt there). The library allows you to borrow up to 15 books a time which is handy come essay time. You will be given your own email on arrival and this will entitl you to acess the uni's intranet and computing and printing suite. Your library card also doubles up as a NUS card and ID card to get into the Student Union.
*On campus is the Aberystwyth Arts Centre which contains art galleries (usually showing modern and inspiring work), Its own theatre (showing a range of plays from Macbeth to Little Shop of Horrors), a waterstones (where students get a 10% discount on coursebooks and general books), and its own cinema (which shows modern films as well as classics, they also have film festivals such as Abertoir at Halloween showing a variety of horror films, I appriciated the foreign films on show which otherwise i would have had to get on DVD).
*Eating on campus: SAtudents have the opputunity tro purchase a loyalty card to buy food on Campus- this is so worthwhile (get your parents to get you one and top it up every term) as food bought with this card is so cheap. Branwens situated in Penbryn halls is spectactular serving everything you could desire, cooked dinners, jacket potatoes, sandwiches, salad bar and my fav chinese takeaway (which comes in the boxes you see on friends) you can also get a goo hot chocolate here too. The union has a shop which is reasonably priced and you can buy sandwiches pot noodles and crisps from here (as well as stationary, gifts, rent DVDs etc). Downstairs in the Union is a canteen which do gorge baguettes made fresh in front of you as well as pizza, curly fries etc. (particularly useful after a night out in the union). The Art Center has three cafes and one canteen, which serves the most amazing cakes (meet up with friends here, take your parents here when they visit). Nosh da is a fast food joint open all night for your pizza pleasure. Also Co-op is situated really close to campus along with a newsagents and chippy- so you wont starve on campus.

Societies and Sports Clubs:
As someone who has now finished Uni i will pass on my wisdom and urge you to join a society or sports club. Go along to freshers fayre and sign up to anything that takes your fancy- this is where you willmeet your greatest friends in Aber. Lets face it in halls you are put with whoever the uni decides and so this is your oppurtunity to meet like minded people who have the interests asd you. these groups vary from the weirld wonderful to the wonderfully weird and include all your egular sports groups to paintballing and Urban Dance, Drama groups to Video gaming socials. You will meet up with these people to practise and get involved and then most importantly party with them. Socials usually take place on a wednesday night and will have you in fancy dress all year. Please join a group as it will make your uni experience complete- i promise.

Thing to do in the area:
*Aber lacks entertainment in some ways but you have the arts center which you should take absolute advantage of, as well as the local (one screen) cinema that shows a new film each week. Make it an occasion amoungst your friends- its one of those cinemas where people dress in fancy dress to reflect the film and they stop for ice cream in the middle.
*The beach is amazing and any sunny day you should deffo hit it. Aber is also surrounded by welsh coastal towns whicgh boast lovely beaches too. Get a bus to Newquay or cardigan where you can get a boat trip and see the dolphins. Take a train to Boirth, to go surfing or to visit the Animalarioum (which houses eveything from monkey and reptiles, to kangaroos and a leopard). Devils bridge is a great day out you can catch the little train and go on an enchanted walk down jacobs ladder waterfalls.
*The peir is a sight to be seen in houses resturants, a club, a 24hr cocktrail bar and pizza place, a DVD rental place and a casino/arcade. save up your 2ps and head there for a laugh.
*Castell Rock is a music festival in Aber and feautures a range of bands including Radio Luxembourg and Cerys Matthews last year.

Shopping:
Aber has some big name shops such as Dorothy Perkins, New Look, Monsoon, Claires, Thortntons, Animal, Officers Club, Burtons, whsmiths and waterstones. But its best shopping comes in the orm of its boutiques which feauture one-off dresses, acndles nad trinkets to delight you. look out for Pollys, Her Dandy Wolfe, Pink Flamingo, Cafe Society and Gusto.
Aber also has a retail park which has the following:
Matalan, Peacocks, Pets at Home, Sainsburys, Brantanto, Iceland, Store 21, Argos and Lidl. Supermarkets in the town also include Morrisons. If you really want to shop get an £8 return train tickets to Shrewsbury for the day.

