Make sure that you go and visit the accommodation look at the course modules carefully and compare them with your interests. Be open minded and definitely join society or a club and get involved!

Cardiff is a very student oriented city, meaning it's super cheap to live here in terms of food, housing, and there's an abundance of things to do for all types of people. It's also a really beautiful city that's not too big and overcrowded, but big enough that you're never bored. Cardiff and surrounding area is really pretty, with lots of great hikes and the Brecon Beacons just outside the city. The school does a great job of keeping costs low as well by providing all the books we need for classes in the library, and we can access most articles and reading online with the option to order it for free if it's not already accessible to us. What could be improved is the support for students in terms of mental health and wellbeing. I was going through a really hard time as an international student and was told I could only speak to a therapist if I was suicidal. Eventually I went through a traumatic experience and was allocated a therapist, but was limited to only 6 sessions with this person. It helped, but wasn't enough, and someone shouldn't have to go through a traumatic experience or be suicidal to get help. There's also not a ton of quiet study spaces, and the campus itself doesn't feel very connected.

There is a to of support on Biomed: there is always someone you can contact with questions and they typically respond quickly with a helpful response. We can also access all of our reading for free through the library and the digital library. There's even something you can install through the university that automatically accesses articles that you've clicked on without having to search it in the digital library. The subjects taught are typically really interesting and in depth, although about half the lecturers are clearly there just to research and have no real interest in teaching which can make certain topics very dry and hard to follow. But the other half are very passionate about what they teach and because they are experts in the fields they teach it can be really exciting and insightful, especially with all the current and novel research we get to learn about. There are also a lot of workshops and stats clinics, especially in first year, which can be helpful to discuss certain topics more in depth with peers and lecturers. Unfortunately there's not really a lot of bioscience specific study spaces besides the main building sciences library, which is very nice to be fair, but nowhere to really study quietly in the bioscience building. We also don't get a ton of lab time, and when we do it's often very simple and/or irrelevant to what we are learning.

Cardiff is the perfect size, with tons of things to do so you'll never be bored while not being so big that you are overwhelmed. There are also a couple beautiful parks when you need to take a break from the city and enjoy some outdoor time, and it's easy to get out of town to go hiking in the Brecon Beacons. There's lots of great places to eat and shop, with awesome student deals and prices. It's insanely cheap to live here and quality isn't necessarily sacrificed.

Senghennydd Court was much better than people make it out to be. It is the best location to live because it's closest to the main and bioscience buildings as well as the engineering building, and closest to the city center as well as the SU. So you're perfectly distanced from everything you could possibly need in first year. On top of that maintenance is done quickly after being called, it's super safe, and there's a wide range of students living there so you're not stuck with people from your degree. It's also a shared bathroom with 4 other people which isn't that bad because everyone tends to have different schedules, and it leaves more space in the rooms so you're not so cramped, as is often the case in ensuite rooms. On top of that, when you move into private accommodation in second and third year you're guaranteed to have to share a bathroom with your housemates unless you can afford a super expensive place, so you might as well get used to it in first year.