Why I picked Cardiff University

Picking your university, out of the 100s out there, especially when you have just cleared your exams can be super stressful and confusing. I, personally, felt so so lost that I was convinced I would have a panic attack (keep in mind that I was moving from India to the UK, a country I hadn’t even visited before). So when the unknowns played into the equation, I was tense, to say the least, but that is until I clicked on Cardiff University and googled it further. Then I knew that this was where I wanted to be.

Here are some factors that helped me pick Cardiff University without attending any open days or talks:

Course rankings

Being a nerdy teenager, the first thing I looked into was the course ranking for Journalism and Media and compared it to all UK universities. When I checked the QS rankings and saw that Cardiff University’s Journalism course (and King College’s Journalism course) ranked 25 in the world, my mind was boggled. I knew that this was amazing because I was genuinely seeking a course that was ranked well rather than just general university rankings. In that aspect, I already knew Cardiff University was going to be the way to go.

Costs

The next thing I had to check was if the costs of the courses and living mattered and differed in my preferred universities. And yes, my god yes, they did! Cardiff had a much lower cost of living and was one of the best university towns. Moreover, the course fees differed to a great extent and I was paying almost 5000 pounds a year less by simply picking Cardiff University. Being an international student, the fees are already super high so when I saw the cost difference, I had to give Cardiff University a plus point.

Student city

When I was doing my mandatory reading about Cardiff as a city, I realised just how much I wanted to study in a student city. While I come from a much bigger city, all I wanted was to feel safer since I was now going to be living on my own, thousands of miles away from my family. After checking the statistics and talking to current students, I became aware that Cardiff is a perfectly safe and accessible (also cheaper) student city. This was a big relief to not just me but also my parents. I then discovered just how much there is to do for students in Cardiff and also, the amazing student discounts offered by stores.

Subject combination offered

Another reason I was impressed and picked Cardiff University has to be their joint honour degree program- BA Journalism, Media and English Literature. In the different universities that I was applying to, almost none of them offered my exact subject combination. While I was okay with picking Journalism as my major, I also really wanted to pursue English Literature and writing. When I was applying to Cardiff University and came across this joint honour course, I knew I wanted to apply and study here. I also got to pick Creative Writing as a module which made me super happy.