Choosing Kent

An image of the University of Kent Canterbury campusI am originally from North Yorkshire, so from Canterbury it takes me four hours to get home by train, five hours by car, and nine hours by Megabus. Crazy, right? There are some fantastic universities up north! So, I suppose, for some people, going to university far away would seem like unnecessary hassle, since I could have a great academic experience closer to home. But, as anybody who has been to university will tell you, a fundamental part of the university experience is the place itself, and finding somewhere which you can consider a new home.

The first time I came to Kent was for the Applicant Day. I had already applied to Kent as one of my five choices on UCAS, having been impressed by their high university ratings both for my chosen subject and as an overall institution. I arrived the night before and stayed in a hotel in town, and became quickly charmed by the cobbled streets, quirky bars, and quaint beauty of Canterbury itself. Having only come from a small town, Canterbury was an ideal location, since it has the vibrancy and diversity of a city without being intimidating.

Touring the Canterbury campus really settled my decision; it is stunning, with plenty of large grassy spaces, accessibility to town, and some great self-catered accommodation which I was after. As well as that, there are so many facilities that (if I really wanted to) I wouldn’t have had to leave campus all year, since the campus seemed like a town all on its own. There are bars and clubs for a variety of nightlife, on-campus supermarkets and banks, opportunities for jobs, and over a hundred different societies. Everything I needed was in one place. Luckily, I loved the city too and managed to drag myself off campus.

Despite visiting some great northern universities, Kent made me feel the most at home, and was the university that I was most excited for making my top choice. It is so important to visit potential universities before making your final decision about where you want to live for at least three years, but I hope you will realise the fantastic opportunities Kent offers, and be just as excited to live here as I was.

This post is by Alice DawesÂ