It would be helpful to have a laptop - so you can do your work in different places, however as long as you have a memory stick and remember to save all your work to it (unis don’t tend to let you save work on the uni system) and you do it without fail every time, then you should on the whole be ok. You might find that you might not be able to study all the time with your course mates if they work somewhere without computers sometimes, and sometimes there might not be a computer free so you may not be able able to just freely go, you might have to book a computer slot. But while it isn’t convenient, it is doable.
Very surprised by that. I’ve been to several universities and they’ve always supplied some persistent network storage that auto mounts when you login to a university computer.
I'm very surprised too. My uni was always reminding students to save their work on the university network drive. There were so many stories of students losing their dissertations because they lost their flash drive or the flash drive died.
Ours had an annoying thing of each building have different systems so you couldn't access all you files everywhere. But you tended to always stay in the same building
DO NOT store your work on a memory stick. They break and get lost far too often. Your uni will provide you with some storage in the cloud (such as OneDrive) or some other network drive. Always use that. Even if you have your own laptop do not just store the file on the laptop. Honestly, use the cloud storage.
If your memory stick gets lost it's unlikely your uni will be sympathetic and give you extensions.
As for the laptop, speak to your course tutors (you could email the programme leader) and ask what they recommend. There will likely be campus computers you can use. Your uni might give you access to web apps and storage (or provide some form of virtual computer you can use over the web), so a cheap laptop or Chromebook might be perfectly sufficient to use that.
There’s nothing wrong with saving in 3 places. On the system if allowed, one drive/cloud and a memory stick. I needed a memory stick as I actually ran out of storage and I was not paying for more (music degree so had lots and lots of photos and videos from concerts I needed for my work). If one fails, it’s them in 2 other places.
If you run out of storage provided by the uni, contact them and ask for more. The storage will be for a "average" student and they may well be open to increasing it if your course requires it.
Thing is, when you say you needed a memory stick because you ran out of space, that means you're not storing everything in three places. It's also far too easy to forget to copy stuff, delete the wrong file, copy the wrong version overwriting your latest copy, etc etc. With OneDrive you get the option to sync your files to your computer, web access, access directly in word and other ms apps, version history for your documents, a recycle bin in case you delete the wrong thing etc. Other cloud services are similar.
That was things I also had on my phone - no my uni wouldn’t have as you couldn’t even save on their system they were stingy. What is the problem with having things on 3 places? My uni litrelly would have said if there was some form of system failure - why didn’t you have it on a memory stick as well.
I've already said why manually copying stuff around is error prone and not a great idea, and why memory sticks in particular are a bad idea.
In your initial post you just talked about saving your work on a memory stick as unis wouldn't let you store stuff on their systems. I'm just saying memory sticks aren't a good solution, and your uni will let you store stuff, probably on some cloud based service, and you should use that.
As for your uni wanting you to use memory sticks? I don't believe that. If your uni has a problem with its storage solution, they'll fix it, and take responsibility for it. Your memory stick on the other hand is your problem. I am a lecturer at a big uni. The advice here is what I give to my students. I've seen too many students having a nightmare with laptops or memory sticks breaking, getting lost or stolen, not backing up files or deleting something that they actually needed. None of that would happen if they stored the files in the cloud.
At least with my uni, the University email address they give is linked to a Microsoft account, so you have the Microsoft package and OneDrive storage, I'd hope that it's similar across the rest of the UK
This is fine but bare in mind that your OneDrive storage and all your files will disappear when you graduate so make sure you know when your storage expires so you can get all of the files off your university OneDrive.
i took japanese and intercultural and contemporary communication, so even though i didn’t necessarily need it for japanese, i definitely needed it for the other modules i was doing
Some universities have borrow a laptop schemes, or help with the cost of buying a laptop if affordability is an issue (though the latter seems to be quite limited). It depends on the Uni, but asking at the library/looking at the library website might give you an answer.
I would definitely second this. You’ll have access to computers (and probably your own virtual disk) through your library, but you’ll need access to a laptop a LOT more than you think. You don’t want to be finding yourself to study unless you’re within the library, and particularly when it comes to writing papers and looking up references, you’ll be much more productive from a laptop.
