I DROPPED OUT OF UNIVERSITY

After finishing sixth form in 2018 I started my university experience at the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey but as you will probably know I now attend Nottingham Trent University, so in this blog I will be telling you all about my experience at UCA, my reasons why and what it was like to drop out of uni.

So at the start of sixth form when they started mentioning university I was 100% sure I even wanted to go to any uni but after a while of thinking about it all and speaking to various people I decided I may as well try it, whats the worst that could happen..

So when it came to the start of my second year at sixth form and we had to start our UCAS applications I began my search for the courses I wanted to apply to. I orginally was looking at Digital media and marketing as I was very interested in digital media and creating things for social media and other online platforms. I visited Loughbrogh University but upon this visit I decided it wouldn't be my first choice as I didn't like how big the campus was and honestly I hated the way one of the main lectures I would have spoke and I knew I wouldn't be able to listen to him for three years, also they were asking for a lot higher grades than I was predicted to achieve. I also looked around Manchester University, I really like the city but hated the campus, it was too spread out and I didn't want to do all of the travelling between buildings so I didn't end up even applying there. I did also look at NTU but for a different course which was on the Clifton Campus, which is out of the city, I didn't really like the location and I didn't fall in love with the course but I still liked it enough for it to be my second option as the grades were achievable. I didn't really think UCA was the one for me and honestly only applied because I needed to fill the five applications, so when they asked me to go for an interview I was quite reluctant to attend but my dad persuaded me it was worth a chance, so we drove three and a half hours to see the university. When we got there I realised it wasn't like any other uni I had visited, it was very small and in a small town rather than a city, but there was quite a lot in the town, some nice resturants, shops and supermarkets. I went to see the space I would be working in if I attended and it was a spacious room with two large tables and some sofas and computers at the back of the room where students were hard at work. I spoke to a third year who was working in there and she spoke very highly of the course and then two first years took me on a tour of the rest of the campus and they also said they were really enjoying the course, having these talks with students really helps you get the true insight to what its like to attend the course. We saw the accomodation and social areas and them all being so close actually really appealed to me and how it was such a tight nit community. After my interview with the head of the course I decided I actually really liked the course and university and if I was given an achievable offer I would put it as my first option. At UCA I applied for BA Advertising course, advertising is something which I have a massive interest in, I love see all the creations brands make and all of the thoughts and ideas which are behind the final result, so I couldn't wait to learn about all of the work that goes into advertising and hopefully create my own successful work in the future. When it came to results day I recevied an email saying that I had a place at the university and I straight away confirmed it.

Then comes September 1st 2018, I moved my life to Farnham aka biggest mistake I ever made. I decided to move over two days because I had so much crap to move in lol and because I didn't think I'd be able to handle doing it all in one day, so my mum took me down and up on the Saturday and my dad took my back down on the Sunday, he also took me for the best roast dinner I'ver ever had, so the first day was looking up. After my dad and boyfriend left me I of course had a cry as reality hit me that I was staying here for the next year, but after I pulled myself together I went downstairs and met some of my housemates. Only three of them had moved in at this time but they were lovely and we sat and chatted for hours about the most random topics, so it was off to a good start. I lived in a house of 8 girls, you can just imagine what that was going to be like..

So this uni is literally in an old peoples town, its where you would go to retire, not exactly made for freshers week. I knew this before starting to the uni but I didn't think it would be a problem because I'm not a huge night out person, like I could go a while without going out... but I didn't realise the extent to how dead it would be. So the student union had events every night for the first couple of weeks, each night having a different theme, it was good at first but then it just got repetative and less people started to go so it didn't really have to atomosphere. I know some uni SU's are a really good night out and are basically a club but not this one, there was an upper floor with the bar and some tables and then you could walk down a few stairs and there was the dance floor, one small dance floor. I made a good group of friends and got on really well with my house mates so I did really enjoy the first few weeks of uni. Apart from the freshers ball, I was so excited and I got all dressed up and ready to have a great night but then 10 minutes after getting there I threw up in the sink, not my best moment for sure, but we live and learn.

My actual course started off well as well, we were learning some interesting techniques and theories and starting to practice and create ads. On my course there was only 20 people in first year, so a tiny group, but I really liked everyone they were a really good group to work with and as I got to know people I was excited to work with all of these creatives. I also made a really good group of girl friends on my course who I adored. We had two seminars a week with two different leaders and it was great learning the different things from them both. We also had one lecture a week all about the contextual studies, history of advertising, I wasn't the biggest fan of a lot of the lectures they were quite dull and we just had a lot of things thrown at us, it was the best given, but some things we learnt were interesting so it was very hit or miss.

