Uni review- Essex University

So I am looking at universities for the next few weeks to help me decide where I want to continue my education. I thought since there will be people, like me, who are searching for that perfect place to continue their education I would help you out a bit by doing a quick review on each uni I visit to give you my opinion and maybe help you form your own.

Essex University was the first uni I visited so naturally that is where we will begin.

When thinking about possible Uni’s there are 4 main things to think about- travel, place, accommodation, and what the actual uni is like.

1. Travel: I travelled to Essex University, which is actually in Hythe, by train. I live in small town in Northamptonshire so I had to change trains on three occasions not including the tube- Corby to London St Pancras (the tube from London St Pancras to Liverpool Street) Liverpool Street to Essex. Although this journey seems long and stressful it wasn’t too bad, it only took 3 hours tops and that was mainly due to waiting for connections. As long as you have a railcard it won’t be too expensive either which is always a plus. I would say travelling there and back is relatively painless, it was just one hell of a day considering I got the train at 8:16 and didn’t return until past 10!

2. Place: Here is where Essex has its downfall- Hythe is really not for me. It is a small town with the uni located in the middle of nowhere. Getting of the train at Hythe train station was a major disappointment when you are expecting vibrant Essex life and you are confronted with nothing but a Tesco’s and a car garage. It’s safe to say I’m not going to the University of Essex solely because the location put me off right away. There were no shops (other than Tesco), no sign of any uni life, I mean there wasn’t even a bloody pub let alone a club!! The saving grace was that Colchester was only a short train journey away, and the tickets were only £1.70, so I popped off to Colchester for the day instead and ruled Essex off my list.

3. Accommodation: If you haven’t already guessed I actually didn’t look round Essex uni, but I did get a look at the outside of some of the accommodation. I will start with the positive first I guess- it was across the road from Tesco. The only shop in the place, so thank god the uni accommodation was just opposite it! At least if you did your big shop you wouldn’t have to walk very far to get back to your accommodation (but let’s be honest who really does their big shop at Tesco with their prices!). Other than that I would say the accommodation looked pretty dingy. It looked like nothing spectacular at all and left me incredibly disappointed- matched the place really.

4. The actual Uni: I can’t really make a comment on this as I didn’t actually go and see it! I’m afraid if you are interested in going to The University of Essex you will have to make your own mind up about it.

So Essex was obviously not for me, but I did have a really good day in Colchester which is really beautiful. Maybe I have been a bit harsh on my criticisms, but when you look at Unis you can’t really afford to go for bog standard you have to find somewhere you will love not just like. Maybe Essex will be for you so don’t let me put you off looking, but just perhaps bear in mind what I’ve said. I definitely know now that Essex is definitely not for me.

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