Newcastle University Open Day

After a long 5 hour journey on a Friday afternoon, we arrived in Newcastle where we attended our last (but definitely not least) university open day. We travelled up on Friday and stayed in a hotel, ready to go to the university at 9am on Saturday morning. This meant that we could fully explore the amazing city at night-time and what better night to go exploring than on a Friday night when the atmosphere is truly buzzing. I must say that after visiting Newcastle for just one night, it is definitely my new favourite city. Everyone - young and old - is partying and is out on the town until the early hours of the morning. There are nightclubs on every corner and the millennium bridge looks so amazing at night. I could imagine sitting down as a student by the river Tyne, looking out onto the colourful Tyne and millennium bridges and admiring the illuminated Sage Gateshead.

  

Millennium Bridge

 

Tyne Bridge 

 

Sage Gateshead

In the morning, we made our way to the university which was a 5 minute taxi drive as the city is surprisingly small and compact, which makes it very cosy. The university was very beautiful and on every horizon there was a castle to look at. I liked the contrast of traditional exteriors but modern interiors.


Newcastle University

We started our open day by exploring the accommodation which was of a high standard. My favourite accommodation choices are Castle Courts and Windsor Terrace. Castle Courts is situated about a 15 minute walk away but it is like a mini campus alongside Castle Leazes (another set of halls) where there is a bar, coffee shop and castles surrounding the 'campus'. I liked this as it was like having another area to hang out with your hall friends. However, the 15 minute walk may become a bit of an issue when I have 30 contact hours per week. Therefore, we found Windsor Terrace which is a small flat-like complex for 6 people on each floor (3 girls and 3 boys) and has a really modern and very nice shared kitchen for them to share. I particularly liked this hall as it is situated 1 minute away from the library and less than 5 minutes away from the Chemical Engineering department - which would be a much more practical location for me.

Castle Court/Castle Leazes Accommodation

The library was so fascinating and it had recently been refurbished so it is very modern. It has 4 levels with special study areas and group tables for practicing presentations, touch screens for searching the book database and so much more! Next, we looked at the campus and student union building. The campus was really nice and it wasn't too large or too small. There was plenty to do and everything was easy to find. The student union building was great as well - with multiple cafes and shops along with a fantastic underground bar/stage area.

Me and Dad on the campus

Green gardens

After all of what we had seen so far, I was really hoping that the ChemEng department would live up to the high standards of the rest of the university. I was so right - it was exactly what I hoped it would be. The labs were spacious and modern and the lecturers were so typically Geordie friendly. There were multiple labs/computer/study areas for students to use and the professors seem very approachable and willing to help.

I cannot fault anything in the whole university and it was exactly what I was looking for. Therefore, I can really see myself enjoying studying at Newcastle University and it is a definite contender for my first choice.