how did you choose your university

Graeme Dykes answered on 7 Mar 2023:

I chose my degree University because it was well respected for Chemistry.
The course included an industrial placement scheme which was rare at the time.
I liked the town.

For my PhD, I asked various supervisors for advice and they gave me lists of good Academics to join
I also looked at the Universities. I made a conscious choice to find a different location

Alice Martin answered on 7 Mar 2023:

I chose my university for a few reasons; it is a well respected place for chemistry and really focuses on teaching undergraduate students well.

But more than that, I liked that it was a relatively small university, and had a great student lifestyle. It’s really important to be happy living somewhere for 3 or 4 years, and the people who also went to the university seemed similar to me which was a good sign!

I chose to stay at the same university for my PhD – I had good relationships with the staff and really enjoyed the project available to me.

Emmett McKenna answered on 7 Mar 2023:

I had a very good university which was 10 miles away from where I went to school.
Alot of my friends were also going there for different subjects.

Sarah Lyons answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I visited a couple of University’s to get a feel for the location and people. I also looked at the university ranking for my subject then decided based on rank and whether I liked the university.

Fabio Nudelman answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I chose my university because it had the course that I wanted to take, and it is one of the top ones in my country.

Arno Kraft answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I went to my local university in the city where my parents and I lived. This was mostly for financial reasons. As it turned out the university was one of the top 10 in the country for chemistry.

Graeme Barker answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I visited a few universities to try and get a feel for the courses on offer and the environment. I eventually chose the one I went to as there were a number of interesting optional courses to take, and it had smaller class sizes so there was a more personalised experience/teaching relationship with the lecturers.

Ilija Rasovic answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I spent a lot of time looking at prospectuses from lots and lots of different universities for lots and lots of different courses. I discovered some fascinating courses this way that I didn’t even know existed, including the one I went on to study, Materials Science! Putting in the effort to look at what is available at different universities is really important because then you can make an informed decision as to which courses you think are best for you (e.g. the course content, structure, opportunities such as research projects, years abroad, industrial placements). Then I went and visited those universities that had courses that most appealed to me. Visiting in person is a really important step because that way you can get a feel for the place. I may be a scientist but there are some decisions (e.g. choosing university) that rely on more than just rationality! I relied as well on my gut, i.e. my emotional responses to being at each university and how I felt about the campus, the city, the atmosphere, and the general vibe. University is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where you will learn plenty of lessons outside of the lecture theatre and lab as well—so make sure that you pick a course and a place where you’ll enjoy yourself!

Jade Markham answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I was offered money to study a STEM subject at a University in the East Midlands. This was because I came from a family where no one had been to university before. So I picked Loughborough University.

Tbh the first time I went to the university was the day I moved in. I didn’t look around any universities before because I was still undecided if I wanted to go. It worked out for me.

I think you should go and look if you can. Think about how close to home you want to be and if you want to be in the middle of a big city or on a campus where it is more of a community of students.

Thomas Swift answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I wanted to move away from my parents, so I got a map out, drew a circle of 50 miles and said it cant be in this circle. This prevented mum and dad from pestering me whilst I was there.

I also didn’t want to be ‘tooo’ far away from my parents, didn’t want to be cut off completely, so I drew another circle at 200 miles and said has to be inside this circle.

I then applied to every Chemistry course that was in universities between the 2 circles, and I got an offer from York and ended up there. Important to go and visit in person – every campus has a distinct look and feel, and you need to know you will be happy there

Rebecca Woods answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I had a look at courses on ucas, I then ordered prospectus’ from some of the ones I was interested in. One of my lovely chem teachers sat down with me and went through them, the other teacher came in and suggested St Andrews which I hadn’t considered and when I went on the visiting day, I could feel myself smiling, it felt like home, (and I’m still here nearly 10 yrs on).

My advice would be to apply to one uni where you are expected to exceed the offer conditions, one which is maybe slightly out of reach and 3 middling safe ones. Visit the uni’s if possible as you get a better feel and ask any friends/family who might have been to the uni’s you are interested in.
Also look at what else the uni does, does it have a club for your fave sport/hobby, is it too close/far from home, is the town/city too big/loud/busy/quiet for your tastes.

Martin McCoustra answered on 8 Mar 2023:

At the time I went to university in Scotland, many students preferred to commute to university each day. I lived in Central Scotland and looked at both Glasgow and Edinburgh. I applied to Glasgow University and Strathclyde University as I preferred Glasgow as a city and Heriot-Watt University as one of my chemistry teachers had done their degree. I got invited to visit both Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt. Didn’t like the former and really liked the later for it’s green campus. So decided take the offer from Heriot-Watt and rejected Strathclyde. Glasgow was my insurance as they never invited me to visit and gave me an automatic offer.

Of course, I ended up at Heriot-Watt… in more ways than I thought!

Maryam Sani answered on 8 Mar 2023:

I chose the university because it had a unique chemistry course which was a combined diploma and degree. It was also in the town where I travelled to for county netball training so I could continue playing while studying.

Grace Roper answered on 9 Mar 2023:

I went to several open days when choosing unis, some I liked and some I didn’t.

Nathalie Oguntona answered on 9 Mar 2023:

I looked at the top ones for what I wanted to study and applied for all. When I looked into doing a PhD, I also visited a few places

Rebecca Walker answered on 10 Mar 2023:

I was accepted into Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot Watt and Aberdeen Universities but I chose Aberdeen for my undergraduate degree because at that point I didn’t feel ready to move away from home!

Claire Fordyce answered on 10 Mar 2023:

I checked the league tables and picked the best universities for chemistry, then I narrowed down the list to universities that would accept me. My grades were good, but I wasn’t studying any other science subject or maths at A level, so my choices were limited. I had 5 universities on my UCAS form but I wanted to fill it, so I looked at my friends form and picked one from her list (University of Sheffield) – and that’s where I ended up going! I was lucky and had offers from all of my choices but ultimately, I made my final choice after visiting the universities for an open day.

Christy Sadler answered on 10 Mar 2023:

I went to visit lots (>8) universities when I was applying. I chose to study Chemistry and ended up choosing a university that was well respected and had good pastoral support too! I spoke with lots of current students and lecturers on Open Days- they were all so friendly so it felt like I would enjoy my experience there!

Question: how did you choose your university

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