Receive Essex registration pack

Date received: 05/09/2002

A massive pack of stuff from Essex arrives - most of which requires attention

Today I got my registration pack from Essex, this seemed to contain all the import ant things which I needed to fill in and get sent back to Essex. Firstly there was some information detailing the registration, such as dates of arrival and registration, tuition fees, accommodation and things like that, some parts of this I didn't understand at first, but they became clear when I read the course enrolment sheet.

This sheet told me a "scheme" was the degree program I was studying for, and a "course" was the individual components which made up this scheme. Some courses would be "core courses" which were compulsory, and some were "options" which I could choose to do from a list. I was also told Essex was split into four teaching "schools", and I could find out which school I was in by looking at my enrolment form.

The enrolment form told me that I was in the school of social sciences, which meant looking back at the first information pack, I would need to register on Thursday 2 October. The wasn't much to do on this form except sign and date it, then send it back. Along with the enrolment form came a list of optional courses, but seeing as I didn't have any options in my first year there was no point looking at it.

I was also given a booklet outlining the first year courses and reading lists for them, so I looked up each course on it. I found that none of them had compulsory reading lists, but there were a few books I thought I might try and get a look at out of the library or something. On thing I noticed was that once course (CC151-1-AU), was missing from the reading list. Looking this up on the Essex website I found this was a computing science course, and wondered what that was doing in my economics and maths degree. But then a further bit of looking found the scheme structure, showing it was supposed to be, so no problem there.

Essex also provided me with a medical form which they wanted me to fill out and return. The first page was just personal details, but inside it asked things like diseases which ran in my family, my height and weight and what injections I had had recently. It was mostly easy to fill in, though I did have to weigh and measure myself first. Also I had some problems finding out when I had had vaccinations for certain diseases, I knew I had had some at school but couldn't remember when, so in the end I put a question mark in some boxes.

I was also asked to find a photo, which would be used to make up a joint NUS/library/Essex card for me. I found a photo, put it in the envelope provided for it. There was also an IT questionnaire to fill in which just asked whether I was bringing a computer to Essex and how proficient I was at using one.

When I had filled out all these forms and things I stuck them all in an envelope and posted them back to Essex.

Also included in this pack were some leaflets about the Essex jobshop and student union, and also the freshers guide. This guide included lots of general information about Essex and also a list of events I would need to go to during my first week there.