My reasons for choosing Leicester

Over the past couple of weeks thousands of have received their A level results and have chosen Leicester to study at next year. Welcome Freshers! There are also many that are still considering studying here, and those looking at universities to study at in 2016. This time of year is the key time to be comparing universities and going to open days, so I thought I’d do my best to help by writing a post on the reasons I chose Leicester, back in 2013.

1. The campus

All universities boast the range of facilities that they have on campus. Whilst a huge athletics track is impressive, it is no use to someone that does not do running. However at the time I did want to join an orchestra or string group,

Can you see the resemblance?

which not all universities have, but Leicester did! Other things that Leicester checked the box for included a gym, lots of places to buy food, a smashing Student’s Union with a Career Development Service and O2 academy, a new library and although technically off-campus, the beautiful Victoria Park right next to it and the health centre located within. The artistic side to me also liked that the Leicester campus had a consistently modern feel to it, and each building seemed to have personality, like the Charles Wilson ‘transformer’ building. Lastly the size of the campus seemed perfect for me, not too big but not too small, everything within walking distance.

2. The course

At Leicester, geographers have the option to study either BA Human Geography, BA Geography, BSc Geography or BSc Physical Geography. This ‘spectrum of geography’ ranges from entirely human geography at one end, to entirely physical geography at the other. Since I wasn’t entirely sure on one or the other, but knew my strength lay in physical geography, the BSc Geography was the perfect option for me. Also, there was also an option to slide onto to another Geography course later if I wanted to. Many modules had an environmental theme to them, something I was and still am interested in. Another great thing about the geography courses at Leicester was the range and quantity of field trips on offer. In addition to compulsory trips to the Lake District, Dartmoor and Spain in the first and second year, there were other options like New York, Las Vegas, Kenya and the Amazon! I really wanted to go to the Amazon at the time so this was a huge selling point for me. Although now I have opted not to go on the field trip, I am still glad I chose Leicester. If you want to read more about my experiences of the field trips, check out my previous blog posts here, here and here.

In the Lake District

In Almeria, Spain

3. The people

One of the best things about my open day visit to Leicester was how welcomed I felt by the Leicester Student Ambassadors and staff at the university. My tour guide was very friendly and entertaining, and gave me lots of inside scoops about his own experience. Unlike other universities in the country at which I felt like an outsider, I felt like the people around me were just more like me – perhaps because Leicester is much closer to my hometown in Birmingham! But yet at the same time Leicester attracts young people from all backgrounds, countries, and furthest north and south parts of the UK, which can only be a good thing because you get to meet so many different people!

Photo from the joint-society February 2015 Ocean Fun Run

So those are my reasons for choosing Leicester, I hope that it is helpful in some way! In summary, I would advise going to as many open days as possible, and settling on the one where you feel most at home. Weigh up the positives and negatives, and consider which aspects of the university are most important to you. If you can’t make it to any open days, for example if it is a last minute decision in Clearing, then research the university as much as possible online and read reviews and experiences from current students on websites like this and those like thestudentroom.co.uk. Good luck and thank you for reading!

Caroline