{"id":5057,"date":"2023-06-08T11:11:45","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T10:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/?p=5057"},"modified":"2023-06-08T11:11:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T10:11:45","slug":"choosing-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/2023\/06\/08\/choosing-university\/","title":{"rendered":"How I chose the right university for me"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221; fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; global_module=&#8221;322&#8243;][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=&#8221;322&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.17.6&#8243; menu_id=&#8221;8&#8243; submenu_direction=&#8221;downwards&#8221; fullwidth_menu=&#8221;off&#8221; module_class=&#8221;main-navigation&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;on&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#1d1d1d&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; specialty_columns=&#8221;2&#8243;][et_pb_row_inner locked=&#8221;off&#8221;][et_pb_column_inner type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; saved_specialty_column_type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; title=&#8221;on&#8221; meta=&#8221;on&#8221; author=&#8221;on&#8221; date=&#8221;on&#8221; categories=&#8221;on&#8221; comments=&#8221;on&#8221; featured_image=&#8221;on&#8221; featured_placement=&#8221;above&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_background=&#8221;off&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.17.6&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Choosing the right university for you is an important decision that needs careful consideration. Here is how I chose the right university for me.<\/p>\n<h2>Determining goals<\/h2>\n<p>I have considered my academic and career goals. What do I want to study? What are my long-term dreams? Understanding your goals will help you find a university that offers programmes aligned with your interests. I chose to study education because I was interested in how and why people develop into different people. I hadn&#8217;t overthought about my future career, but I wanted to learn about an area that interested me.<\/p>\n<h2>Researching universities<\/h2>\n<p>I started researching universities that offered programmes in my desired field. I looked for reputable universities that demonstrated strength in my area of interest; I also referred to the Times Higher Education Ranking to narrow down the universities I wanted to attend.<\/p>\n<h2>Location and environment<\/h2>\n<p>I considered the location and environment best suited to me. Do I want a bustling city or a quiet town? I thought about various factors, including climate, culture and lifestyle. I also considered whether I would prefer a campus university or a university in a more urban environment. I wanted a student city that was also urban, so I chose Manchester rather than a university in the countryside.<\/p>\n<h2>Size and campus culture<\/h2>\n<p>I also considered the university&#8217;s size and the campus&#8217;s culture. I was torn between a university with a diverse student body and a wealth of resources versus a smaller university with a close-knit community. I concluded that the environment for academic and social growth often happens at a large university.<\/p>\n<h2>Visit the campus<\/h2>\n<p>This is my personal recommendation but, if possible, visit the campus of the university you are considering. Visiting campus will give you a first-hand experience of the atmosphere, facilities and campus life. Talk to current students, attend classes and lectures and walk around the campus to get a feel for whether it is a place where you can flourish.<\/p>\n<h2>Seek advice<\/h2>\n<p>It is also essential to seek advice and guidance. I consulted my teachers, family and friends. Of course, it is not advisable to be swayed by suggestions, but listening is essential as they may have valuable perspectives and information that can help in decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>Remember that choosing a university is a personal decision; what suits one person may not suit another. Consider your needs, interests and aspirations carefully and trust your instincts when making your final decision.<\/p>\n<p>I am so glad I chose The University of Manchester. It&#8217;s less urban than London but offers a good balance between playing and learning. And because there are so many faculties, I often met friends from faculties I didn&#8217;t know existed. It&#8217;s a feature of being at The University of Manchester, a large university where you can meet people and expand your knowledge. Also, because there are so many international students, I can learn different languages and cultures, as if I were studying in many other countries while being in the UK. I also remember vividly how smooth the academic transition from high school to university was, with much support in my academic studies. The University of Manchester is the best university for me. I hope that readers of this blog find the best university for themselves. I would be pleased if it is Manchester!<\/p>\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_0 et_pb_bg_layout_light  et_pb_text_align_left\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Written by Akiko, current undergraduate Education student at The University of Manchester.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_post_nav_0 et_pb_posts_nav nav-single\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; in_same_term=&#8221;off&#8221; show_prev=&#8221;on&#8221; show_next=&#8221;on&#8221; prev_text=&#8221;Previous&#8221; next_text=&#8221;Next&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; show_avatar=&#8221;on&#8221; show_reply=&#8221;on&#8221; show_count=&#8221;on&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; header_font_size_tablet=&#8221;51&#8243; header_line_height_tablet=&#8221;2&#8243; custom_button=&#8221;on&#8221; button_icon_placement=&#8221;right&#8221; button_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; button_use_icon=&#8221;off&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_text_size__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_text_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_width__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_border_radius__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_letter_spacing__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_bg_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_bg_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_one_bg_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=&#8221;off&#8221; button_two_bg_color__hover=&#8221;null&#8221; \/][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Related posts&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1>Related<\/h1>\n\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.106&#8243; area=&#8221;sidebar-1&#8243; orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; show_border=&#8221;off&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; locked=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;Connect Title&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px|&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.90&#8243; background_color=&#8221;#1d1d1d&#8221; module_class=&#8221;footer-section&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; global_module=&#8221;380&#8243;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; allow_player_pause=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;on&#8221; parallax_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_1=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_2=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_2=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_3=&#8221;off&#8221; parallax_method_3=&#8221;off&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; use_custom_width=&#8221;off&#8221; width_unit=&#8221;on&#8221; use_custom_gutter=&#8221;off&#8221; make_equal=&#8221;off&#8221; module_id=&#8221;footer-row&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.89&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Contact Us Title&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4>Contact Us<\/h4>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Contact Us&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; text_text_color=&#8221;#aaaaaa&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; module_class=&#8221;contact-us&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Find Us Title&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4>Find Us<\/h4>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Address&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221; module_id=&#8221;address&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/discover\/maps\/interactive-map\/\">The University of Manchester<br \/>Oxford Rd<br \/>Manchester<br \/>M13 9PL<br \/>UK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Connect Title&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4>Connect With Us<\/h4>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code admin_label=&#8221;Social Media&#8221; global_parent=&#8221;380&#8243; parent_locked=&#8221;off&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.17.6&#8243;]<\/p>\n<ul class=\"inlineList footer-socialIcons\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/p>\n<li><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uomhums\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/assets.manchester.ac.uk\/phase1\/templates\/images\/icon-facebook-50.png\" alt=\"Facebook page for The University of Manchester\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" \/><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <\/a><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/li>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/p>\n<li><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/uomhums\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/assets.manchester.ac.uk\/phase1\/templates\/images\/icon-twitter-50.png\" alt=\"Twitter page for The University of Manchester\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" \/><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <\/a><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/li>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/p>\n<li><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCq5dDNH13gxGSL3RIW1DcTA\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/assets.manchester.ac.uk\/phase1\/templates\/images\/icon-youtube-50.png\" alt=\"YouTube page for The University of Manchester\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" \/><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <\/a><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/li>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/p>\n<li><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uomhums\/\"><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/assets.manchester.ac.uk\/phase1\/templates\/images\/icon-instagram-50.svg\" alt=\"Instagram page for The University of Manchester\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" \/><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --> <\/a><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/li>\n<p><!-- [et_pb_line_break_holder] --><\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Akiko, BSc Education student at The University of Manchester, takes us through her process of choosing a university for her undergraduate studies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6302,"featured_media":5058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5057"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5061,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5057\/revisions\/5061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}