It's Not So Grim Up North (University of York in general)

Member Name: low_rider

Product:	University of York in general
Date:	28/04/09 (461 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great university in a fantastic city

Disadvantages: Not the most attractive of campuses, beware the lake full of duck poo!

Going to university is one of the most exciting periods of your life - adults always tell you to make the most of it (in that thoroughly annoying way they have); you are in a place surrounded by like-minded, intelligent people who will go on to be some of your closest friends, and you are still young enough to know everything and be absolutely right in all your opinions. I am now in my final term here at York, and all in all, I am so glad that I came.

The University:

Located (obviously enough) in the city of York in North Yorkshire, it is a modern campus-based university built in the '60s. It is about two miles outside the city walls, so is close enough that you can easily get into town either by walking or by bus (there is a bus route, the no. 4, serviced by a number of highly phallic purple bendy buses that come every 10 minutes), but distant enough that it does feel like a campus - a lot of people like to have a campus as it means that everything is self-contained, so if you prefer campus universities to the kind spread out all over a city, then this would be for you. The only exception to this is King's Manor; a collection of beautiful old buildings right in the heart of the city nextto the art gallery where a lot of tutors have their offices, and is also a centre for postgrad teaching.

The University is built around an artificial lake, known to contain several thousand types of bacteria due to the fact that, even though it is only about 5 feet deep, the bottom two feet of that consist of duck, goose and swan faeces, of which the university has a more than abundant supply. Every year during Fresher's Week some idiot decides to jump in, and then has to go to hospital to be immunised. The lake is quite a pleasant feature; unfortunately, due to the fact it is artificial, when it was built all the flora and fauna were introduced at once, and as a result a balanced equilibrium of the eco-system never developed. This means it turns green in Spring and occasionally smells. The propectus for the university makes the uni look beautiful; this is because it shows a lot of pictures of King's Manor, Heslington Hall (a lovely local manor house next to the university that used to be owned by the Lords Deramore but is now administritive buildings for the uni), and a lot of attractive shots of the lake, with the rather grim pebble-dashed concrete blocks that comprise the rest of the uni only just peaking in the corner of the picture. What was the appeal of concrete to the free-loving, psychadelic nature of the '60s we shall never know, but suffice to say the buildings are really quite unattractive - and, being so unattractive, have of course won several architectural awards. There are several more modern buildings, including James and Alcuin College, which are nice enough, but unless you are a fan of concrete the university is not all that nice to look at. The creme de la creme of the concrete monstrosities is Central Hall, the biggest venue in the university capable of seating several thousand, which sits by the lake looking, depending on whom you talk to, either like a spaceship or a giant pimple.

However, we should never judge a book by its cover, and despite its unattractiveness it is still a great university.

Currently in development is the Heslington East complex; a new addition to the university which will be a whole new campus, increasing the university's capacity twofold. We can only hope that they aren't bewitched by the lure of pebble-dashing...

The Colleges:

The university opeates on a collegiate system. Currently, there are eight colleges: Langwith, Derwent, Vanbrugh, Goodricke,, James, Alcuin, Halifax and Wentworth. Wentworth is the postgrad college (although postgrads do pop up in other colleges as well). Each college has its own JCRC (Junior Common Room Committee, the undergrad college council), classrooms and lecture theatres (with the exception of Halifax), halls of accomodation, cafe, common room and bar. Langwith College has the newly built Student Union venue, which is called the Courtyard and is run by YUSU, the York University Student's Union. The university itself runs the rest of the college bars, so they offer very cheap drinks, but whilst the Courtyard is more expensive, all profits go back to the students via YUSU, and it is also one of the nicest bars on campus.

Each college is responsible for its own administration by the Senior Staff such as the Provost as well as the JCRC. Colleges organise their own events - film nights, quiz nights, bar crawls etc. which are always very cheap, as the prices are normally just to cover costs. Each college (with the exception of James and Goodricke, which share) has its own Porter's Lodge, who for the most part are friendly souls, happy to help out in times of need, such as when you manage to lock yourself out of your room after taking your shower and have nothing but a towel on. Each college also produces their own merchandise, for the most part the ubiquitous hoodie - that key symbol of student life.

Halls of acommodation:

Students are encouraged to spend their first year within halls, and I think it is a good idea as it is a good way to meet people. There is a discussion board for the uni halls on Dooyoo, so I won't talk about them for too long. Suffice to say that they are fairly hit and miss; the older colleges - Langwith, Derwent, Goodricke and Vanbrugh - are renowned for the poor quality of their halls, with Goodricke widely agreed to have some of the worst. You can choose whether to have ensuite accomodation (obviously for a price) or to share bathrooms, and there is also the provision for single-sex corridors and floors if that is a particular issue for you. I believe that most of the university accomodation are self-catering, but there is a meal scheme, called the MAD scheme, which allows you to buy vouchers in bulk to use in the canteens for your meals at a discounted price. Vanbrugh College has recently been built a set of new halls, but it is pot luck whether you get something nice or something really rather dingy. Hopefully, however, once Hes East is built, the standards of accomodation will improve.

You pay the university rent, so the university acts as your landlord, and although the rent is expensive, all bills are included. TV licences, however, are not, so if you want to bring a tv you must get one. If you don't have a tv, however, you will spend your entire time in halls being bombarded with threatening letters from the tv licensing agency telling you that they are going to send an enforcement officer round to get medieval on yo' ass if you are watching tv without a licence. Just bin the letters as soon as they turn up.

The Administration and Welfare:

The university generally ticks along as well as any large institution can in this mad world so tied up with red tape that it is next to impossible to get anything done. People complain about it, but what else is new? I haven't really noticed anything serious, so I wouldn't worry too much. The university charges the full whack for top-up fees - at the moment just over £3100, so be aware of that.

