Need to know more about University (UK)?

Question

SO, I am a Year 12 student this year, and I just thought perhaps it is time to find out a little more about Unviersity and things.

First, here are the subjects I took for Alevel: Maths, Computing, Art, Film Study and Critical Thinking.

Its a poor combination I know, but I am not interested in "wonderful" subjects like English or Science neither, so I might as well go for what I like, what I am good at and what I am comfortable with.

Eventhough I have not mentioned to any teachers or people but I am hoping for a job in the animation / cartoon / film making career, I want to be a producer sort of thing (call me childish or anything, this is what I want. doctors and lawyers arent my sort of thing). I often make my 3D/2D animations during free time and upload them online for friends and other viewers as a hobby, but it would be just MARVELOUS if I can do it for living after I leave University (if I do go to one).

So I am wondering if my choices of alevel is appropiate for my ambition (sort of)? How many subjects do we normally (or have to) take when we go to university? If I am looking for an Uni, what sort of course, little details etc. should I be looking at? What place or website should I be looking at for a suitable University? and least important of all, do we get one dorm per student in UNI or do we have to share dorms?

thank you very much :)

Answer 1

I think that is a perfect combination of subjects for you. You seem to know exactly what field of work you want to go into, with a genuine interest and motivation for it. So kudos to you for choosing subjects that you actually enjoy!

Those also seem like good subjects to pursue animation - art, film study and computing in particular. And the maths and crit. thinking will help to keep your options open as well. Here's a list of some of the courses related to animation and digital production for 2009 uni admissions - http://search.ucas.co.uk/cgi-bin/hsrun/s...

It might be worth having a browse through them to see what kind of requirements they expect and the kind of thing that you can expect if you do decide to pursue it @ uni.

At uni, you would usually pick one subject/course, although they do offer 'joint honours' courses which can combine 2 subjects e.g English Literature and Spanish, with an equal amount of time spent in both. Or similarly, a 'combined honours' is where you put more emphasis on one subject than the other.

When choosing a uni, there is loads of stuff to consider. Your school or 6th form will give you loads of info nearer the time that you need to start applying, but keep into account cost and standard of living in the area.

The living standards differ between universities. The more expensive, and often newly built, student accomodation usually allows you to have a room to yourself with ensuite but with a shared kitchen. More affordable accomodation mayb have shared bathroom facilities and possibly rooms. Each university has different student accomodation complexes, but if you have a look on their websites or prospectuses, they give you a low-down of how much it costs and what you can expect.

Answer 2

It looks like you will be heading for an animation course then. For a lot of art. fine art and arts based courses your choice of A Levels is irrelevant, they want to see talent. You may be asked to produce a portfolio so start getting one together now.

Where in the country are you? The lighthouse n Wolverhampton does some short animation courses using dreamweaver and er ...... i can't remember i'm not an animation person. But a short evening or summer course wouldn't do your uni application any harm.

A lot of people are quite s****. about their choices for A level and going to a 'respected' university but for newer subjects it is the newer universities that offer the courses.

eg

http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/downloads/cour...

At university you will do just one subject (you can do 2 or occasionally 3 but for arts it is normally 1) but within that subject you will take modules or units, and you will take 6 or 8 of these in a year. So your first semester you might do 4 units, 1 looking at the history of animation, 1 using particular software, 1 n 3D mode making and 1 in cinematography (as I said I'm not an animation person, I'm making the units up on what i think MIGHT happen) OK so semester 1 is over with in semester 2 you will build on what you have already learned, so instead of a unit teaching you to use the software you might have a unit where you have to produce an animation using that software.

I think it is refreshing that someone is looking to do something that interests them so good luck