University of Leicester open day

Hello!

As I said the other day, yesterday my mum and I went to the University of Leicester's open day. This one was a lot longer than Queen Mary's as it started at 10am and went on until mid-afternoon.

The previous night, we had already walked to the uni to check its location, so we knew where to find it and it didn't take us too long to reach it, but we had again enough time to look around and I definitely decided I love the city: it's all so green, airy and handy for students! The campus is spread along London road and it takes a little while to get to the end of it, but it is very pretty looking :)

Anyway, around 9.30am we registered at The Square in the Students' Unions building and we were given badges, pens and brochures. We then waited to be called and in the meanwhile I had a chat with a second year history student who is going to Perth (Australia) next year! At 10am they walked us into a big hall where the Student Recruitment Manager, another staff member and two current students spoke for about 1h30. Before that, though, there was a video with some students talking about their experience at Leicester's university: it showed a lot of liveliness and it made a good impression on me, honestly.The first speaker then related all the uni's achievements, which are many, such as the fact that they connect teaching with researching (researchers are also teachers). She said all very interesting things, but I don't know... she didn't feel the same way to me as the man who said the same at Queen Mary did. The next person speaking mainly exaplined how to deal with finance as students, how to budget and earn money with part time jobs (and full time during the summer holiday). That was a pretty good talk because I finally got to understand how the Government Tuition and Maintenance loan/grant system works (but I will probably make a post about it)! Eventually, it was the students' turn to give us an insight of student's life in Leicester: they talked about working, relaxing, having fun, exercising, socialising and.... of course studying! It all sounded good and enticing, really!

After that, we were split into groups and showed around campus by 'ambassadors'. This time it was a boy and he took us to the library (awesome - it was all so modern and inviting!), the gym & the pool, some of the department buildings (Law, Physics & Astronomy - in front of which there was a brilliant clock showing the time of sunset and the zodiac - and Geology & Geography - where they had a replica of a young T Rex dinosaur), some gardens and the Students Union hall.

Lawn and the Management building

The Law building

Board in the Astronomy department

The "clock" outside the Astronomy building

The white building on the back is the Biology one

Mum and I then had lunch at one of the cafés in that same building (it was good, by the way!) and then walked back to the Geology building where we were talked through the basic info about my course, Biological Sciences. Here are the main topics he covered:
- possibility to swap to any of the other Biological courses (I applied for Genetics, even thought it is not exactly what I want), such as Biochemistry and Zoology, in the first year and the early second;
- in the first year all the undergraduates (about 160 or so) in the Biological Sciences fields follow the same lectures (5 modules I think) which give a broad scientific background, and are then divided in smaller groups for practical lessons and tutorials;
- in the second year you have a change to specialise in one of the main fields, including those listed above (Genetics, etc...);
- the last year is dominated by the big personal research project, allowing students to join any of the research teams on campus;
- possibility to spend a year abroad (for Bio students this means Europe, USA or Japan) or working in industry.

When this introductive speech finished we were divided relatively to our chosen field (Genetics for me) and were led into a room where some of the academic staff talked to us. First, some of use where taken on a department tour and were showed lecture rooms, labs and various places around the science buildings. I then had a one-to-one chat with a professor, who asked me about my interests and other unis I have applied to, talked about his own experience and explained that Leicester really is a student-friendly city. He got me really thinking about the choice I have to make because, as I told him when asked, if I was to chose because of the areas the unis are I would pick Leicester (so pretty and airy)... but he reminded me that the main thing shouls be the course and I am not sure Leicester has the right one for me, especially because it hardly focuses on evolution and it doesn't give me many opportunities to develop some journalistic skills For the next half hour I spoke to a third year Biochemistry student from Singapore who told me about how the uni is, about the Unions and societies and we also discussed about the differences between Singapore, England and Italy! He was really nice :)

Lastly, at 3pm we went on a bus that took us to Oadby Village (3.5km away), where the main halls of residence are. We walked through all of them and were shown inside three places:
- a catered ensuite single room, which was just as big as Queen Mary's one;
- the dining hall for catered rooms;
- a self-catered (therefore with a bigger kitched) non-ensuite room, which was larger but just because the bathroom was not in there.

At 4.30pm it was all over... and we walked back to our hotel to catch a train to Stansted airport.

Soooo, how does all of this lead me? I really liked Leicester as a city and its campus was truly amazing, but I have doubts about the course... because while it does seem good, it just doesn't sound really right for me! I got really confused this morning after seeing how lovely the campus is, but I think I have clearer ideas now... I just have to give it some last thoughts!

Here you go, it's everything :)

I'll be back soon,

Martina