Choosing Where to Study

I have had a few people tweet me asking about studying at the RAC and my course etc., so here is a blog post about how I went about it!

The first thing to say, and the most important, is that your degree, your education and your life and in your control. Do not pick your university and course based on your parents choices, your friends choices or anything else other than your own opinion. Take on board the things people tell you, but, at the end of the day it is your decision to study and it's a decision for life, so make sure you are happy with it!

If you look around there are lots of different courses to study at different places, depending on what you want to do.  I chose to go for an undergraduate degree rather than foundation or NVQ as I knew that without my own farm it was very likely that I would have to go into the business side of agriculture, rather than the practical side. Depending on your career aspirations you might want to study something different. Make sure you thoroughly research all your options, because there's nothing worse than finding out you could have done something more interesting later down the line!

I initially investigated 4 choices - Newcastle, Reading, RAC and Harper Adams . I visited the RAC and Harper Adams, but wasn't able to travel to Reading or Newcastle so had to judge them on their prospectuses and from online reviews etc. I wasn't sure whether I would prefer to study in a big city or in a more rural location until I visited both the RAC and Harper. I knew pretty much instantly that it would come down to a choice between the two rivals!  Another factor which stopped me looking at the bigger city unis was that I got lost in the system at Newcastle. I wasn't sent a prospectus and wasn't invited to the course open day. When I rang I was told that my invite had just been lost in the system somewhere and I realised that at a big city uni I would be much more of a number, so I abandoned the idea of studying there!

That said,  I do know people who have studied at both Newcastle and Reading and they tell me their main reason for choosing to study there was that they could get to experience city life. I think that if you live on a farm or come from a very rural background/area the idea of city life will appeal to you much more than other options. Nightlife is also a big attraction for a lot of people, but it wasn't so important to me. It's quite handy to prioritise what you want from your uni/higher education experience so you can really compare different places.

I visited both Harper and the RAC twice. The first time round I thought I was a Harper girl and the second time round I changed my mind and decided the RAC was the place for me. Both universities are really great and I can't put my fault to either of them, so in the end my choice had to come down to the nitty gritty. I had applied for similar Agribusiness courses at both unis (forgive me, I can't remember exactly which!), both of which incorporated a language module. I have studied French since I was 6 years old and continued through to A -Level, so I knew that was something I definitely wanted to carry on with. At Harper they told me that I would have to start a new language, and wouldn't be allowed to study French, unlike the RAC where I was able to study french at an advanced level.

I also knew that a course at Harper meant 4 years of study compared to 3 at the RAC. I also want to do a masters degree, so I had the option of 5 or 4 years of study. Some people might prefer the extra year, and I did think about it. As I was only 18 when I started uni and I thought it might give me some time to grow up a bit more, but in the end I decided that 4 years of study was plenty for me.

I'm currently in 2nd year at the RAC and I know I made the right decision for me. I love it here and wouldn't change a thing about my experience so far. I have friends who went off to Harper and they love it there, as do friends a Newcastle and Reading.

Choosing where to study really comes down to a- what you want out of your uni experience and b- what you want to do with your degree. It's worth taking the time to compare different qualification and course details etc. to avoid surprises. Also keep in mind how long your course is and how far you want to take your study.

Hope some of that was useful! Any RAC freshers 2013 I'll see you in the bar!

Peace, love and mud,

Bunny
xxx