I’m on Day 4 of my 5 day weekend. Its been dramatic, but life always is.

I visited University of Birmingham on Wednesday. As it stands, Birmingham or Sheffield will be insurance and my firm will be York or LSE, if I get that lucky. The city of Birmingham doesn’t have that great a reputation, but I know the centre of it well and it’s probably my favourite shopping destination in England. So that really wasn’t a problem. But living there is a different kettle of fish, but then again, you’re talking to someone who wants to live in London.

First impressions of the university weren’t great. One thing I learned is I’m really not a fan of “red-brick” architecture. I suppose seeing the Bristol University buildings from a young age and visiting Oxford, Exeter, LSE and UCL prior to Birmingham, aesthetically it couldn’t win. It didn’t help that it was a dull rainy day either. The accommodation they showed was lovely, but cynically, they were going to show the best one. It was in their student village The Vale, where they have a social space The Hub, which again, was modern and lovely. Although I’m sure the price wasn’t.

And from the edge of campus, you can see the village of Selly Oak where most of the second/third years live, which again looked really nice. It’s always nice to know you’re not going to be forced to live in the rough side of town with a long commute.

Anyway, after being a bit uneasy about it all, I visited the Politics department which was just stunning. It’s in Muirhead Tower, which was recently refurbished and has…A STARBUCKS ON THE GROUND FLOOR. Well, walking out of a lecture and straight into the arms of a White Chocolate Mocha would do it for me. The course was bothering me a bit, because of the restriction of modules in the first year. Turns out, if you don’t like the course choices in your first year just do the first year of a different course, and then change next year. It’s a bit of a silly system, but I would probably switch to International Politics with Economics so I could do some more macroeconomics in the first year. It also seemed a much more personal environment - as in the lecturers/teachers were there to actually help you, and there’s always support when you need it. I feel the higher up the tables you go, the less the teachers care about you, and more about their research. My Dad recalled his lecturing days and said “it’s impossible to balance the two equally. The majority of researchers aren’t good teachers and vice versa.” And my main fear about LSE is just that; it would be too impersonal. But then again, LSE is in an entirely different league to all the other universities I’ve applied to.

The people I met were lovely too, although we were all “considering it as our insurance choice” setting our sights on either Oxbridge, Durham or LSE. And I’m 99% sure I was the only state-school person there.

So learning points from the day were:

1. I really don’t like “red-brick” architecture.
2. The majority of my time is going to be spent between my accommodation and my department. Everything else is of little or no concern.
3. The importance of a coffee shop on hand.
4. The balance of teaching quality vs. prestige is far more important than I first envisioned.

On the whole, Birmingham wasn’t perfect but it was a lot better than I’d imagined to be. The course is far better than Sheffield’s and I’m sure their department wouldn’t be so swish, and that looks enough to swing it for me. Still, I’m going up there in February so I guess I can’t say anything til then. But I would be pretty happy there if it came down to it. Which means…getting BBC this year to meet the ABB offer. Hmm. Somehow I think that’s within my reach.

Two songs are getting stuck in my head like no other at the minute - ‘Hell’ by Tegan and Sara and ‘Lisztomania’ by Phoenix. The remix of the latter by Alex Metric is absolutely banging. It’s like MSTRKRFT with an injection of indie and a few extra layers of obscurity. Also, MSTRKRFT is apparently ‘dance-punk’ - what’s up with that? Chk Chk Chk are dance-punk, MSTRKRFT are electro-house. Tegan and Sara’s new album (Sainthood) is incredible, it’s been on repeat for the last few days and it’s got lovely vocal hooks, especially in Hell, the whole “I know you feel it too” chorus is infectiously winner (yes that’s a new Joannaism!). The whole album is quite catchy but not in an obvious way, occasionally I think I’m probably thinking it is just because I love their style so much. I’ve only just discovered MSTRKRFT’s ‘The Looks’ and I just wished I had listened to it instead of spending months addicted to ‘Does it Offend You Yeah?’ thinking that was the closest I could get to radio-friendly electro-house. For the record, the only “acceptable” DIOYY? songs are ‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Weird Science’, everything else was just reworked rejections of ‘nu wave’ marketed to obnoxious scenekids. And I bought Phoenix’s latest (Amadeus Wolfgang) on the day they were playing in Bristol. Stunning. Nothing much to say apart from it’s epic.

I was planning to write this post on Friday because I was in an extreme ‘angry-mode.’ I’m no longer angry, but I’ll attempt to explain things.