The Student's Union, YUSU, is one of the most important institutions on campus as it is the medium of interaction between the university and the students. For a lot of people a role within YUSU is their first heady taste of power, but student politics are really pretty tame. The YUSU officers always seem to be getting voted off due to being incompetent. One of the main things YUSU takes responsibility for is student welfare and safety, so expect to be bombarded with condoms and rape alarms in your first week - I was given 27 condoms on my first day alone. They do provide condoms free, which is nice. YUSU is a member of the NUS, the National Union of Students, so students can apply for the NUS Extra card for a tenner, which gives you a lot of deals and discounts at a number of places, both local and national, including Pizza Hut, Topshop, Amazon.co.uk etc. For more details see nusextra.org.

The Welfare system is pretty good; I had a friend who, struggling under heavy loads of work and a recent death in the family, went for counselling which the university provides. It is easy to use, it is free, and it did seem to help her. There is also a student-run initiative called NightLine, which is a support service provided by students between 8pm and 8am at night. You can ring them, email them or pop in to visit them at their flat in Wentworth college. They are there for whatever you need - a chat, a sympathetic ear, and also can provide free condoms and free pregnancy kits, which can be requested anonymously to be sent through the internal mail. I have never had to use them, but I think it is a great service. Your college also provides two Welfare reps, who again are there if you need someone to talk to, but if you are dealing with a more serious issue (bereavement, depression etc.) I would recommend going to the counselling service.

Societies, Sports, Facilities etc:

As with any university, there are a number of societies (or socs) that you can join: the Real Ale Soc, the Pant Soc (pantomime society), Kart Soc (go-karting), foreign student socs... you name it, it probably exists. Prizes for the most original suggestion. Socs are subsidised by the university so membership is practically free - normally just a couple of quid for a year. If you cannot find a soc that tailors to your interests, then you can start one up with support from YUSU. There are a couple of bigger socs, like the Drama Soc, and for sports, there is the AU - the Athletics Union. Membership costs £40 for the year, but this gives you free membership to any sport socs as well as discounted rates for booking pitches or courts, as well as discounted rates for the Fitness Suite, which is the university gym.

There are tennis courts, astro pitches, grass playing fields as well as indoor facilities for basketball, squash etc. The Sports Centre recently underwent an £800,000 refurbishment program, so it all looks really good now, and the gym has been greatly improved. There isn't a pool, unfortunately, which is a downside, but there are a number of council pools in York.

Other facilities include Market Square, the university shopping area, near campus. Due to the fact that the university charges a huge rent on these places there aren't many shops within the complex; but there is the SU shop, called YOURShop, as well as a Costcutters, Blackwell's bookshop and a copy-and-print shop. Unfortunately the computer shop had to close down, which I think is a problem as it provided cheap software and repairs.

The library is fantastic; it is huge, contains all the information you could ever want, and has knowledgeable and helpful staff. The only problem can be when a teacher asks you to read a book in the library for next week of which there is only one copy - it means that there are then 30 people trying to get hold of it. However, if you check your seminar sheet in advance, and see what reading you need to do, you can do it in your own leisure.

Academic Life:

As a university, the academic side is almost as important as the socialising, societies, sports etc. Each department is different, so I cannot comment on them all. I am studying English Literature so am a member of the English and Related Literature dept., widely regarded as one of the best in the country, particularly for its medieval studies. Each student is assigned a supervisor within their dept., whom they meet twice a term to discuss their progress and any issues. Your supervisor is part of your Welfare system; for any academic problems (for example, due to my mother's recent illness with cancer I have fallen behind in my work and have had to apply for an extension) they are the first port of call, and on graduating they will often provide a job reference for you.

Each dept. is different and is assessed differently - my course is very heavily based on essays, and in fact I have only sat one exam in my entire three years here, which was yesterday. The future Mrs. F., however, is in the Linguistics dept. and has mostly sat exams, with only a couple of essays thrown in. Each dept. varies in the number of contact hours you have a week - I have never had more than 7, as most of the work I have to do is reading, but for something like science you might well have 30+ hours of contact time a week.

Obviously, if you are considering York, then do come to an open day as every dept. is different. Find out how your course is assessed, what kind of contact hours you have, how it works, whether you have free choice in your modules... anything you can think of, ask, as if you don't then you may well end up on the wrong course for you. I have really enjoyed my course, but Mrs. F-to-be hasn't, as it was somewhat missold to her as an arts degree, when really it is a science degree. The university is among the top of the academic league table so the teaching is generally of a very high standard, but this is a very important decision, so make sure you read up on it.

In Conclusion:

All in all, I have really enjoyed my time here. Remember, you are only going to get out of university what you put in, so if you make no effort, you won't enjoy yourself - and it will be your fault, not the university's. I have had a cracking time; I met my future wife on a bar crawl in Fresher's Week, I have made some great friends and I have loved my course. The social life is great (a lot of people complain about it due to the small number of clubs in York; as I am not a clubber, it doesn't bother me), as York is a great night out and the uni bars are good. York itself is a wonderful place to be, and even if the university isn't very attractive, York is; and the fact that most of my lessons were taught inside grim concrete blocks does not change the fact that I have received a very high level of education here.

If you are considering university, York is a great place to come. However, never make such an important decision on a whim; make sure you find out as much as you can. I hope that this has been useful, but there is a lot more that I have not been able to tell you, and your course itself is the most important thing, as if you don't like it, then it will make a big difference on whether you have as amazing a time here as I did.

To find out more about the uni visit the website:
www.york.ac.uk

Summary: If you are thinking about university, do consider York.