de Montfort University Leicester > Reviews > Get D M Used to it!!

Author's product rating:   

IT Facilities	Good
Libraries	Excellent
Societies/Clubs	Excellent
Accommodation	Excellent
Nightlife	Excellent

Advantages:	Great for art courses, great halls, great nightlife, located in a good central city with good links
Disadvantages:	Poor selections of postgrad courses, some halls suck !  (grange court)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I've have just completed my second year of study of de Montfrot university and am about to complete my third and final year!

-The location-

de Montfort is located in Leicester very near the city centre. It's an excellent location a 5 min walk to the shops and bars in the city centre, 10 mins to the train station that has very regular trains to London and most other locations which are fairly cheap.

The actual university is compact and everything is located together with the campus building being the centre of the campus. Each faculty then has its own building most of which are fairly old but have lots of character. Most halls are located within 5 minutes of the campus.

The campus is also surrounded by numerous convince shops, student friendly pubs and there are 2 parks just a 2 minute walk away!

-The Halls-

I have visited most halls of residence at some point or another and some are much better than others. Most of the halls are pretty new and you'll probably find you're only the 5 or so resident of your room! In my first year I lived in Victoria halls and was only the second person to have used the room so it was extremely clan and new looking. My room had a double bed, en suite, tons of storage space and a large wardrobe and desk that ran along the whole side of one wall. Victoria halls is widely regarded by DMU students as the best halls to live in. Each flat has around 4/5 bedrooms and a kitchen/lounge area. Victoria halls provided all kitchen equipment such as a kettle, toaster, pots, pans and plates. The kitchen was roomy and 2 of you could comfortably cook at once. The lounge had a dining table and numerous soft chairs (a sofa would have been nice!!) and the one thing everyone loves about Victoria halls? you get sky TV! ok so not all the channels but you get sky1, mtv, sky movies, sky sports and e4. A laundrette is also located in the court yard as with most halls.

After Victoria halls I would recommend Bede halls where each flat has 10 bedrooms and a large kitchen area and a shared bathroom. These halls are modern and some flats have balconies!

Grange court halls are one to avoid as they are very run down and cost as much as Victoria halls!

Liberty park halls are similar to Victoria but with a much smaller bathroom and bedroom and they don't have sky TV but have the added convenience of having a Spar located directly underneath!

Gosling again is another modern set of halls the consist of flats of around 8 or ten people and have a kitchen but no lounge.

There are other halls on offer but I have not viewed these!! but check out the de Montfort website for more info www.dmu.ac.uk

-Courses-

de Montfort offers a fairly wide range of courses and is highly regarded for their art and design department. They are also the only place in the world (last time I read the prospectus anyway) to offer a contour fashion course! The offer courses from business management to drama and dance! de Montfort offers course including the following:

Architecture, Fine art, Graphic design, Clothing and design, Fashion buying, Marketing, Photography, Pharmacy, Criminology, Dance, Audiology, Community and Criminal Justice, computing, Design Management and Innovation, Digital Video and Broadcast Production, Electronic Games Technology, Health Studies, History, Law and Music technology.
For a full list visit the website www.dmu.ac.uk

-The union-

The union or campus centre building is the heart of the university. It offers 2 bars, The graduate which is a friendly bar located on the lower floor which offers food as well as drink and Level one the union run bar/club. Level one offers great prices on drinks and nights for every taste!! Thursday and Saturday night are the big ones but they also run a uni-vibe night on a Wednesday, an indie rock night with live bands on a Friday and society nights on a Monday.

The union building also houses a canteen style area which offers a variety of food with a coffee shop, uppercrust, Harry ramsdens, Madison's and a sandwich shop. There are many seats available to sit on and enjoy your food.

There is also a spar on the bottom floor and a lettings company which is great for finding your accommodation for your 2/3 years of study!

There is also the university shop locate don the second floor where you can buy snacks, stationary, gifts and DMU related merchandise such as scarf's and hoodies.

-The library-

The library is fairly new and is amazing! Its open 24 hours so you can study when it suits you, has 2 computer suites, a media area for watching videos/DVDs and a group work area. You have to be a student to use the library; you have to scan your uni card to get in so you have to always bring it with you!! There are also specific areas for silent study and quiet talking. There are plenty of staff to help on each floor if you have questions or can't find a book. There is a wide selection of books covering every subject and you can search for them using the opac system which is like using an online search engine. There are also printing and photocopying facilities available.

-Nightlife-

The nightlife in Leicester is great! It caters for all tastes from indie to cheese and Bangra. The union also offers some good nights that are widely attended. Wednesday nights at Zanzibar are almost compulsory for DMU students as it's a night just for them! There are drinks offers, occasional competitions and good music spanning across every genre.

If you're into your indie /rock then check out the fanclub on a Tuesday for student night or Mosh on a Wednesday or Tuesday.

There are plenty of clubs and bars located in the city centre and along narbrough road that offer student nights with discounts!

- Other comments-

If your studying an art based subject take advantage of the faculty supply shop found in Flecter building on the M floor. If offers everything from card to paint and foam it has everything! and at low prices. There is also a copy shop next door to it that offers binding and laminating.

If you need computer supplies the visit the shop in Gateway house on the 1st floor the prices are amazingly cheap!

There is also a bookshop located on campus near the library and their happy to order books they don't have in stock.

There are tons of clubs and societies to join check out the freshers fair to find out about them all or visit www.mydsu.com for a full list and information on each! As a guide there are the typical sports clubs, cheerleaders, rock society, diving, ski and snowboard, poi, radio and Tv clubs.

Overall I would say DMU is great I love my course; Fashion buying which is only offered in 2 other universities in Britain and I thoroughly enjoy my time at DMU. I have visited many a friends' university and have to say im always glad to get back to good old de Montfort!! I am hoping to take on a masters when I finish my course but so far ive found DMU offer a very limited number of courses which im very disappointed in. But as the advert says you better get D M Used to it!!!