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Student life in Cardiff,Wales
Helen McAvoy swapped Ireland for Wales to study for her undergraduate degree. She tells Top Universities about student life, financing her studies and the best places to eat in Cardiff.
As an undergraduate student, the potential for extracurricular things is amazing, according to Helen McAvoy. “I learnt more participating in activities outside of the classroom than I did in the lecture theatres,” says the Cardiff University graduate, who’s just completed a BScEcon in Banking and Finance.
Helen chose Cardiff University, which was placed 133= in the 2008 Times Higher – QS World University Rankings, after researching universities on UCAS and in league tables. “Cardiff was a cheap place to live and I liked the Welsh! It was also one of the few institutions that did the sort of degree I wanted.”
Moving to Cardiff wasn’t difficult for Helen. “As a fresher, you get quite a lot of information. There are freshers’ fairs for which societies to join, company fairs for jobs, and our union had a really good job shop, for both part time permanent and temporary work. Rent is about £250 per person, per month, which is cheap compared to the rest of the UK and you won’t need to get public transport, as everywhere is within walking distance.”
Around town, Cardiff has a lot of green areas and parks, ‘which is great on the couple of days a year it’s actually sunny!’ says Helen. “There are some really cool independent bars, like Milgi’s on City Road. For a really nice meal, Cardiff Bay has lots of choice, but it’s only for special occasions or if you have a car. Our Union had plenty of really high profile bands, and if you couldn’t see them at the Union they were most defiantly playing in the CIA or the Millennium Stadium. Rugby match days are the best, the whole city is buzzing, and rugby fans don’t usually cause much trouble!”
Now that she’s left university life behind, Helen hopes her degree in banking and finance will set her up for a career in investment banking, although her dream job is a private wealth manager. She did put her knowledge and interest in money to good use in order to take out a student loan to pay for her studies though. “My loan covered my tuition fees and my housing costs. I also got a bursary, which pays for my living expenses, as I get no financial help from my parents. If your university offer scholarships they’re usually pretty easy to apply for, but finding them is sometimes difficult as they’re often not very well promoted.”
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