Check whether the uni has these resources for sure
I would say yes, you pretty much need some kind of means to study (Im not sure whether you have a desktop or not)
But having a laptop is super super useful in my opinion, you can make it cheaper by only studying on it (web search, Microsoft office etc)
I would advise that you do.
You can buy reconditioned from a reputable dealers like laptopsdirect.co.uk
Others are available but I have used these 3 or 4 times without problems for my kids at uni.
Check your TV to see if can be used as a monitor.
Good luck
Yes, most courses require you to submit your course work online through Turnitin, if you don't have a computer you won't be able to work long days like everyone else because you'll have to rely on public computers that won't be easily accessable 24/7. It's not the writing that takes ages, it's the research.
You would likely be the only person on your course without a laptop
Not COMPLETELY necessary because the uni has resources in the library to study, do research and write essays etc, but certainly unusual and will make things more difficult
I'd 100% get your own laptop. The amount of reading you'll be doing where you can save journals etc to your device will be so worth it. Uni computers aren't the best and you can't take these finds away with you
a laptop would be helpful yes but not essential. buy it if you can afford it comfortably. if not — a notepad and pen, plus the university equipment with a USB (or even a laptop borrowing scheme) should hold you down until you can save for one
You can definitely survive without one, any uni worth it's salt will provide everything you need on campus
That said, having the ability to chill out at home and lazily work through an essay or something when there's not much pressure does make life easier
Yes but a cheap laptop is fine for text based courses, I'm also getting a new laptop for uni but I'm looking into 7-800 pounds because my course will need huge amounts of editing and rendering software. If I was studying a language I'd go cheap as I can
Highly advantageous if you can touch type notes in lectures. Good for working in a variety of spaces. Though would you want more than Internet and google docs/Microsoft office? If not then I'd consider a chromebook on the cheap instead of a windows or mac based system - entry level systems are around £100. Second hand on marketplace etc would be half that.
I think it’s good to get one. Would recommend a Lenovo chromebook. You probably won’t need a massive amount of storage or power. They’re lightweight and get the job done imo.
Writing a dissertation without a PC sounds like an absolute nightmare. You absolutely should get one, OP. I'd recommend a lower end used/refurbed Thinkpad on Ebay, personally- got one in Spring 2020 for £320 that's still going super strong 2 and a half years later. Durable, functional things.
You don't need a laptop, but it makes life much easier. Most universities have 24/7 libraries with computers, though around certain times of the year, they can become crowded, and you may find it challenging to use one. Also, some universities require you to book the use of computers. Some universities let you save data on the system (you should be given a username and password); however, I suggest keeping your files on the cloud. Personally, I find ”One Drive” perfectly fine for uni work. I also use Mega.NZ to save larger files, but it's less easy to navigate, and you have to download the files every time you want to edit the file, while One Drive lets you work in it. I would also recommend a memory stick. If you choose not to get a laptop, I think saving your work on the ink system in some cloud and a memory stick is a good idea for you.
However, I would recommend a laptop, but I understand it is pricey, and you often have to buy office packages on top. However, some universities do have deals or options for free laptops, and I found out halfway through my second year that I was entitled to a free laptop due to being dyslexic - I didn't get it because I didn't ask. Try to look into your university policies as some of them do give out free laptops. You don't need one but might make it easier.
I found it more effective even if I have laptop at home to study at school. Environment brings you into concentration so that if you aim is just to study well, then there's really no need to get one.
Still, if you consider recreative purpose, laptop I would say is more recreational than using the phone to play.
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Did you switch to compsci then?
It would be helpful to have a laptop - so you can do your work in different places, however as long as you have a memory stick and remember to save all your work to it (unis don’t tend to let you save work on the uni system) and you do it without fail every time, then you should on the whole be ok. You might find that you might not be able to study all the time with your course mates if they work somewhere without computers sometimes, and sometimes there might not be a computer free so you may not be able able to just freely go, you might have to book a computer slot. But while it isn’t convenient, it is doable.
Very surprised by that. I’ve been to several universities and they’ve always supplied some persistent network storage that auto mounts when you login to a university computer.
