Why I picked ARU... and sociology

My story of coming to ARU may be slightly different to some people’s, but I’m so glad that I did. It was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I never want my course to end...

Like many A-level or BTEC students in the UK, in my second year of college I started applying for university.

My favourite A-level subject at the time was media studies, so I thought this was something I wanted to study further. But then my college sent my sociology group onto a trip to ARU, where I sat in on a first-year sociology lecture. I fell in love! I decided this was 100% what I wanted to do at university.

After the lecture, we went on a campus tour and I just got such a good feeling about the place. The campus wasn’t too big that I felt overwhelmed, but not so small that it felt cramped – it was just perfect.

I had never really considered applying to ARU as I thought I wanted to move far away from my home town, but I’m so happy I’m here now. As soon as I got back to college I logged onto UCAS (I hadn’t sent off my application yet) and applied to ARU straight away.

Once I'd applied I was so nervous. I knew I really wanted to come to this university, so I just kept praying and wishing they would accept me. And they did! I received an unconditional offer and I put it as my first choice straight away.

The admissions team were fantastic – they always sent emails about new things we had to do such as logging on to our ARU portal to input information, and how to confirm our student finance and loads of other information. I felt really safe and secure knowing that I’d done everything right in the application process, and any questions I had, ARU was really great at helping me.

The dyslexia team were also super helpful by putting any support I needed in place. (I have a blog dedicated to studying with dyslexia if you want to give it a read.)

I am so happy that I came on that college trip, and so happy I applied for ARU – I can’t wait to further my studies here after I graduate.

If you're interested in studying social sciences at ARU, like Amy, browse undergraduate degrees or come and explore at our next Open Day.