University of Surrey www.surrey.ac.uk

I knew Surrey was upmarket compared to the Midlands where I come from, but nothing prepared me for the blatant snobbery and prejudice from Southerners. To get a really good social life, you have to go into London, which costs a lot of money. I am a city-born girl, which may be why I found it hard to adapt to town-life with only cheesy clubs and very expensive wine bars to go to.

On the education side, I picked the University of Surrey as it was the only place which did the exact course I wanted. I now realise that there is more to picking a university than just the course. If I had my time again I would go to a (Northern) city university for my second choice course. Many of the lecturers were foreign, and some were very difficult to understand, which made learning quite hard. Very few produced course notes for us, and it is hard to write notes and listen properly at the same time. This wouldn't matter so much if we could do our own research and learning back home, but the library was poorly stocked, with books so old they were completely useless, and only a few copies of the 'recommended texts' to go around over a hundred students (and that's just in one year group). Yes, in an ideal world I would own all the texts myself, but books are very expensive, and it took all of my loan (and then a lot more) to cover my rent. I barely made it through uni, working every hour that god sends to pay my extortionate rent, leaving little time to study!

I would recommend this place for someone who comes from a wealthy family, who are paying them through uni, but it's not for someone like me who pays their own way. If you are not used to living down South, the cost of living will come as a shock to you, so be warned! It is a campus uni, so for people who are not very independent, well travelled or confident, this is a good place to find your feet for when you fly the nest. For me, it lacked excitement and I craved my home city.