Accepting an offer from Falmouth University - what comes next?
22 February 2024
This article was written by Television BA(Hons) student Cosmo.
I remember when I accepted my offer to study Television (now Television & Film Production) at Falmouth. I’d been waiting to hear back and went to tell my parents about it straight away. After the initial excitement of it and thinking about all the stuff I wanted to do on the course, some of the worries set in.
What's the town like? What are the lecturers like? Do I need to prepare anything before I start? Where was I gonna live? What if everyone on the course is really into this one TV show I haven’t seen and I have to make up an opinion of it to try to fit in? Where can I watch this TV show? What if I don’t actually like that show? Am I a fraud???
All of these questions felt important, so I set about trying to become a Falmouth expert before I even arrived. I was determined to know enough before arriving, that I could go on Mastermind with “Falmouth and the TV show everyone seems to be really into” as my specialist subject.
One of the first things I did was check out accommodation options. The Falmouth website has handy pages where I could check out all the halls of residence, so I had a decent idea of what they were actually like when applying for them. Friends I have made since coming here have also said that they started looking on Facebook for house shares, since they didn’t think university halls of residence would be for them. There are plenty of options when it comes to accommodation and it can feel a little overwhelming having to choose where to live, especially if you’ve never done it before, but the information available online gave a clear outline as to what my options were, so I didn’t feel like I had no idea where I’d actually be when moving in came around.
Once I was clear on accommodation, I found the student forums online and I checked out what other students were saying about Falmouth, what the nightlife was like as well as what the 'daylife' was like. I had already been to Falmouth on an Open Day with my dad, so I had a good idea of where the Premier Inn was. It also helped to actually see the campus and talk to lecturers about the course, as well as talking to student ambassadors about their own experiences. I was able to ask them in-person how it was and seeing the campus led to more questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask otherwise.
I found the links to chat to current students and lecturers on the 'Ask our Community' page, so if I had any more questions, I could easily get in touch with any concerns about the course or anything generic about actually living in Falmouth. Talking to current students gave a perspective that was really helpful, since I not only got to hear about what someone else like me thought, but I also got to know what the students at Falmouth were like. I got the same thing from talking to lecturers, as I got to know the people I would be learning from. It was also useful to join virtual events about student finance, accommodation and student life from the Virtual Experience page.
I was concerned about the kind of support I would have access to while being a student, whether I needed academic help, mental health support or assistance with learning difficulties. Looking into this helped ease my mind about if I were to run into any issues during my time at Falmouth. Since coming here, I have been diagnosed with ADHD and dyspraxia. Identifying this has helped me to further understand my own learning style, as well as gaining access to specialised support, which I wouldn’t have known about if I didn’t read about the student support options.
Overall, my best advice would be don’t panic! You’re already reading this blog and exploring what Falmouth is like, so you’re well on your way to becoming a certified Falmouth expert like me. And just so you know, everybody isn’t into a TV show you’ve never heard of, just some of them.