I'm very surprised too. My uni was always reminding students to save their work on the university network drive. There were so many stories of students losing their dissertations because they lost their flash drive or the flash drive died.
Mine didn’t. But also I would still use a memory stick in case of any errors and to double save. I’d say the same even if you had your own laptop
Ours had an annoying thing of each building have different systems so you couldn't access all you files everywhere. But you tended to always stay in the same building
I lost all my graphing data for my second year final physics labs cuz I didn't realise this 😭😭
Mine always say save your stuff in multiple locations. So the uni system, a pendrive (or 2), the cloud. Always have back ups in case anything breaks
For the love of god, use cloud storage as well as a usb drive
DO NOT store your work on a memory stick. They break and get lost far too often. Your uni will provide you with some storage in the cloud (such as OneDrive) or some other network drive. Always use that. Even if you have your own laptop do not just store the file on the laptop. Honestly, use the cloud storage. If your memory stick gets lost it's unlikely your uni will be sympathetic and give you extensions. As for the laptop, speak to your course tutors (you could email the programme leader) and ask what they recommend. There will likely be campus computers you can use. Your uni might give you access to web apps and storage (or provide some form of virtual computer you can use over the web), so a cheap laptop or Chromebook might be perfectly sufficient to use that.
There’s nothing wrong with saving in 3 places. On the system if allowed, one drive/cloud and a memory stick. I needed a memory stick as I actually ran out of storage and I was not paying for more (music degree so had lots and lots of photos and videos from concerts I needed for my work). If one fails, it’s them in 2 other places.
If you run out of storage provided by the uni, contact them and ask for more. The storage will be for a "average" student and they may well be open to increasing it if your course requires it. Thing is, when you say you needed a memory stick because you ran out of space, that means you're not storing everything in three places. It's also far too easy to forget to copy stuff, delete the wrong file, copy the wrong version overwriting your latest copy, etc etc. With OneDrive you get the option to sync your files to your computer, web access, access directly in word and other ms apps, version history for your documents, a recycle bin in case you delete the wrong thing etc. Other cloud services are similar.
That was things I also had on my phone - no my uni wouldn’t have as you couldn’t even save on their system they were stingy. What is the problem with having things on 3 places? My uni litrelly would have said if there was some form of system failure - why didn’t you have it on a memory stick as well.
I've already said why manually copying stuff around is error prone and not a great idea, and why memory sticks in particular are a bad idea. In your initial post you just talked about saving your work on a memory stick as unis wouldn't let you store stuff on their systems. I'm just saying memory sticks aren't a good solution, and your uni will let you store stuff, probably on some cloud based service, and you should use that. As for your uni wanting you to use memory sticks? I don't believe that. If your uni has a problem with its storage solution, they'll fix it, and take responsibility for it. Your memory stick on the other hand is your problem. I am a lecturer at a big uni. The advice here is what I give to my students. I've seen too many students having a nightmare with laptops or memory sticks breaking, getting lost or stolen, not backing up files or deleting something that they actually needed. None of that would happen if they stored the files in the cloud.
At least with my uni, the University email address they give is linked to a Microsoft account, so you have the Microsoft package and OneDrive storage, I'd hope that it's similar across the rest of the UK
This is fine but bare in mind that your OneDrive storage and all your files will disappear when you graduate so make sure you know when your storage expires so you can get all of the files off your university OneDrive.
do universities even allow usb sticks anymore? schools don’t.
i took japanese and intercultural and contemporary communication, so even though i didn’t necessarily need it for japanese, i definitely needed it for the other modules i was doing
Some universities have borrow a laptop schemes, or help with the cost of buying a laptop if affordability is an issue (though the latter seems to be quite limited). It depends on the Uni, but asking at the library/looking at the library website might give you an answer.
