UQ Program: Bachelor of Arts/Law
My time abroad studying in Manchester was, and always will be I think, an amazing time in my life. It is true what people say - you meet great people from all around the world, you grow as a person and do crazy things you maybe never thought you would.
I studied 3 law modules whilst I was away. My favourite being Environmental Law. My professors were so passionate and engaging that I came out of the course feeling more passionate and engaged then I ever had after a university course. Overall my class sizes were considerably smaller. For example some of my tutorials consisted of 5 students sitting around the professors office discussing current issues. There were no great differences in teaching or assessment styles, which certainly made for an easy transition. It was a fantastic experience!
I took the opportunity of being based in the UK and so close to Europe to travel…a lot! I did quite a few weekends away in Ireland, Scotland, Norway and various parts of England. Over the Easter holiday (which is around 3 weeks) I backpacked through Austria, Czech Republic & Holland with friends from Manchester. And I have just returned from 6 weeks backpacking through Eastern Europe, Spain, France and Belgium.
Manchester is a great student city with something to do every night of the week – just look at the thousands of flyers everywhere for the latest! Fallowfield is anything but quiet and is student heaven – everything you need from supermarkets, chemists, cafes, restaurants, take away, bars, pubs… When not hanging around in Fallowfield though my favourite suburb is the Northern Quarter for shopping, eating and drinking!
I have compiled a list of some of my favourite places and things to do in Manchester as well as some of my practical tips.
My Manchester top picks (in no particular order):
1. BBQ with friends in Platt Fields or Beers out the front of the Orange Grove as soon as it warms up and the sun comes out! (in Fallowfield)
2. Chocolate cake at Oklahoma when you need that winter pick me up (in the Northern Quarter)
3. Shop for strange and wonderful things you never knew you needed at Affleck’s Palace (also in the Northern Quarter)
4. 2 pound cocktails at Font any day (in Fallowfield & in the City on Oxford Road)
5. Breakfast, coffee or a sneaky drink at Trof (in Fallowfield, Uni & Northern Quarter)
6. Visit the Corner House for cool exhibitions, cheap movies & documentaries & good food (on Oxford Road)
7. Live music at Manchester Academy, Manchester Apollo, Factory 251, The Ruby Lounge and lots of other little bars… lookout for flyers and do your research early as things do sell out!
Practical tips:
• Magic Buses between Fallowfield, the Uni and City are amazing! You will never be waiting for a bus in Manchester any time of the day or night for too long! Can get weekly passes from 6.50(pounds).
• Get a 16-25 rail card from Piccadilly Train Station (or any other major train station in England) – it will cost you about 20 pound but if you plan to do a lot of travel by rail around the UK or back and forth to London the savings will quickly outweigh the initial cost. You can also attach it to your Oyster Card in London so you get cheaper tube, bus and ferry travel!
• If you don’t mind travelling for longer by coach you can get amazingly cheap bus fares between cities but they will usually take considerably longer then the train. Check out megabus.com
• Subscribe to the email newsletters of all the cheap airlines operating in and out of the UK and plan some weekends away… there are always cheap deals sometimes as low as 5 pound one way with Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2, Flybe … Can be cheaper to fly out of Liverpool but there is an amazing bus between the airport and Manchester city!