In the UK you apply to five Universities, go to interviews, get offers and then hold two of the latter, awaiting your results. My choices back in 1978 were:
Birmingham (UK, not Alabama)
Nottingham
Leeds
Newcastle (upon Tyne)
Southampton
I got offers from all of them, held onto Birmingham and Nottingham, but it was Nottingham I went for because it was (and still is) a lovely campus University. I got in easily and I was there for six years - I did a degree and PhD in Chemistry. My elder son is there now, studying Physics.
For the first two years I was in Cripps hall of residence, which was luckily the nearest to the Chemistry department so I could almost roll out of bed and down the hill to lectures in the morning. I have some notable memories from there: such as Dave Brown, the biology student who lived next door to me, who had dope-cake in his room (I never had any, by the way!). Then there was the mystery person that threw up one night in our shared bathroom - I have my suspicions that it was one of the medics from upstairs. They were responsible for the sour milk fight in our block that so affronted the cleaning lady, the feisty Vera Irwin, that she demanded a written apology before she'd even start to clean up the stinking mess. Tea time was always great and we had competitions to see who could eat the most toast, especially on Saturdays when piling into the TV room was a must to watch Dr Who and then, later, football (soccer) on Match of the Day.
More University next time.
Jack Orchison
February 28, 2014.
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