Do I really have to graduate or can I stay at Warwick for the rest of my life? (University of Warwick in general)

Member Name: Emily_09

Product:	University of Warwick in general
Date:	07/11/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great facilities, staff and social life

Disadvantages: Hard work!

As a 2009 fresher, I have been at Warwick for a grand total of five weeks now and thought that it was about time that I shared my experiences of the university so far with my fellow Do-yooers.

Why did I choose Warwick University?
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To be perfectly honest, I only really chose to apply to this university on a whim. As many of you will know if you have ever applied to university through UCAS, it requires you to submit 5 or 6 applications for places on different courses and one day, after trying to decide which universities to apply to, I saw that Warwick looked quite nice in it's prospectus and chose the uni as one of my options.

The entry requirements were the highest of all my offers, at ABB and so I wasn't really holding out much hope. I wasn't too bothered at first, until I visited the university on one of their many open days and fell in love with the place, deciding that if I didn't get in I would take a gap year and apply again next year. By some miracle, however, I managed to get my results and so, at the end of September I packed my life into boxes and embarked on my Warwick life.

Accommodation
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As a very girly girl, one of my most taxing choices when it came to preparing myself for university life was choosing which accommodation that I wanted to live in. I couldn't find many reviews that truly gave an honest opinion on the different places to live so here is a brief review of the accommodation that I have seen of it already.

Rootes: Rootes is the accommodation that I'm currently living in and I love it. What the website doesn't tell you, however, is that there are two areas of Rootes, Old Rootes and New Rootes. I'm in New Rootes and feel lucky to be here. The rooms are really nice and relatively modern whilst the kitchens are just the right size and have all of the appliances that you need. Rootes is seen as the liveliest area to live in and I would definitely agree that the night times here can be mad!

Old Rootes isn't as nice inside as New Rootes as its quite a bit more dated, however the party atmosphere is the same and I would definitely recommend applying here if you like a sociable and friendly atmosphere. The only disadvantage is that it can be a bit too noisy when you're trying to work or sleep but just invest in some ear plugs and you'll be fine!

Arthur Vick and Jack Martin: These are seen as the nicest areas of accommodation as they have nicer décor, and the en suites that everyone craves for. They have a nice feel to them and a little bit of luxury can't hurt, but sharing a bathroom is part of the fun of living in the less expensive areas like Rootes and if you're going to fully embrace the student life you really don't need your own bathroom.

Whitefield's
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Whitefield's is one of the least appealing areas to live in, in my opinion. The flats are like little two storey houses and, although they are situated right near to the union they look a bit too dated inside for my liking. I also prefer living in a big block as opposed to a little house with only a few rooms but then again it's down to personal preference really.

Westwood
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The main problem with Westwood is that it's so far from the central campus! It's about a half an hour walk from the union so if you're planning on spending most of your nights getting wasted in bars on campus, Westwood may not be the best choice for you. That said, however, the rooms aren't bad and there seems to be quite a community feel in Westwood as they are so far out, so if you don't mind being away from the central campus you may want to apply here.

There are other areas of undergraduate accommodation, including Claycroft, Tocil and Cryfield but although I haven't heard anything bad about these areas I can't really comment on them as I don't know enough about them yet! The ones I've mentioned so far seem to be the most popular however so bear that in mind when applying for accommodation.


Academic life
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Although it may not seem like it at times, academic work constitutes a major part of your time at Warwick and the work standards here definitely aren't for the lazy. The university is ranked sixth in the country and so doesn't have room for letting standards slip. For this reason, the workload here is very intense and students are constantly being pushed to work harder to maintain the great reputation that the university has worked so hard to build up.

This good reputation definitely has it's advantages however! I'm studying languages and couldn't ask for a more supportive lecturers and tutors. They are all experts in their field and it amazes me just how clever and confident in their approach to teaching that all the staff here are. You really feel the benefits of being taught by the best as the lectures are engaging and invaluable in helping you develop the required knowledge for your degree.


Social life
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Although the academic load is tough, you will definitely find plenty of time to do other things and the campus has loads to keep you entertained. The Union boasts a variety of bars and restaurants where you can grab some food or just chill out with some drinks. The price of food isn't too bad and although the drinks aren't particularly cheap they are pretty standard prices. As well as the bars, you can spend some time relaxing in the on campus pub the 'Dirty Duck' which always has a great, lively atmosphere and does a great Sunday carvery for £4.95.

The Student Union has only just recently been refurbished and is now pretty impressive. 'The Copper Rooms' is the name of the new on-site nightclub that has two floors and a couple of bars inside. Something goes on here pretty much every night from comedy nights to appearances from top DJs. In freshers week we had everyone from Tinchy Stryder and Chase and Status to Simon Bird from the Inbetweeners and there are loads more events coming up before Christmas. The only bad thing about the Copper Rooms is that they can get really packed and it can be a bit claustrophobic at times. Also, tickets sell out pretty quickly so you need to be fast to get in on the events that you like the sound of.

Off campus nights are also quite popular and buses run from the campus to Coventry and Leamington Spa, both of which are good on student nights. Coventry is also good in the day for a shopping trip and the bus will only cost you around £2.90 return.


Other Campus facilities
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As Warwick is a campus based university it is important that everything you need is close by. The facilities on site include; small branches of the main banks, a post office, Costcutters, laundrette, health centre, pharmacy and huge library for all your work related needs. There is also an impressive Arts Centre which has it's own cinema that shows a wide range of films and attracts many different comedians, stage groups and other performers from Jimmy Carr to Julian Clary.

Costcutters is fine for getting the odd bits of food but to do your main shop it works out much cheaper to visit the nearby Tesco. When I say nearby, it isn't exactly close and the 15-20 minute walk with heavy bags is a killer. It's nice to have a large supermarket nearby, however, and not being able to buy too much at a time isn't always a bad thing! The Tesco is situated in a small shopping centre that also has a tiny New Look, Boots, Wilkinson's and Iceland as well as a few other shops which are all handy when you need to pick up a few bits.


Overall, although I have only been at Warwick for 5 weeks, I feel really at home here and am so glad that I managed to get the grades to get into the university. I've made loads of friends here already and everyone is really friendly giving the university a nice atmosphere to live in. If your thinking of applying to university next year I would definitely consider Warwick, as it really is one of the best decisions that I've ever made!

Summary: 5 stars for a great uni