Pin Down Your Future

1
Pin Down Your Future

• Robert Minton-Taylor
• Associate Senior Lecturer Business Executive

2
Do Your Homework!

• Why Am I Telling You This?
• The means of finding out about a decent course at
  a decent university in a decent city are
  limitless.
• The technology e.g. worldwide web is there.
  Use it.
• It never ceases to amaze me how little research
  students undertake on their university of their
  choice.
• Thats just plain bonkers. Going through clearing
  is madness!

3
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• Decide what course you want to study.
• Make a shortlist of 10 universities that run the
  course.
• Rank the universities in order of merit. For this
  use either
• The Guardian
• http//education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide20
  08
• or
• The Times http//www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_
  and_style/education/good_university_guide/

4
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• Go to university Open Days with a friend or a
  parent
• Ask searching questions
• The course
• Does it look interesting, does it have a good
  reputation?
• The university
• Does the campus look good, how far is it from the
  town centre, how near are the halls of residence
  go and see them?

5
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 5. Ask searching questions (contd)
• The lecturers
• Did they make a good impression on you?
• How highly thought of are they e.g. in
  industry/commerce?
• How did they come across i.e. were they kind,
  unstuffy, considerate, interesting, funny?
• The Administration
• What was the administration on the day like?
• Did you get a good follow-up from the Open Day?
• Were the university prepared to allow you to
  email them with further questions?

6
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 6. Check out the city/town
• Is it exciting?
• Would you want to live there?
• Does it have lots of night life, good shopping?
• Is it a fun place after all who wants to spend
  three years in a boring sleepy town?
• BUT a quieter town might suit you e.g. compare
  Oxford with Leeds

7
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 7. Home or Away?
• I think university is all about broadening
  horizons.
• My advice would be choose a university away from
  home.
• Its an opportunity to be independent and far
  enough away for your parents to think twice about
  visiting you.
• Make new friends.
• It can be lonely, so join clubs, societies.
• Experience a new city, and all it has to offer.
• BUT living at home is cheaper, you have someone
  to clean up after you (your long suffering mum),
  and if you live in a halls of residence you dont
  get to choose your flatmates.
• HOWEVER you could miss out on a whole lot of
  fun!

8
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 8. Make sure your personal statement sings
• I cannot tell you how many really dull personal
  statements I have read.
• So make yours interesting, lively and informative
  - does it give a good picture of you?
• What universities look for are well-rounded
  students who are not only academically bright,
  but who are involved in extra curricular
  activities.
• Ensure too that your spelling, grammar and
  sentence composition stack-up.

9
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 9. Work hard, play hard
• Dont waste the opportunity.
• If you really want to go to uni, now is the time
  to put in the effort.
• Fulfil your potential get good grades
• If you dont youll probably get to uni, but
  which one? Do you really want to waste three
  years of your life studying on some 2nd rate
  course, at a 3rd rate university in a 4th rate
  town?
• After all you could end up with a 20,000 loan to
  repay and nothing to show it, save for a
  second-rate degree.
• Employers do rank universities, they know which
  ones are good, which courses they really rate and
  sometimes even the calibre of lecturers who teach
  on them.

10
Make It Work For You

• 10 Steps To Success
• 10. Get yourself sorted be IT aware
• Get a decent laptop, plenty of memory - a well
  known brand that has good. reputation. Buy an
  all-in-one device i.e. printer/photocopier, plus
  two USB sticks you can put in your pocket, or a
  removable hard drive to back up your work.
• Remember about personal safety, get good
  household insurance.
• Sort out a part-time job - youll need to afford
  all those nights out!
• Ensure you get a mobile with decent tariffs, you
  can rack up a whole lot of costs
• Think of getting an internet phone it could save
  you a bundle of money.

11
Whats It Like?

• What does it all mean?
• Semester term.
• Lecture being spoken to via a PowerPoint
  presentation in a theatre with up to 200 other
  students. You're supposed to take notes!
• Tutorial follows a lecture, a time to ask
  questions, review work, with up to 25 students.
• Tutorial group where you are divided into
  groups for group work.
• Tutor the ones who teach you in groups.
• Personal Tutor your Uni mum or dad who helps
  sort out your problems.

12
Why Do Students Fail?

• They hate the course.
• Because they did not check it out before they
  arrived.

13
Why Do Students Fail?

• They have not visited
• the university.
• city/town they have chosen to study in.

14
Why Do Students Fail?

• There are only 8-12 hrs a week of class work.
• The rest of the week you are expected to study on
  your own.
• So you need to be incredibly well organised and
  have self-discipline.

15
Why Do Students Fail?

• Those students who have been spoon fed at A
  level find independent learning very difficult at
  university.

16
Why Do Students Fail?

• Attendance at lectures tutorials is not
  compulsory.
• So its easy to miss vital ones and fall behind.
• Some tutors refuse to hand out notes to those
  that don't attend.

17
Why Do Students Fail?

• Being away from home can be hard
• If you are not used to city life.
• Are not that independent.
• Its easy to get lonely and depressed.

18
Why Do Students Fail?

• The change from sixth-from to university is like
  going straight from nursery to secondary school.
• Its that dramatic and some students cant handle
  it.

19
Why Do Students Fail?

• BUT over 90 of students have a great time.
• Get a fulfilling experience at university.
• Look back on it as the best years of their life!

20
A Great Book!

• The Smarter Student Skills Strategies for
  Success at University by Kathleen McMillan and
  Jonathan Weyers. Published by Pearson. 2006.
  Costs 6.49 (a 50 discount on published price)
  from Amazon.co.uk.
• (Given 5 stars by readers.
• Robert Minton-Taylors view? Well worth the money
  and a great read. Indeed you would be very wise
  to buy it and read it before you go to university!