University sounds very daunting when your in the sixth form, NO matter how many people tell you that it will be the best years of your life, you will still be petrified. But honestly it is great fun and you get to meet so many people and get a degree at the same time. It is a life experience that i would never regret doing.
I dont tink it matters which uni you go to as long as your doing a degree you want to do, because anyone you speak to will tell you that theirs is the best uni in the coumtry!
The only biast opinion i have is that aston is good due to the fact that it is a campus university which means that everything is situated in the same place. All the halls of residence and the lecture rooms and the student union are all in the same spot. The location of aston uni is fantastic, its about a 10 min walk from the main train station in birmingam, between the station and the uni is the central shopping area. Even though it is in the centre of birmingham, it is very green, with a large lake and grass areas where everyone gathers in the summer.
Aston university is one of the smallest universitys in the country, with about 6000 students. This isn't such a bad thing because you get to know loads of people due to the small network of friendships. The student guild is getting better every year with lots of organised nights throughout the year. Regular nights include pounded every wednesday and nights on friday and saturday. Every couple of weeks a school daze night is organised with an act of some description. In the past we have had rainbow, abs from five, timmy mallet, trevor nelson, pop idol singers and loads more. Its a great laugh and most people are barely walking by the end of the evening.
In birmingham in general there are loads of things to do, its a great city with great student nights out, very cheap!
University is definitely all its cracked up to be. In the first year you live in halls with all the other first year students who are in exactly the same boat as you. No-one know anyone when you first arrive yet by the end of freshers week its like one big family and the beginning of some great friendships.
The university itself and the lectures are good too, with the second best business school in the country behind LSE in london. The facilitys are great. Developments are going on at the moment for new halls of residence.
The course i am on, managerial and admin studies is really good. It expands right across the whole of the business world from marketing and management to financial accounting. It allows you to keep your options open if you want to do business but aren't sure which way you want to go with it. There is the option in the second year to specialise in a certain area of business or to keep your options open. Language learning is also available in the second year.
The best advantage you gain at aston university is the chance to do a placement year. It happens after the second year before the final year and gives you the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the real world before having to go out there alone. You still get your student loan and possibilties of being paid upto £20,000 for the years work which is great due to the amount of debt that you will be in by this point.
All in all its a great uni in a fantastic location and with great nightlife and restaraunts on the doorstep.