University
University of Wales Institute
The University of Wales Institute Cardiff
We asked students about all the things a prospective student is dying to know before they start their University experience.
1) Can you remember what your first day of University was like? Were you in halls?
First day at University was nerve-wracking, and a bit of a blur as a consequence of the 1st night of freshers the night before. Earliest memory was queueing to get my photo taken for the student card, meeting new people in the queue as we knew no better. Yes I was in halls as well.... would have been great if I wasn't living with someone who left mouldy prawns around the place.
2) Was Fresher’s week as good as everyone makes it out to be?
Freshers week was everything it was hyped up to be for me, yes. Getting drunk with people you have know for a matter of hours was what I was expecting and my freshers week definitely fitted the bill. Although, others did think it was over hyped and not all it was cracked up to be.
3) How have you found the lecture-seminar style of learning compared to that of school? Is it hard to learn independently?
The lecture/seminar is a good way of learning for me. For sure it depends on the lecturer but on the whole it works for me. I found learning independently a little tougher due to the distractions of 1st year at a uni where the main priority seemed to be getting very worse for wear on a nightly basis.
4) Describe the city and its advantages/disadvantages.
Ads - Student friendly city, everything is within walking distance, always something going on (nights out, gigs, sporting events), pretty good public transport.
Dis - Its Wales so it rains barrreeee, Local meatheads should be avoided on Saturday nights as they're only out to start a brawl.
5) Promote your University in 3 words
Diverse, Flexible, Good-Opportunities (one word?)
Business
Student Entrepreneur Guide
A student’s view of how to be an entrepreneur and build your company with the constraints of University life.
At University, the extent of entrepreneurial activity rarely surpasses idealistic conversations at the pub. On numerous occasions I've exclaimed "Why hasn't that been invented yet!" and promised a mate that we'd do it and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. But these dreams never become reality. So how can I move from over excitedly splashing Fosters onto my housemate's shoes to becoming a successful student entrepreneur?
There are four skills you need if you are going to succeed as a student entrepreneur: intelligence, hard work, innovation and resilience. A healthy dollop of luck always helps too. But let's say you have all of this in abundance, where do you go next? Well, the first thing you have to realise is that you'll be sacrificing a lot in starting a new business. Creating a company is time consuming and will likely mean you'll have to cut down social activities. Once you've accepted this then you can move forward.
So where next? Grab a pen & paper, and begin making a chart with all your ideas (no matter how unrealistic or crazy you think they are) - then just carry on your normal day-to-day routine but at the end of every day try to add another idea to the chart. Once satisfied with the number of ideas on your chart, review each one and pick the three best. Now fill out a Business Model Canvas for each idea. As these business plans develop, one will hopefully stand out as the obvious choice for your new business. Once you have chosen one, work on a more detailed business plan.
Now all you need is the finance to make your business a reality, and also should start thinking about recruiting staff to help your company succeed!
Back to Entrepreneurship
Business
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs gives students the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills during their Erasmus year.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a fantastic way to either develop your skills as a new entrepreneur in a small to medium-sized enterprise or to improve your business as a host entrepreneur through the presence of a motivated, new worker. Both parties benefit greatly from the programme and often gain invaluable lessons that can be carried forward in the participants' professional lives.
The criteria for applicants is based on two areas:
#1 New Entrepreneur: You have to be a serious budding entrepreneur looking to get some first-hand experience of a real-world entrepreneurial working environment. You also need to have a concrete business idea, reflected in a business plan, and be motivated to contribute to the development of your hosts' business.
#2 Host Entrepreneur: You have to be a person directly involved with entrepreneurship and a company that has been established for over 3 years. You must also be willing to mentor your new entrepreneur and give him/her the opportunity to contribute to the development of your company.
On the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs website, there is a clear guide about how to apply. To summarise this, there is a simple tool through which one must fill out the necessary information. After this you have to choose a local contact point - this is the place that you will be living during your year in industry. Here you will find the email address of the designated contact that you will have to get in touch with in order to sort out the logistics of your placement. On the website, you can also find other useful information about the programme, as well as success stories of people who have previously undertaken Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs.
Find out more information here: http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/index.php#.Ui2a2mQpav8
Back to Entrepreneurship
Blog
How to Choose Your College
Choosing a college can seem very daunting for some, especially with the large amount of choices that exist. However, you can make it easier for yourself by following these tips.
Choosing a college can seem very daunting for some, especially with the large amount of choices that exist. It is not to be forgotten however, you can make choosing a college into a systematic process, allowing you to come to a final decision through a much more controlled process. Many high-school graduates also have problems when choosing their college as the amount of different opinions that exist on each college one vary widely from person to person. It is often much easier and much more strongly recommended to build your own opinions through research of various kinds.
Top Tips to Choose Your College
- Visit - Hearing about colleges through other people even when it´s close friends that have gone their is never a good idea. You should always try and build your own opinion. By visiting multiple colleges you will begin to get an idea of what you want and do not want. For example you may start noticing patterns weather you prefer a smaller or a bigger college. Visiting a college also allows you to gain a first hand impression of their facilities and the people that are attending there. This is worth more than many think and visiting more than one college even if you are not sure you want to go there will help massively with college selection in the long run.
- Don't base everything on rankings - Although it is a good idea to look at the rankings in order to get a feeling for how colleges have been compared to some others you know, it is not recommended to apply to one college over another because of it's ranking. Rankings, as done by the New York Times every year, often concentrate on the spending of a college on it's faculty, facilities, and classes or the amount of research undertaken. However, the colleges spending habits do not necessarily impact the quality of the education you will receive and the value of the people that you will meet while being there. This is why visiting colleges is so important, you may wish to go to a certain top ranked college, however after visiting it, you may decide it's not for you after all or that you definitely wish to attend that school. Keep in mind, it is often far more accurate to search for college rankings concerning themselves with your course or major specifically.
- Apply to 3 ranges of colleges - It is a good idea to apply to some "reach" colleges which you believe are just slightly out of your reach when it comes to results. It is possible that you will be pleasantly surprised if you are not completely unrealistic with your choices. Then apply to two or three colleges which you believe that you would really like to go to, choose these carefully as they are the ones you will most likely end up attending. Also choose a safety school, make sure you still like this school as much as your others however it should be a sure thing that you are getting in.
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