After about a month at my uni I went to visit my boyfriend and best friend at there uni, which is actually NTU. I went around the city for the first time and went on a real night out for the first time in a month, this was my first realisation that my uni was shit. After my weekend away I returned to good old Farnham and it was still enjoyable, we had a foam party and I started creating some work that I was really proud of. But I couldn't stay there for too long and I went back home the following weekend. That weekend we went to see my step sister at her uni in Manchester and once again I realised how dead the area my uni was in really is. When I returned I really tried to make the most of it, I went for a picnic with my friends and went to a local pub with some people on my course which was actually really enjoyable. But once again I came home for the weekend. The next weekend came around and I was planning to stay in Farnham until my grandma asked to meet me and go for a day in London and how could I turn that down. I went to see her on the Saturday and was planning to come back later that night but it didn't work out like that. I actually ended up deciding to get the train back with her home and then drove up to Nottingham. This was when I realised I hated my uni. I returned to uni and knew I could make it through the week because the following week was my reading week so I could be at home for the week! I actually spent majority of my time in Nottingham and went to Center Parcs for a couple of days which was a great get away from the stress. Just for reference we are only at the end of October..

After my reading week I continued to constant commute between Farnham and Birmingham/Nottingham, being at uni Monday-Friday and home for the weekend. The journey was 4 hours including 4 changes by train and then an extra hour drive if I went to Nottingham. I was honestly exhausted all of the time. My boyfriend came to visit my one end of November, this was one of the first weekends I stayed there and I cried and begged to leave with him when he left, even though I would see him in 2 days. At this point it was just the location and lack of things to do which was driving me insane, the course was going well and I had some really good friends. On the Monday of our last week of uni all of my house made a Christmas dinner together and that was definetly one of the highlights of my experience there. On our last night there we ordered a chinese and I was counting down the hours till my dad picked me up.

I had three weeks off for christmas and they were the best three weeks of my life, the worst day was moving back. It was actually really nice to see everyone at first and I did enjoy the first few days we were back and I got closer with my course friends which really helped me get through this. About a week into being back we handed in one of our projects and I was so proud of my work, so we were off to a good start and I actually stayed in Farnham for the first weekend back. But that didn't last long.

After I began to get closer with my course friends I distanced from my house mates and I realised more and more that they weren't my type of people which did make it harder to live with them, they were all still so nice to me but sometimes it just got too much for me to handle and I would just stay in my room most days and this really really put me down. I felt so alone and stuck in this hole, the walls in our house were so thin and you could hear everything that happened and it was just a horrible experience. To pull myself up I carried on going home every weekend, this was the best and worst thing for me to do, it took everything out of me physically, mentally and finacially lol but I just couldn't stay in that place for more than 5 days. One of my best friends at the time also hated it and went home every weekend so that actually really helped, we would do part of the journey together because she lived in London and it was really good to talk to her about it all and feel less alone.

The only thing that got me through it all was the course and how it was worth staying in this awful place, but in the end that let me down as well. Around the start of February my head of course and main lecturer didn't show up to our sessions, he was one of the main things that made me want to start this course because he was so creative and inspiring, so the fact that we didn't have him teaching us really made the course slack. He never told he wasn't going to be there, never told us why he wasn't there so we were left completely in the dark and we were only in uni two days a week, one of which was just an hour lecture. This was not what I was paying £9,000 for. We were also told we would be going on a trip to New York with the course, this was a massive selling point for me as I'd always wanted to go, but did this happen.. of course not.

I hit an all time low, had absolutely no motivation or interest and finally made the decision I would drop out. After speaking to my other lecturer and my parents they pursuaded me to finish the year there because there was only a couple of months left and if I left half way through I would have nothing to show for that year of work I did. So I joined the gym and tried to spend as much time with my friends as possible to try and make the most of the experience. I came back after easter with the end in sight, I couldn't wait to get out of there, two weeks passed and I was finally free and couldn't be happier.

I just want to mention what it's like to actually reapply and start again. I started looking for course around the start of March and I applied for 5 mid March, you do the same process as you did the first year through UCAS, I got in contact with my previous teacher who gave me the reference the first time and she said she would just use the same one again, I used the same personal statement and just added my extra experience, so it was very easy to do. Within a week I had recieved 3 unconditional offers, the unis were quick to respond and gave me unconditionals because I already had my A-level results so there was no waiting around for results day. I attended to offer holder days at my two options which were BCU and NTU and made my decision to take the place at NTU end of March, I then just applied for accomodation like usual. To leave my old uni I just had to fill in a form with reasoning to why I was leaving and I personally told my course leaders and when applying for my student loan I just put in the new university details, its so much easier than you would think and I am beyond happy with my decision, I am loving it at NTU and would never look back.