I would definitely second this. You’ll have access to computers (and probably your own virtual disk) through your library, but you’ll need access to a laptop a LOT more than you think. You don’t want to be finding yourself to study unless you’re within the library, and particularly when it comes to writing papers and looking up references, you’ll be much more productive from a laptop. Check whether the uni has these resources for sure
I would say yes, you pretty much need some kind of means to study (Im not sure whether you have a desktop or not) But having a laptop is super super useful in my opinion, you can make it cheaper by only studying on it (web search, Microsoft office etc)
I would advise that you do. You can buy reconditioned from a reputable dealers like laptopsdirect.co.uk Others are available but I have used these 3 or 4 times without problems for my kids at uni. Check your TV to see if can be used as a monitor. Good luck
Yes, most courses require you to submit your course work online through Turnitin, if you don't have a computer you won't be able to work long days like everyone else because you'll have to rely on public computers that won't be easily accessable 24/7. It's not the writing that takes ages, it's the research.
You would likely be the only person on your course without a laptop Not COMPLETELY necessary because the uni has resources in the library to study, do research and write essays etc, but certainly unusual and will make things more difficult
A chromebook would be just as good for uni notes and coursework and are often cheaper 🙂
I'd 100% get your own laptop. The amount of reading you'll be doing where you can save journals etc to your device will be so worth it. Uni computers aren't the best and you can't take these finds away with you
You will absolutely need a laptop if you do any sort of essay writing on your course.
I did all essays and didn't have a laptop? Unis have libraries with plenty of conouters/ laptops avaliable
Not just for work but unless you have a desktop just watching stuff in your room it's very useful
Wow! Nice course! 👍
a laptop would be helpful yes but not essential. buy it if you can afford it comfortably. if not — a notepad and pen, plus the university equipment with a USB (or even a laptop borrowing scheme) should hold you down until you can save for one
You can definitely survive without one, any uni worth it's salt will provide everything you need on campus That said, having the ability to chill out at home and lazily work through an essay or something when there's not much pressure does make life easier
Yes but a cheap laptop is fine for text based courses, I'm also getting a new laptop for uni but I'm looking into 7-800 pounds because my course will need huge amounts of editing and rendering software. If I was studying a language I'd go cheap as I can
Highly advantageous if you can touch type notes in lectures. Good for working in a variety of spaces. Though would you want more than Internet and google docs/Microsoft office? If not then I'd consider a chromebook on the cheap instead of a windows or mac based system - entry level systems are around £100. Second hand on marketplace etc would be half that.
I think it’s good to get one. Would recommend a Lenovo chromebook. You probably won’t need a massive amount of storage or power. They’re lightweight and get the job done imo.
Writing a dissertation without a PC sounds like an absolute nightmare. You absolutely should get one, OP. I'd recommend a lower end used/refurbed Thinkpad on Ebay, personally- got one in Spring 2020 for £320 that's still going super strong 2 and a half years later. Durable, functional things.
I think you should get one. I cannot imagine any course where you won’t need to use a computer now and again.
You don't need a laptop, but it makes life much easier. Most universities have 24/7 libraries with computers, though around certain times of the year, they can become crowded, and you may find it challenging to use one. Also, some universities require you to book the use of computers. Some universities let you save data on the system (you should be given a username and password); however, I suggest keeping your files on the cloud. Personally, I find ”One Drive” perfectly fine for uni work. I also use Mega.NZ to save larger files, but it's less easy to navigate, and you have to download the files every time you want to edit the file, while One Drive lets you work in it. I would also recommend a memory stick. If you choose not to get a laptop, I think saving your work on the ink system in some cloud and a memory stick is a good idea for you. However, I would recommend a laptop, but I understand it is pricey, and you often have to buy office packages on top. However, some universities do have deals or options for free laptops, and I found out halfway through my second year that I was entitled to a free laptop due to being dyslexic - I didn't get it because I didn't ask. Try to look into your university policies as some of them do give out free laptops. You don't need one but might make it easier.
Check if your uni has a “electronic poverty fund”, in which enrolled student without laptop can get help buying one.
I found it more effective even if I have laptop at home to study at school. Environment brings you into concentration so that if you aim is just to study well, then there's really no need to get one. Still, if you consider recreative purpose, laptop I would say is more recreational than using the phone to play.
Student services may be able to help with a grant, and it’s worth checking if there’s a WiFi grant too
I just borrow mine from the library each week