Southampton University

I am about to Graduate from the University of Southampton, from
the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences which is internationally reknowned for its teaching and research.

I have now Oceanography with Geology BSc(hons) from the School of Ocean and Earth Science.

The Southampton Oceanography Centre has now been renamed the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton after gaining award after award.
We have links for work and academic placements all around the world.
The NOC is the 2nd largest only to Woods Hole, USA.

Overall the University is in the top 10 research institutions coming about 4th or 5th year on year.

Southampton boasts 5 main teaching campuses:
Main Campus; Highfield
Avenue Campus- languages and Humanities
New College- Teaching and Social work with Vocational
Boldrewood- Biomedical building-Medics etc
and the Marine Campus where I spent most of my Academic life!

Most students begin at Highfield and as they progress through their degrees find themselves having lectures and working from their specific faculty.

I arrived at Chamberlain Hall on 29th September 2002 a little nervous, full of excitement.
Halls are a fantastic way to get into university life, meeting new people and generally finding your feet. I chose a catered hall, a bit more expensive, but you still got fed when the money ran out!!
(We had a bar in our halls, so I just got out of bed and staggered to the bar, at the other end of the building!)
There has been some confusion with halls in recent years with accomodation problems, ie there not being enough!! The uni are building more Halls all the time, to avoid disppointment sort yourself out early if you can.

I took a student loan also which was very well spent on socialising and other activities, such as with the Equestrian Club, which is now the Riding Club.
My second year, I lived in a flat, so its a great chance to establish your independence renting your first place!
Accomodation can vary greatly and the area you choose to live in and with how many people!

Portswood- Student Ville, most students live in or near Portswood. Its cheap, close to uni and has loads of watering holes very close by. Check out the Sobar, Clowns and Jesters(Notorious for being cheap and an awesome night out!) and the Hobbit.
Most accomodation is a victorian terrace house, 4 to 5 bedrooms all of vary standardso f repair depending on how tight your landlord is. Some are appauling and some are great. Use the University approved list!
Costs £45-£55/week
Highfield- Very close to uni, a nice area to live in, better housing generally, around £50-60/week
Polygon- Very nice standard of housing, more expensive, but there are bargains to be had if you are in a house of 4 or 5, same price as Portswood, but its more likely to be a Semi-detatched with better standards of repair. Poloygon is more central and that is reflected in the price £55-£70/week.
You will be close to Bedford Place, a nice area full of really good bars, shops and Academy Student Nightclub(a regular haunt!)
I lived just outside the Polygon in a really good 2 bed flat, furnished for £65/week. I chose to live in a nicer house in the end. I couldn't cope with rising damp and rats! However we did have mice tho! Soon got rid of, by next doors cat!
See the Universitiy's Accomodation guide for help with all accomodation advice!

Southampton has great facilities as a city. West Quay is a huge shopping centre for all you shopaholics, there is a large food court too! There are good pubs and bars dotted all around town. They get swankier as you go down to the water front. We spent most of our time either at the Student Union or down by the Docks. I lived closer to town than Portswood!
The most of the locals are brilliant towards students. However in my experience some are very pykey and don't really like students. I would advise to stay clear of Yates and the Square on Friday and Saturday nights, oh and Ikon and Diva too. Ikon and Diva are huges clubs back to back situated in Leisure World. Leisure World is a huge complex with an Odeon, Hot shots, Jumping Jacks and restaurants and bars.

Sometimes, I think Vicky Pollard from Little Britain was modelled on Southamptonites!!

The Cube in the Student Union is wicked on a Friday night and Ikon and Diva run a student night Wednesday where it is just students allowed in from anywhere!

The course I chose was Oceanography with Geology. I chose it because I had science A levels and didn't want to do just chemistry or just biology. Oceanography with Geology encompassed all sciences with a dollop of maths to keep things interesting!(Or just downright boring and difficult at times!)
The first year is pretty easy, you would have to seriously party hard and do no work to fail. Just turn up to your lectures and take decent notes.
The second year gets harder, working on your previous notes from the first year, themes develop and the work load increases and more is asked of you academically. I would say the second year is the best! You can still socialise and work effectively wothout your grades dropping.
All oceanographers go to Plymouth at the end of the 2nd year to do a residential course which forms a 3rd year module. (Quite important!!!) This is grat fun, they stick you in halls at the University andyou take the boats out and then do your lab stuff on return. Primarily involves taking water samples, looking at the biological content of the water and figuring out why....!!!!
This forms a basis for a report which is 70% of the module mark.
The third year is ok, a wee bit stressful, some cope better than others. I was quite stressed, more with what I was going to do after uni, than the work load. I always met my deadlines, and could get work done.
You do have to pester some staff for their help as they are sometimes more tied up in their own research. There are some excellent staff at the NOC, who really take the time to nuture you. Others just can't understand why you can't get something, some need to learn how to teach better!!
Overall the learning emphasis is placed on you, as the lecturers can be of verying quality.
I wouldn't advise anyone to do my course, as there is a lot of variation in how Oceanography is marked compared to Geology. Stick to one or the other. I slogged it out, ending up with a good classification. In hindsight, I would have dropped the Geology.
Lots of my peers changed, there were 12 of us who started that way and only 3 will graduate with that degree programme!
I was lucky I had a very experienced tutor, who was very approachable with any sort of problem. Some of my peers were not so lucky. Horror stories of tutors disappearing for months on end usually at sea, with no email communication- especially around dissertation time!
At the NOC, the IT capabilities are now excellent, we had a new computer suite with rows of computers!
THe Noc hosts a self contained library, the National Oceanographic Library. It is superb, very well resourced. There is nothing it has not got for the under grad!

Oceanography is not for everyone, its very demanding and they work you hard for not much gain at times! If I had this time again, I wouldn't have chose it. If you are a fanatic about rocks or some aspect of science in the ocean, then consider it.
Its hardly about swimming with dolphins and whale watching.
Its nitty gritty science.

Anyone who has some A levels or equivalent should really consider going to Uni, and Southampton. Its great, there's always a great buzz around the place. I understand that uni isn't for everyone but you can only find out!
There is a good selection of courses to choose from!

Its a cracking institution, with so much to offer academically and for fun. The Athletic Union is superb, I took up riding again, and finished the year by competing for the club against other Unis.
I would say, I've lived in southern England for most of my life, but shared with a lived with people from the north, who did say it was very expensive. I didn't really think it was. It depends where you are from!

Look it up at www.soton.ac.uk

Thanks for reading, any questions please give me a buzz!
Naomi