Bristol forms the perfect balance when it comes to size — it is not as vast and distracting a city as London, but not too small a town so that there’s not much to do. The university is a city campus — all the academic buildings are spread out over a vast area. That’s one of the main reasons why many students prefer to travel using cycles, making commute a breeze. Another thing that I love about Bristol is that like all other college cities in England, it is student-friendly — most of the city’s popular watering holes, restaurants and theatres offer reasonable student discounts.
The quality of education vastly differs in terms of how more attention is devoted to practical examples and projects than just theoretical mugging. The best part about these projects is that they are usually a part of actual research that the professors might be undertaking. So, you can always be assured that whatever you are being taught is at the forefront of new technology and cutting-edge research.
You get a chance to get to know and interact with professors on a one-on-one basis.
Societies and clubs are another aspect of college that form a major part of one’s social life. There are more than 300 societies in the university ranging from academics and music to sports clubs and even something as bizarre as a Quidditch society (Harry Potter fans can rejoice!).
These clubs, apart from their regular meetings, host a wide range of social events — often, in the form of pub crawls or quizzes — giving students a great chance to interact with many like-minded people.
My experience at the University of Bristol was amazing — whether it was getting my hands dirty building vending machines or robots for projects with fellow engineers, or even spending the evenings winding down by the beautiful harbour side.
Karan Ranger is a former student of mechanical engineering from the University of Bristol.