Nightlife:
This is where Aber is in its element there are approx 56 pubs in Aber town alone.
On Campus: Court Mawr bar has regular pub quizzes and Pound party nights- a good place to start. The union is excellent open evry night with something different on each night, such as reload on awednesday (feauturing cheesy old schol tunes), Quids in on a friday (cheap drinks and current music), on saturdays theres usually a fancy dress theme. The union has a bar and a club.
Pubs: There are too many to mention so i'll just include my favourites. Downies Vaults is the ultimate student pub, with a friendly atmosphere to a mad-cap landlord downies is th e place to be feautring the Aber Admiral with is a Quadrupal vodka and redbull for £3.50. The Cambrian is a good student place with its walss covered in Cockatails recipes and cockatils at £4 a glass. The mill feautres the mill challenge which is a lineup of 10 shots and a free t-shirt on completion. Aber has usual chain bars such as wetherspoons, Varsity and Salt for your cheap faves. The glengower is on the seafront and boasts the best views over the beach. Go there before sunset and watch the sun dissapear into the sea. Kanes is a sports bar that your can get cheap doubles, this is a popular scieties spot. The acadmenyis one of them rare places whichis a feast for the eyes, once a church now transformed into a nightspot, whilst keeping its organ pipes and pullpit. This is a good place to have a tipple. For a more alternative scene try the Angel. For a range of good Ales try he Ship and Castle. Scholars is a brill place with live music, as is Rummers hich looks like a pirate bar with barrells and candles and good wine.
Nightclubs: mosts students will head up to the unon or go to the Pier pressure nightclub situated on the pier- this is the best place to go with a variety of music is is paid entry and only has cheap drinks and promotions on a thusday- if you go to the pub next to it Inn on the pier you can get a stamp and free entry before 11pm into the main club- this place has a 24hr pizza place as well as kareoke nights. Yokos (or Y-knot as its now named) is a good spot to go on a tuesday or before heading to Pier pressure. As the main clubs close at 2pm most student head to the Bay wgich stays open till 4pm and feautures a range of rooms complete with their own style of music in each. The Angel again is a good spot for alternative music.

Transport:
*Buy a bus pass at £30 and this gives you unlimited free travel around Aber for a whole year. Handy when your too lazy too walk up and down constitutional hill.
*Aber has millions of taxis. the taxi reank is near whertherspoons but mini ranks develop at chucking out time up the union and near pier pressure.
* A Rail card at £30 for the year will give you discounted travel.
*Aber isnt too good for car users as you will have to buy a pass to park and live on campus and pay and display each day- no free student parking. Also parking in the town is limited.

Eating Out:
*cafes: Caffi Blue is lovely, full of fairy lights and books that you can swap. The orange tree is a stylish place and good for desert. Freshly ground is another good one. There are two Spartacus shops in town and these serve yummy paninis and baguettes. Mgs is a cheap coffee shop. Aber also has a Costa Coffee.
*fastfood: Macdonalds, KFC a range of Pizza places, chinese resturants (the best is the Hounoured Guest), Indian takeaways (The light of Asia is the best).
Resturants: this is my pick of the best. Little Italy provides excellent Italian food in a cosy environment. Wasabi is our Sushi bar and is amazing. The Light of Asia is gorgeous Indian Food. The olive Branch is a selection of ecclectic greek dishes. La Taberna is the local tapas bar and i love it there. And tides on the front is a good seafood resturant and place for Sunday Dinner Cavery.

I really enjoyed my time at Aberystwyth Uni and hope that this review of mainly the life as an aber student may help any budding students out there. Ive made some great friends and had some brilliant times. Its a great oppurtunity to live at the beach (once you get used to the seagulls) make the most of this oppurtunity and take up a watersport. In all just enjoy is for what it is. Work hard thats what your there for but play hard as it will be the time of your life.

Hope this review helps xxx

Summary: Make the most of every day that your there.