Hi, I’m Sarah, a fresher here at the University of Surrey and I must admit I’ve been rewriting this post quite a bit… I was asked to write about life as a first year undergraduate and as always, I’ve been suffering from writer’s block. Truth is; I don’t know how to say how much I love being here without being cheesy. I’m sure if you’re applying to us, and I strongly suggest you do, you’ve already seen the prospectus with all the smiling faces and statistics, but I remember how hard it is to really get a feel for what it’s like to live and study here.

Personally, one of my favourite things about studying Physics at Surrey is that the intake is quite small compared to other universities. As a result, we have a great community atmosphere, where the lecturers and staff are friendly and approachable; and that’s without even mentioning the department’s society, Physoc. They organise all sorts of social events to help the students get to know each other, from the Christmas Ball to trips to the Science Museum and the Diamond synchrotron. It’s a great opportunity for first years to get chatting to physicists in other years.

More seriously, it’s not all about the social life; we’re here to get our degrees… and the supportive atmosphere is clear when it comes to exam time. Some lecturers put on additional revision sessions and others make revision materials available online, but in the end, everyone wants the students to do well. This is partly why we have additional facilities like the Maths Drop-In Centre available, where you can get help if necessary. On results day for semester one, there were certainly quite a few smiling faces, so it obviously works!

Anyway, talking of studying, I suppose I should get back to it… procrastination is a terrible thing! I tweet @placebosarah (in a wholly personal capacity!) and any questions from prospective students are more than welcome.