Narrowing down my choices

From what I remember about the process of joining university, I know I got accepted for my firm university but decided to go to my insurance university instead. I attended open days for both but, as I talk about later in this blog, I found some bad points with my firm choice in the exams/tour which led me into labs/side rooms not disclosed on open days. 

I chose my universities and courses based on location, course and personal opinions. I did attend open days for the main university I got accepted into, but after sitting my interview exam and learning more about that specific course I learnt that it wasn’t right for me. On the open days there wasn’t really anyone technical around so I personally couldn’t ask the right questions. So at my interview I learnt what OS/Software they preferred which wasn’t my first choice. I know I could learn this new OS and software but, because I was familiar with another platform, I wanted to pursue that path.

Another reason the interview and exam helped is because we toured the building, and I noticed how poorly its upkeep was. I won’t say which university it actually was, but I remember not being please how unhygienic and basically overall how the building wasn’t cared for on the inside. There was  paper/wallpaper peeling off in the waiting room. In the labs only 50% lights were working and there was dirty/muddy carpets in those rooms too. Open days only show the latest builds and the cleanest rooms, yet because I was actually touring/taking an exam for the position I noticed how bad the conditions where. 

Location is a factor too. Living costs change from place to place and there are certain areas which are extremely costly and it will affect your decision. As well as if you want to live at home. I lived at home while at university and I do regret it. I would move out if I did a masters/PhD and would recommend others to do so too. It might be costly, but it’s possible to live. 

 

What to expect in University Interviews

What to expect

Understand why you are there. They are making sure that you’re firstly academically capable of undertaking the course and if the course is right for you. It’s somewhat like a job interview, it's for the benefit of both parties.

An example of this for me was at one of the universities I visited, if I didn’t have an interview I might have taken this course without releasing exactly what I was getting into. I had an interview with a very kind women who was quizzing me on what I had done in the field and what I want to do. Then she led by telling me about that universities course which was actually different to what the prospectus and website said. I recited what I remember from the website and prospectus just to confirm when she replied with “Yeah, we need to update that.” This is a good example of when an interview benefited me. Otherwise I would have been on a course I didn’t even sign up for, but when there’s a lot of money and time involved it’s actually a huge issue.

That being said, the women did say I was welcome onto the course if I wanted to but after discussing how the course had changed I personally didn’t want to join. That being said, universities have to narrow down applicants so you do need to sell your skills and experience well. It’s not impressive if you are joining a course and have no prior knowledge what so ever. 

Plus all normal interview etiquette apply usually. Gum, clothes manners that normal stuff. Another instance of almost the opposite happening was as mentioned before, I’ve had an exam & interview at one of the universities, this experience was rather nerve-racking. Every other student that was there help an A1-A2 leather folder and there was me… Well, I had a tiny laptop. It was an animation course with both drawing and 3D design. I managed to ace the small exam and interview but I was odd one out. If I could recommend anything it would be prepare. Bring stuff that they might be interested in. For me, I took a video portfolio with me and some stills. But they was interested in some of the specific animations on my portfolio and wanted to see more. Luckily I have a YouTube channel ;) and a website in which I had everything on at the time.

Applying To University - My Experience

This is my first blog post on here, so I’m going to start with a little introduction about myself and my university application process. So at this moment in time I’m a Microsoft Student Partner, a Third year Computer Science student in Computer Animation. I will not disclose the university names that I applied for mostly because I don’t want to alter your university decision as you should apply for a university based on your personal course and preference. 

I applied for 4 universities while in sixth form. I got accepted to 3 of the 4 universities I chose. Being accepted into one of them involved doing a written exam and interview. The exam was about an hour long and generally job interview style questions. Although there was a practical test. We had to draw something in a few minutes which was contrasting. So I actually drew an elephant on a bicycle. It wasn't the artistic skills they was looking for but more the fact that you can be creative and think on the spot. This shows that getting adequate grades won’t confirm your place at university. That being said, I got accepted, but I decided not to got there because of the machine OS and their primary software focus.

Another university I got accepted at looked amazing from the outside. Contrastingly inside was completely out dated. Paint was pealing from the walls. Both hardware and software needed huge upgrade all round.

Machines that looked like this running Win95 in the room...

Now at the University of Bedfordshire there was up to date hardware and software. I’m giving my honest opinion here, I’m not being biased but for me it was perfect. It was the only university that had good motion capture technology and it used software that I had prior experience with.

Learn from my mistakes! Attend as many open days as possible. Know exactly what you want from the course, especially in a computer science degree. In this field, courses are named very vaguely. Game Development can mean primarily Photoshop/3D editing. On the other hand it main flash/2D based so it's very important you know what your getting into!