RMCS closure?

[nosefirsteverytime]

Alright, here's the story. I've been given a Cond. offer from RMCS for Aerospace Eng. However, with my letter of invitation to the open day (which I can't go to, Irish Sea to cross n' all that), they mentioned RMCS wasn't taking any military undergrads anymore, and civvies (like meself) would follow after the class of 2003. (I heard nothing before about this, as I've been too busy with my head stuck in Leaving Cert {coming up this June!} books to read it in the news). So, my question is, what's the bleedin' story?:confused: :confused: :confused:

[nosefirsteverytime]

alright, mebbe I should just bring this to the Eng&tech forum......:O :O :O

[Gazeem]

Why not go to a proper Uni with things like a students union and girls??

[Jimlad]

RMCS will no longer take undergrads as Cranfield intend to turn it into a postgrad centre of excellence. No bad thing as it's not healthy spending too long at that place. My MSc for a year was ok, but friends of mine who are undergrads are very frustrated with the place and the lack of women.

[gijoe]

Jimlad,

Spot on.

As someone who is doing the MSc thing now with a family and steady income from HM it's fine....but not as an 18 year old undergrad slipping their toes into the big wide world for the first time !!

The ones that astound me are the dudes who think that coming to RMCS is going to help them get into one of the mobs !

Get a life ! You've got a whole career ahead of you to worry about that sort of thing - go out, get plastered, find out what women are (if ex. No 1 not completed already) and then worry about passing RCB, OASC, AIB.

All efforts for undergrad degrees should be centred on having a good time.. but also getting some sort of degree... before Tony B and his cronies really do mess things up for good.

G

[Archimedes]

nosefirst,

since I work in rather close proximity to RMCS... It's all associated with the Defence Training Review (which you can find on the MoD website if you're deeply interested - I won't bore you with it here). RMCS is now part of the Defence Academy, and there are substantial changes afoot.

The closure of RMCS to undergrads is largely as a result of this process and changes to the education/training provision on the Shrivenham site. That's all there is to it, really.

I'd tend to agree with the other posters, though - given the choice of Shrivenham or somewhere else (of similar standing to Cranfield Uni), as an undergrad, I'd choose somewhere else. I'd guess that renting in Swindon itself is quite high, they certainly are around Shriv itself (especially if you are tempted into eating out at the excellent curry house on a more than once-a-week basis); the costs can be horrendous in Oxford (they were awful when I was there in the days of the full maintenance grant and no student loans...). Also, Oxford is over 20 miles away, so living there isn't the best option (not that I can talk living 45 minutes away from the DA site).

Assuming that chaps in CS95 and other uniform isn't your bag, then I'd suggest that you'll get more of a student experience elsewhere.

Also, bear in mind that things like bookshops are a bit of a trek - if you want to get a student book, chances are that you'll have to trog the 20+ miles to Blackwells in Oxford. Swindon only has the outpost of a Uni there, so isn't as focused on providing the sort of things that Uni studes need.

On the plus side, if you can handle the living costs, the night life in Oxford is good; that in Swindon is, well, adequate (avoid the infamous D&D's though...) and the Shriv curry houses (there are two) are both pretty good. Oh, and the countryside is nice and you do get the occasional low-flying Wokka and Merlin to liven the day up.

[BEagle]

Out of interest, have many folk embarked upon the 'flying start' scheme? I understand that BFTS+IOT gives some credit towards an OU degree - the remainder coming from private study?

Private study? During AFTS, TWU (or whatever it's now called), OCU, CR-work up plus OOA dets etc? How??

[gijoe]

The Flying Start idea sounds nearly as clever as the 'study-for-a MSc-for-the-next-6-years-whilst-you-are-OC-this-and-that-and deployed-and-posted-and-being-a-dad-to-the-kids' sketch that DTR is going for.

Nice once!

The MSc thing is the best about Shriv. Lots of good advice for the prospective undergrad from Archie on the last post.

G

[nosefirsteverytime]

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Well, I've got a few offers from other places, one arm-twistingly expensive, the other Coventry. Just have to wait for the others.....

[Jason2000]

nosefirsteverytime

I'm a final year student on the Aero. Eng course here at Cranfield-RMCS. The course is good, but as others have said, it's not the best place to study in the sense that there are very few girls, and the social life is pretty appaling.

The college is to stop taking undergraduates in 2006 I believe because it is costing the MOD too much to send all their students here. Addionally, Cranfield had an agreement with the MOD to reside here for a number of years and this agreement is now coming to a close and Cranfield does not need to continue here.

[Zoom]

nosefirst

Forget Coventry - unless you like fighting.