The opportunities and support in every way is something that truly stood out to me. The research at essex is mind blowing especially in the field of psychology.

Its just been 5 months and I have already learnt so many things and that to practical exposure. I have learnt and have conducted individual EEG sessions on participants. I have learnt to use Psychopy software and have created my own stimuli for my dissertation and I have also learnt to use software like MATLAB. I thought statistics will give me a hard time but in my 1st term i learnt about fundamentals and now in 2nd term I'm doing R (computing language) so I'm very happy with my progress and skill development.

Best: The community is great and fosters passionate people who go on to create amazing spaces and events on campus (facilitated by su). This also includes staff who are super approachable and friendly. Worst: Things are closing down around us and facilities change as often as termly. This can be quite jarring when something we get used to and may rely on completely disappears the next time we come back from holidays.

Best: Lecturers are so friendly and clearly want the best for the students. I have managed to get so much valuable experience alongside my course thanks to my lecturers. Worst: Lectures can be very late in the day, for instance I have a class 4-6pm on Mondays. As it’s now autumn/winter the class starts and ends in darkness which makes it hard for me to focus as my body is then ready for sleep.

Most: It was nice being close to lectures and to facilities such as the library. I was able to easily access these within a 5 minute walk. Worst: It’s so expensive for what it is. I now live off-campus for way cheaper and (for example) have a living room and washing machine included. I feel like I have a much better quality of life for much cheaper.