The Uni
Location: A 10min trip from Norwich, which is a small but endearing city. Close to the broads as well!
UEA was built 60's/70's time mainly and as such main campus is fairly concrete-like. However the halls are dotted round a large campus which has open grassy areas leading down to a broad/lake. These are packed in the summer when everyone lies out in the sunshine.
Not sure of the ratio Men:Women, but it seems fairly even. Not hugely culturally diverse, but increasingly so- with a lot of Chinese and Arabic students.
Facilities: There's everything you need on campus, however a car does help if you want to go shopping, although buses take you to the Supermarkets too. There is a large library, 24hr comoputer centre, Paper Shop, Food Outlet, Post Office and several banks.
Halls
The Halls very hugely, try to stay in Nelson Court or Constable Terrace, but otherwise they are fairly average. They are all very close to the main campus, and you generally get your own room.
It's easy to get houses from 2nd year onwards- large proportion of students live in the Golden Triangle which is a bus ride from campus (about 10mins) Rent is increasing, though is around £50 a week for a decent house.
The Course
I found my course a doddle in the first year, not too stretching in the second year, and finally everything came together in the final year, and it's much more enjoyable.
We tend to get 2 hours a week per module, and you get 6 modules a semester. 1 hour lectures, 1 hourseminars. Depending on what degree you are looking for, depends on how much reading you have to do - personally I did very little in the first 2 years other than use the course text! (I'm on for a 2:1)
It's an interesting course eventually - you just have to put up with some obvious stuff for Year 1&2.
The Social Life
The social life at UEA is great, with the LCR holding events nearly every night, from Gigs (the premier venue in East Anglia - so you get loads of good bands coming!) to the LCR Disco, Retros, School Daze, etc
The Union had a multi-million pound make over in 2002 summer - it's fantastic but not brilliant for large groups of people (say over 15)
Norwich is also fantastic to go out in, mainly mid-week tho - as in any city, it can become a little "Townie" at the weekends. However you have 3 main clubs - Ikon, Liquid and Time. Monday Tuesday, Wednesday are the main nights, and LCR on Thursdays.
Norwich isn't the cheapest place in the world - can't compete with Northern Uni's on that; you're looking at £2.30 for Fosters, £2.50-60 for Stella - but then there's always cheap places to drink - Clubs do promotions before 11, Chicago's do all-you-can-drink £10 (10 till 2)
Sports and Recreation
UEA has a VERY large club & society base, no idea how many - but you guess it & we're likely to have it! We even have our own Cheerleaders for god's sake!
We have a massive Sports centre with Astro pitches, squash courts, sports halls (for all indoor stuff like badminton, 5-a-side, etc), a great gym, and an Olympic size swimming pool
Our Sports teams are getting a lot better. Personally I play Mens 1XI Hockey, and we're Div2N - not great but we're taking it more seriously and only just missed out on promotion. I think our strongest sports are Rowing, Swimming, Football, and Ladies Hockey.
You can always find time for sports - and more importantly it's like having a family - there's 80odd members in Hockey (mens and ladies) so you always have someone to drink with, and a lot of emotional support if everything does go wrong!
I believe the sports clubs have more fun than most at Uni!
All in all, I think UEA is a fantastic uni - although everyone says that about their uni's. But UEA is close to Norwich which is a infectious city- although it's out the way, it's very friendly and welcoming (shame about the accent!). The Sport and social is fantastic, and the campus has everything you need, including large grassy areas and a lake! Get involved in a club or society and Uni life will be even better!