4. Rank the following possible reasons for choosing a university in order of importance.

a) location of the university

b) cost of tuition

c) computer facilities available

d) type of accommodation and the cost of housing

e) possibility of academic exchange

f) duration of the course

g) entrance requirements

h) level of education offered

i) demand for a particular job

j) personal subject preferences

k) family tradition

l) parents' will

Explain your ordering. Compare it with that of your group-mates. Are there any reasons you can add to the list?

5.A Work in pairs. Interview your partner as to the reasons of his/her choice of the university. Report your findings to the rest of the group.

5.b Read texts A and B and be ready to discuss which of the above reasons the students were guided by while choosing their place of study.

TEXT A

'I'D BEEN TO THE CITY, I LIKED ITS VIBES, SO I DECIDED TO STUDY THERE'

POLITICS student Andy Bagnall, 20, has just returned from his first year at Leeds University. His reasons for choosing Leeds were far from academic, but the decision has clearly paid off.

'I chose to go to Leeds because I met this girl in Ibiza in 1993. I'd been up to Leeds a couple of times and I liked the city, the vibes of it, and so I decided to go to university there.'

In Andy's mind, a university's location can be much more important than how its courses are structured.

'With a course like politics; there are about 10 universities in the country that have departments, and I think that if you have the choice, location is more important than the nuances of the course. If you are not happy, if you are bored, you won't give as much academically as you would if you are having a good time.'

Andy has certainly been very happy at Leeds. 'The first few weeks were difficult because I didn't know anyone, but then the course fell into place. I do about nine hours a week, and my expectation of university being slightly more relaxed in terms of teaching has been fulfilled. 'The teaching is adequate, but the pastoral care is non-existent, in that you are given guidance — but only if you actively go and seek it.'

One aspect of the course that has especially pleased Andy is that it is modular. 'I didn't fully appreciate the plus points of a modular course before I started — by the end of the second year I will have done over half my degree. It's quite a bonus, and I was happily surprised about that.'

Leeds itself is everything Andy expected it to be. 'It is brilliant as a city. Whatever you are into, you can find a bit of that in Leeds.

'I have had a really good year. A lot comes down to luck. I met my tutors before I came, at the open day, and I think that's very important. At least you know If there Is some rapport, if someone stimulates you academically.'

Text b. The course wasn't for me. I got bored and decided to drop out'

ANDREW Yardley, 20, bad a change of mind daring his first year of an accountancy degree at Portsmouth University, and switched to a coarse in applied chemistry.

'I started doing accountancy, but after the first-semester exams I realised that the course wasn't for me. 'I got bored with it, I didn't turn up for lectures and I decided to drop out.

'I popped over to the chemistry department, and they offered me a place for '95.

'Chemistry is much more interesting – there are more bits to it, which makes the course more diverse.'

For Andrew, where he studied was more important than what. He could not afford to move away from hid home town of Gosport, a stone's throw away from Portsmouth.

'The university has a lot to offer. I already knew most of the area, but it is much better laid-out than I expected, and there are bits of the university that I didn't know existed. It's completely different from what I'd imagined.'

Andrew is very relieved that he made the change to a science degree. "The lectures are much better in the chemistry department, because there are smaller groups of people, and it is -more intimate.

'In my first year, studying accountancy. I was just one among a mass of people. The tutors have more time for us. They are always ready to help out. and will always make themselves available.'

If there is one thing Andrew has learned from his experiences at university, it is that he should have thought long and hard before picking a course.

'I have learned an important lesson from having to re-start my university career, I should have been less single-minded about the course I wanted to follow, and talked to people about my choices before I made a decision which proved to be wrong.'