Student review [#104814]
for Marine Sciences
at University of Plymouth
Plymouth, The United Kingdom
I began my degree in marine biology and coastal ecology officially in 2016 upon completing a foundation year in 2015 at the University of Plymouth (UoP). Firstly I would say that the foundation year felt unnecessary, however I had to complete it as my A-level in biology was slightly below the expected to let me straight on to my course. I didn’t feel as if I learned much during the foundation year, so I spent most of my time pre-reading for the degree to get ahead of the game.
Then I started my degree. The first year was a harsh introduction in to statistical analysis. This element of the course is dominant but necessary to complete the whole course! The teachers will drill the use of R statistical programming in to you for good reason.
The tutors are very passionate and engaging about their chosen specialisms, and of course like any course, some are drier than others (some topics cannot be taught in a interesting way). I would also say that the tutors are all very engaged in active research and this became more and more apparent to me. I felt as though the course is very much designed to set you up to go in to a career in research. I myself never saw myself going that way so I made an effort to look at careers early to gauge how easy it might be to transition in to said career after finishing my degree. That would be my biggest pointer, always think what next?
The course had an interesting selection of modules in addition to the compulsory ones, with varying types of assessment, ranging from written exams, coursework, presentations, scientific poster display etc.
The campus is a little dated in areas but I think it is what you make of it. There is enough going on in the city and in the student union to keep you busy and blow off some steam.
In summary, looking back I possibly would choose a different course in hindsight, but only because I felt that it was research centric. With that being said taking this course taught me a lot and led to a lot of self development.
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