Cardiff University reviews

Cardiff University review

I'm not yet at Cardiff, nor is it certain whether I will actually be going to Cardiff but all the signs are pointing that way! I have received all my 'offers'( four F**king rejections and two actual 'offers'!!!) and now I am going through the motions of choosing which to go to on the basis of music-scene, people in general and friends (oh....and course and stuff....).

I've went up to see Newcastle which was my other offer and was largely underwhelmed by both the people and the scene and none of my friends are there so it all seemed a bit disheartening, then I got an offer from Cardiff and my heart rose back from its slightly lowered position.

My Brother went to Cardiff and so I know the social side of it from visiting him a few times. I don't, however, know the academic side so I have arranged to go to one of the open days and have a look around.

I know for a fact that it has an excellent music scene! what with a barfly and the clwb ifor bach (welsh club) as good small venues and various bigger venues I've yet to look into.

Loads of my friends have gone, will go or might go there and so this provides a safety net for me should i find it hard to make friends, I can appreciate that for some this seems a bad thing as uni is meant to be a chance to get out on your own but, as i say, i prefer to have the safety net friends provide.

My Brother loved his time there, the friends of mine who are there love it and I really enjoyed it when i went there so it seems to be a good option. I am very glad I've taken a gap year as it has allowed me to clear my head and get out of education for a while and into work, thus earning some money and gaining experience.

It is potentially dangerous though as you lose track of time and before you know it it's february and you're still working in the same place you've been at for five months without any fixed travel plans and relatively little to show for it money-wise. Heed my words!

Cardiff University review

Cardiff's a great city - I don't know anyone who's come here and doesn't love it.

As far as my course goes, it's ok - it's obvious to anyone who studies here that research is far more important to most of the lecturers than teaching. However, there are a few good teachers.

For most people, however, their course is one of the least important aspects of being at uni, and there's a superb range of things to do at Cardiff outside of your degree. I'd recommend it as a great place to live for three or more years of your life. But start thinking about your career now - the end of your time at uni tends to creep up on you faster than you'd expect!

Cardiff University review

I found cardiff University to be friendly and the course was great. The city of Cardiff is wonderful for nightlife and the students union is one of the the best in Britain. Price wise, cardiff is still quite reasonable from rents to the price of a pint! I fully reccomend it.

Cardiff University review

Cardiff University fits in the city so well that studying becomes much easier. With a huge park 5mins away, an invitation for a relaxing walk is always there. The Students Union was what most surprised me. More than big, it is fantastic. It is the first door I step to plan all my activities from sport to volunteering, from jobs to development courses, from trips around the world to my beloved People and Planet Society. And most of all, the reason that got me here: my course. I cannot complaint but only compliment, all the excelent facilities, the personal support, the teaching staff and all more. Rarely, I fell away from home.

Cardiff University review

Cardiff university has so far been a great experience for me, both enjoyable and productive at the same time. Located right in the middle of a young and vibrant city, the campus has all a student could want either on location or nearby. you can have both busy- the inner city, or tranquil- one of the huge and green surrounding parks.
leaving home and re-settling is both a weird and enjoyable experience. somepeople found it hard to adjust but i loved the freedom that i got from leaving my nagging parents. it just takes a bit of effort to gain friends that will be yours forever.
the nightlife and entertainment in cardiff is supreme. every night has its own fun and every pub or club has its own charm, and for the sports fan there is loads to see or do. the highlight being the grand millenium stadium hard to miss!
i am currently staying at cartwright court halls- a fair walk from the city but because it is isolated everyone makes areal effort to make friends and there is areal good atmospsere there as a result
my degree is enjoyable. i have been doing a joint honours degree in hist and economics but am dropping economics because i found it hard to maintain equal levels of commitment to each subject. i dont regret doing a joint degree though because it gave me a good opportunity to decide what i wanted to do because i wasnt sure in the first year.

Cardiff University review

Hello, whoever may be reading. I am currently about to finish my final (4th) MEng year in Mechanical engineering. And there is a lot you people should know about this course. I must stress that I write this attempting to remain unbiased and fair to the course I studied, to give a realistic view for prospective students. What I write won't be found in the sizeable UCAS book your college tutors have no doubt quoted at you ad infinitum.

First the good news. Mechanical Engineering is an excellent degree to have, as well as being a direct ticket into engineering careers - something many other degrees cannot guarantee regarding their own specific career orientation. To some extent, the degree can be very rewarding, with some of the better Universities offering very practical and interesting applications of engineering fields. Often the equipment and facilities (including computer access) in Engineering departments are second to none and are usually the most technological within the whole University. In addition, Engineering degrees are very respected in other careers; teaching, business, programming, software/hardware design, consultancy, finance, economics and trading, other design-related careers too, such as architecture. This is because a graduate of engineering has demonstrated a good work ethic, and is capable logical and advanced mathematical reasoning.

Unfortunately, there are many downfalls to this course. Brace yourselves....

The first thing you need to know is this course is among the most work intensive. In my first year, I had around 24 - 27 hours of lectures/workshops per week. This of course means mainly 9am starts and 5pm finishes. This is certainly true for all good engineering Universities - Sheffield, Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Brunel, Southampton and Bath among others. It must be said this is a HUGE factor - and it doesn't get much better further down the line, either. Now, I am extremely conscientious, but it must be stressed that university is a time when you need to relax and enjoy yourself - work and play should be taken in equal measure. Engineering does not allow for this whatsoever- if you want to perform well, that is.

