Chat to Jamie at our online chat event for Arts and Humanities. It’s happening on Monday 6th March from 16.00 – 18.00 GMT.
Around two years ago last month I sent off my own UCAS application, and like you, ‘enjoyed’ the tense wait for offers. Having travelled around the country to find where was best for me, I settled on York. Then I spent time worrying whether I had made the right choice. After all, there are plenty of other places that I could have gone to. Come results day, I got into York, and I was over the moon. As soon as the fun of results night and the hangover wore off, I worried again whether it was to be the right choice.
At some point this week I’m halfway through my degree. Looking back, yes, I did make the right choice. As most of this blog post will be about settling in, if you do have any questions about the History course then please do leave a comment below! I’m honestly happy to help with any sorts of questions you may have about the course, and why I think that you will not regret choosing York 🙂
With your UCAS applications now sent off and your offers now coming back, this is an incredibly tense period for you all. After all, university is the next big step of your life, and you want to get it right. All of us here at York have felt the same. One of the things that really worried me before I came to York was how I would adapt to living at university. After all, until university I’d only ever lived in one village for my entire life, and nobody else that I knew was coming to York. Having discussed some of my favourite things about the city and course in previous posts, in this post, I’m going to explain how the University of York ensures that the transition to university as pain free as possible through the college system. After all, the first few weeks when you’re finding your feet at university is an incredibly nerve racking time, and I very much think that it can impact on how you feel for the rest of your degree.
As soon as your parents leave, you’re on your own, and you’re probably far away from home. Yet one of the things that I enjoy most about the university is how York’s college system ensured that during Freshers’ Week I never felt homesick. With STYCs (Second and Third Year Contacts) are there at every point to direct you to any help you need and to make sure you get to know your new home. They genuinely want to help ensure that York is where you feel comfortable for the rest of your time at university.
Freshers’ Week often feels synonymous with going out, but even if you don’t enjoy clubbing or don’t drink, the colleges organise alternative nights for you to find like-minded people, or just to have a break from the third consecutive hangover. For example, this year Vanbrugh College had a range of alternative events from acoustic chill nights to games nights. The college JCRC (Junior Common Room Committee) is composed entirely of undergraduates like you. So, if you want, you can get involved with the running of a college and become actively involved with organising events for hundreds of undergraduates. How many other universities can say that?
Perhaps the greatest thing about how the college system at York is that it ensures you have a wider community beyond your own accommodation block and your subject. You share an identity with people from all over the world studying so many different subjects. Whether it’s shouting ‘VANBRUGH ‘TILL I DIE’ in Kuda (a York nightclub) at 2am, or just being able to say your college when someone asks you which one you’re in, you have a shared identity.
On top of that, the way that History and many other courses are structured ensures that you are constantly meeting new people. From seminars to ‘meet the tutor’ wine events where you get to meet your tutors alongside fellow students for an informal evening (helping to relieve some of the anxiety of moving in to the academic world). They help you to make sure your move to your new home, where you’ll probably have the best three years of your life, is as painless as possible.
I know how scary it can feel going to university, and as I’ve described in this post, York makes sure that it is as easy as it can be for you.
Like I said, any questions about anything History or York related, then please leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you 🙂
Leave a Reply