Alyssa

Choosing Newcastle

I chose Newcastle mainly because of the really pleasant and student-friendly city campus. Newcastle University has a very good walkability factor; everything you need is within walking distance. There are also many study spaces provided for the students compared to other universities.

There is a great support team that can help with anything from finding a career to living arrangements. Newcastle is also one of the 24 major universities in the Russell Group for research.

About your course

My favourite parts of the course are the design projects that encouraged the students to work as a team to complete. Every year-end final project would consist of content from every module learnt in the whole year. This always reinforced what engineering is all about, giving the students a true understanding of the course.

The course lecturers are also very accessible and readily help the students with problems.

Recommending Newcastle

If you are a student that likes an easily accessible campus with everything within walking distance, Newcastle is a perfect city for you! The facilities offered are great, especially the amount of work spaces and computer clusters. There are even three separate libraries: one for law, one for medicine, and one for everything else.

The resources are first class. If there is something that they don’t have, they will generally buy it for you. Every School in the University provides its own computer clusters. Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering has one cluster for undergraduates and one cluster for postgraduates, which all have the latest software installed that you need for the course. It’s very useful when all the Chemical Engineering students work in the same lab and learn from each other as they work.

Living in Newcastle

Newcastle is the home of the Geordies and Newcastle United Football Club. It is also renowned for its friendly hospitality and a vibrant nightlife.

The city is compact with a range of restaurants and shops lining the scenic streets and Quayside. Some of the best shopping in the north of England is available in the city centre and at the nearby MetroCentre, one of Europe’s biggest shopping complexes.

Newcastle has also got an amazing picturesque beach nearby at Tynemouth which is just a half-hour Metro ride away.

Clubs and societies

I was a member of the Malaysian Society that caters mostly for students from Malaysia and students that are interested in Malaysian culture. The society aims to make Malaysian students feel at home in a foreign country.

The activities include celebrating Malaysian festivals. Its flagship event, Malaysian Night, showcases Malaysian culture in a form of performances and a food festival. It’s the perfect society for Malaysians and students that are interested in learning about Malaysian culture.

Accommodation

I live in the Spital Tongues area. It is a very peaceful part of the city where most of the medical students tend to live. This is because the Medical School is about 10 minutes’ walk from home. For students studying on the main campus, it is a mere 15-20 minutes’ walk to class and around 25 minutes to the city centre.

There are local shops near where I live, which makes it easier to get emergency groceries. It was relatively easy to find a place to live in Newcastle. There are many letting agencies around Newcastle and the University provides assistance with its accommodation services.

Student finance

Spend wisely on things you need. It is cheaper to buy groceries from larger supermarkets than smaller convenience stores. There is also a market selling fresh produce in the city called Grainger Market.

Career aspirations

I am planning to go back to Malaysia and start a career in the oil and gas industry. I might also be open to taking a postgraduate course in Newcastle after my BEng.