Transition at UCL - Student Blogs
Josie - Before Coming to UCL
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What are you most looking forward to about university? Meeting so many new people, people that want to study the same course as me and have the same understanding of the passion I have for my course! Really looking forward to living on my own - as much as I love my family. Can't wait to be able to go out when I like and come home at whatever time I like! I’m also looking forward to joining various clubs and societies - even ones I’ve not heard of before! What are your main concerns about starting university? Not fitting in, finances, not being able to cook anything apart from cheese on toast and beans on toast, the usual student worries! But apart from that, although I’ll enjoy the freedom, no-one will be anxious if I’m home later than I said I would be, or if I don’t turn up where I said I would, so from a personal safety point of view, that worries me! Also, being from outside of London, it seems that many of the UCL students are from the London area - will I fit in?! What do you expect will be the biggest challenge in adjusting to university life? Being independent - I can't wait to face the big bad world but I can just imagine that some nights I’ll want to come home to my Mum's cooking and for someone else to do my washing! Also I think getting the work-play balance right could be tricky if I don’t watch what I’m doing, and of course managing my own finances – I’m not used to handling as much money as my student loan will give me! |
First Year
First Month
Freshers Week was, without doubt, one of the best weeks of my life. I accomplished several typical student objectives: running down the street with a traffic cone on my head, eating my first kebab, getting Freshers Flu (which actually turned into tonsillitis and bronchitis) and, erm, walking straight into a parking meter! Being a medic, I was lucky that something was organised every night, from a boat party on the Thames to the legendary Sports Night after joining the rowing team. London is definitely the place to be despite the contents of your nose turning black if you spend more than 2 hours outside!
Second Month
I'm now in my second month at UCL and despite my initial concerns, the transition from school to university has been much easier than I expected. I've met so many people and, although medics tend to stick together, that's no bad thing at the moment. There are a lot of Londoners here but there are so many people from so many different backgrounds that fitting in hasn't been a problem.
I've kept up the rowing - we go twice a week and our first race is coming up soon! It's a brilliant way of getting to know people and also burning off the calories from all those burgers and chips (haven't quite mastered the art of cooking for myself yet)!
On the academic side, the work hasn't been quite what I expected, but we haven't been overloaded. It seems strange not to have to hand work in but I'm getting used to it. There's a good mixture of lectures, tutorials and computer aided learning sessions. We have assessments next week, which is nerve-wracking but it's motivated everyone to do a little bit more work!
Third Month
Wow it's nearly Christmas! Can't wait for a break I've been working really hard over the last few weeks. Fortunately we haven't been set much work over the holidays. It's difficult to strike the balance between working and socialising, especially now that I've got a part-time job as well. However, I think I'm getting the hang of it so next term should be easier to cope with!
I'm still having a lot of fun though, it's not all work! We won our first rowing race and have more coming up soon, so I'm really enjoying that! The social side of joining a UCL sports team is brilliant too. As friendship groups are starting to form, people have already started to talk about where they would like to live next year and who they'd like to live with, which is exciting but it's like starting university all over again! But as London is such a big city with so many people moving around, I don't think it will be difficult to find suitable accommodation. M
Merry Christmas everyone!
Fourth Month
It was great to go home for Christmas and get away from uni for a while but I did miss London and even came back to halls a few days before the start of term as quite a few other people did too. It felt very strange to be outside of London for the first time since I arrived at uni: being in a car instead of a bus, not waking up to the buzz of traffic, not being around so many people constantly!
I'm managing to organise my workload better this term and so I can judge when I can and can't go out with my friends... although sometimes it's difficult to resist when everyone else is out! In February we have exams that not only cover this term's work but everything we've learnt so far this year so hopefully a bit of hard work now will pay off.
I saw some people who had come in to be interviewed for places at UCL this morning - it reminded me of how nervous I'd been this time last year when I was in their shoes! Good luck to everyone with interviews - just keep calm and don't lie!