This means while all your new friends who study Humanities subjects, Arts, and even other sciences like Chemistry or Biology can relax in their first year - Getting to meet people, adventure and relish the opportunity of being an independent person for (probably) the first time, those studying engineering have plenty of hard work to grasp right from the start, and worse still, tend to stick to their own.

Another problem lies in the nature of the subject. Many core modules in the first years (in fact about 75% of the modules) are mathematical; others are physical or management/manufacture/application based. Now whilst this itself is not a problem (for me anyway), because the learning curve in the first two years is so steep, miss/skip one or two lectures from one module in a week and you will more than likely find it a Herculean effort to catch up. I did, and I got two A's at Maths and Further Maths at A-level.

Work cannot be 'blagged' either. Say an English student leaves it a bit late for an essay or report. He/she will suffer; but can lessen the impact by using reasoning, common sense or a previous knowledge of the subject matter. Many humanities students have a highly intuitive approach which can often pay dividends in discussion parts of their essays. Intuition goes out the window with Engineering. Yes, the first year builds on previous knowledge (and then some!), but after that, you simply have to study hard to do well. Sit an exam on specialised subjects such as Control and Instrumentation armed with only common sense and you will be torn apart - it is that simple.

It can be often soul-destroying that with so many deadlines and work, Engineering and Physics students often feel they have no time for extra-curricular activities, such as sports clubs, societies and in many cases, just socialising with new-found friends on a regular basis. But it is these pursuits that are among the most beneficial part of university life.

There are many other things I could bemoan, such as the huge division in all Universities between scientific and other students; the majority of people who study Engineering or Physics - highly interested in the subject, but with no appreciation of other things in life, and often no common sense. Many of my colleagues appear to be uninterested unless you are obsessed with cars, engines etc. Often in Engineering departments, there is little comararderie between staff and students; many lecturers are interested only in research so lecturing is not their priority. There simply isn't the easy-going relationship with staff that students of many other academic disciplines enjoy.

In short then, this course is fine if you are fully committed to it 100%, with a strong interest in the field or have had previous engineering experience. However, if you are unsure or have not looked into the degree fully, be very, VERY careful. People interested in this area of academia must be made aware that for the MAJORITY of your time, you WILL be working longer, harder and more intensely than many other students at University. You will have to sacrifice much of your spare time too if you desire to acheive high results. I apologise for the length of this opinion, but I have been so disappionted with my actual degree (everything else about University life has benefitted me immensely), that if my view helps just one person from making a decision that means they do not enjoy university life, then it was worth the effort to read.

Good luck with your time at University, whatever it is you decide to study.

Cardiff University review

Cardiff Uni, well what can i say...the courses are good. English Lit is great, but the parties are even better. Cardiff offers all the versatility of a Capital city without the hassles of living in a huge city (Commuting, less security etc.) The whole town is geared for students, with loads of variety in clothes shops etc.

Major bonus is also that there are loads of huge call centers here, so if you decide to earn some beer money it's pretty easy to find a job. If a call centers not your thing then the uni job center can find you work.

Another thing is the diversity in clubs, no matter what your taste in music, i guarantee that you will find at least one nightclub that takes your fancy... freshers watch out for the society fairs, don't join too many,
a). it costs money, and it's easy to find yourself broke later down the line...like four weeks after your loan.
b). what with the amount of people you meet just going out and off your courses etc you'll be way too busy to manage going to 10 different society meetings.

That's about it, anyway, come to cardiff if you want to learn alot from high-quality lecturers on interesting courses, oh yeah, and if you like partying. I have to warn quickly against missing lectures though...it only takes a couple of hangovers and you'll find you've missed most of a module....there's only 10 teaching weeks a semester on my course, so i know i sound like a nag, but just go, or you'll get that funny sinking feeling when you turn up and you don't know what anyone's going on about.

Cardiff University review

Cardiff is the best place in the world! The university is in the city centre but the halls are all scattered around so you really feel like you're living in a city and not just in a ghetto on the outskirts. The buildings are mostly pretty but even the ones that aren't (like mine, grrr) have really good facilities and thats what matters at the end of the day.

The halls are all of really good quality and there is a good community spirit in even the biggest halls like Talybont (where I am) which has over 2000 people. Most first years are in halls but even the ones in houses make loads of friends so don't worry. Rent is mega cheap too so you have more money for the important things like cheap booze and clothes!!

I might as well just come straight out with it - my course is really hard. The hours are long (at least 9-3 straight every day in lectures) then you have to do loads of work at home. Its like doing 10 A levels. But if you're willing to work hard in the day time then you can have a brilliant social life in the night. Work hard and play hard as they say. You have to be really dedicated too because otherwise you'll never do it. You have exams all of the time - about one a week/ fortnight in the second term. You also have two exams after xmas and 7 in the summer which is a lot when you're talking uni exams.

The social life is amazing! Cardiff has something for everyone. The union was voted the best in the UK I think. If you want to go out its brilliant especially on the weekend. Solus (the nightclub in the union) holds around 2500 people and its cheap and such a good laugh. Aaaah the memories. The Taf (the pub in the union)has just been done out. It's well swanky! In town the clubs have fab student nights in the week which are cheap. On the weekend though they are really expensive so watch out ie. £5 for one drink!

Anyone will fit in Cardiff. Seriously. It's a capital city so it has every facility you could possibly want. It's just cool. I'm gonna shut up now.