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Fifth Month
The February exams were definitely tough - it seems like there are quite a few courses that are having continuous assessment - I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing though! I just about scraped through so with a bit more work in the summer I'm hoping to pass the real exams. It seems a funny transition from being able to get good grades all the way through GCSEs and A-levels to just appreciating it when you can get 50% to pass a uni exam!
Unfortunately I've had tonsillitis (again!) which has meant I've got quite behind with uni work. It's not like school where the teachers notice if you're not there, at uni you have to inform lots of people and keep organised.
Rowing is still great, the weather has been a bit warmer for us recently. I've got a place in the 1st novice team so I'm really pleased at the progression since we started. Taking up a sport at uni is not only a great way to meet loads of people but also it keeps you busy and takes your mind off work occasionally, otherwise it can all get a bit much!
I'm getting to know London better every week, you hear about places that are worth a visit, exhibitions that are on, etc. I went to see a TV show being filmed a while ago and I still get excited when I'm on a Monopoly street, so the novelty of the big city hasn't worn off yet! I was told by everyone before I came here that it would be too expensive for me to live here, but I've proved them wrong - don't let the expense put you off - after all, you get extra student loan!
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Last Month of 1st Year at UCL
"Well I've nearly reached the end of my first year at UCL and I can't believe how fast it's gone. I've had a fantastic time and I'm still as enthusiastic as I was in September!
I decided I'd like to stay in London over the summer so I've already moved out of halls and into a new flat, which everyone is very excited about. It'll be easier for me to get a full-time job here and I love living in the big city.
The end-of-year exams are also coming up. I'm quite scared… about 60 people failed last year! It requires much more self-motivation than at school to revise for exams as there are no teachers encouraging you, however the prospect of resitting exams in my summer holidays is not one I'd like to consider!
So I'd advise all you prospective freshers to use your first year to work enough to pass the exams, but more importantly party hard and get to know as many people as possible, especially if you do a subject that doesn't have many hours of lectures. Good luck!"
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Second Year
First Month
Sadly I failed my exams at the end of my first year, which I was disappointed about but after three weeks of intense hard work I retook the exams and passed! It made me realise how close I was to losing my place at uni as several people from my year were asked to leave. I was left to enjoy the rest of my summer in London and was really looking forward to coming back!
On the first day back in September it was great to see everyone but unfortunately I tripped over a kerb on my way home and ended up with a broken ankle! So for the next 3 months I was on crutches, which made uni very difficult but the staff at UCL were very supportive and I even received financial help for travel costs.
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Second Month
I'm now back to rowing properly after the problems with my ankle and although I'm finding it difficult to fit rowing and going to the gym in with uni work again, it feels so good to be back in a boat! The AGM is soon and I'd like to run for a position on the boat club committee.
At some point in my course I have to take a year out of Medicine to do an Intercalated BSc (i.e. a year as a final year science student) and I'm hoping to do this next year so I'm currently writing my application. I have to write a personal statement again, just like the one for UCAS, and ask my tutor to provide a reference. I'm actually finding this more difficult than my application to Medicine as there's less advice on what to write. There's a lot of choice and you can choose more essay-style subjects such as History of Medicine, but I think I'll apply to something similar to preclinical Medicine, maybe Physiology or Neuroscience.
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Fourth Month
My last blog for this year! (Last blog ever??!)
This year has gone even faster than the first and it's exam time again! Just 2 weeks to go now but I know I'm much more prepared than last year. I've been offered a job at Buckingham Palace over the summer which I'm really looking forward to as it will help with the finances next year and allow me to stay in London over the summer. I'm still finding exciting things to do here, a few weeks ago we went to a bar that was completely made of ice, including the cocktail glasses, and I went to watch the London Marathon where the atmosphere was incredible.
I've applied to do Physiology BSc next year but haven't heard anything yet - if I don't get in, I'll go straight into clinics which is an exciting prospect, as long as I pass my exams (fingers crossed!). I'm glad I made the most of my preclinical years at UCL.
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Page last modified on 30 may 07 13:34 by Marco Angelini
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