I now have four university offers. York, Sheffield, Exeter, Birmingham. This is ridiculous. It’s been less than a month since I submitted my application. But I am annoyed, for Exeter was my second favourite (after LSE, who I’ve yet to hear back from) and they gave me an AAA conditional offer. I specifically didn’t apply for universities (Oxbridge, Durham, SOAS etc.) which asked for AAA, on the basis that I probably won’t meet that and that LSE is the best place in the UK (if not, the world) for International Relations, and their standard offer is AAB. The problem is, I liked Exeter a lot when I visited it, both the campus and the city. I could really see myself living their for three years, and “home” is only a short train journey away. Now, it’s out of my reach. York was another possible first choice (AAB), but it’s risky as it’s some five hour drive/3.5 hour very expensive train journey. Not to mention the course never really striked me as being as good as the others (it was a last minute substitution instead of Manchester) and the concept of living in a ‘tiny town’ never really occured to me. Of course, if I get an AAB offer from LSE, 99.9% chance I’ll accept it as the course is the best by a long shot. But there isn’t a complacent bone in my body, I was always expecting to get rejected from LSE (although, I was also expecting rejections from York/Exeter too) and I honestly don’t think I stand much of chance. University with the most applicants per place in the UK (14:1). Little Joanna isn’t that special.

Also, David Nutt got fired. I don’t usually discuss things political on the blog but it’s bloody ridiculously. Not only do they reject drug expert’s advice on classification (such as increasing cannabis back up to B, not downgrading ecstasy etc.) they now fire people if they don’t think the same way as them. Cannabis is less harmful that alcohol and tobacco, that’s just science. The government make me sick.

My next blog post I’m going to post a remix mixtape or whatever you want to call it. I’m trying to keep it along the lines of ‘indie floorfillers’ and ‘obscurely mashed pop.’ It’ll be uncomfortable to listen to. Expect robotic noise house. I’m excited.

It’s time we all started thinking outside the box bitches.

Ayoh! He’s a very belated post about my trip to London for the LSE open day a week and half ago. I tried to make some kind of photoblog out of it using my phone, but I was a little scared of getting it out in public (I’d never been on a lone trip to London before so natural paranoia set it!)

I had to wake up at 5am for 6.30am train. I know…I was exhausted. Here’s me packing my gorgeous leather Betsey Johnson bag that morning. It’s a poor picture I know, but I was tired! There I packed my iPod Touch, pink Skullcandy headphones, mobile phone, hair brush, one or two books, hairbrush, wallet, Tube maps and a pack of gum. All you need, right?

Oh, Mountain Dew! I had a few swigs before I left, I absolutely love the stuff. And the sugar and caffeine combo is a Godsend and such an early hour! I got when I went to London a few days before. I really wish they sold it in supermarkets!

Picture of my seat (First Class of course) and another glance at my favourite bag! They were comparable to godliness in comfort I’m telling you. And there was a complimentary copy of The Times too (why couldn’t it have been the Indy?)

They even have their own personalised napkins! You can tell I’m easily amused, and not posh. Whist there I didn’t take advantage of the free food and drink cart as I should’ve. I was surrounded by suitwears making business calls on Blackberrys and they all seemed to just get a cup of coffee and be done with it. I didn’t want to seem greedy D: so I settled with a cup of coffee, a can of coke and a chocolate croissant.

After buying a pair of Givenchy sunglasses and getting a little lost on the tube, I got to LSE. Long registration queues ensued but I got in just in time for the intro talk, which was rather good. Afterwards I went for sushi with Alex at Wasabi. You can see Alex’s in the background, I had a selection of california rolls and tuna/salmon sashimi for about £9. It was pretty poor to be honest, and the Firefly was nearly £2 and it wasn’t even chilled.

I got lost again when trying to get to the International Relations lecture - I misread New Theatre as New Building. Typical me. Anyway, only about thirty odd people turned up, and I was the only one not accompanied by a parent. It was pretty much a talk on why International Relations was a good degree, why being at LSE in the heart of London was beneficial and there was a lot of scope to tailor your degree to what you want, with many outside modules such as languages, sociology, law and philosophy encouraged. I was hoping for a bit more a taster but it seemed to just be aimed at those who hadn’t made their minds up on a degree path.

This was one the ‘university streets.’ There’s two lecture buildings here, a gift shop and a Waterstones (named ‘The Economist’s Bookshop’). I really wanted some LSE memorabilia, but I though it would be painful to have lying around if they didn’t offer me a place. And a tad on the obsessive side.

I went to the First Class Lounge in Paddington Station which was actually rather spiffy. Fridges of free water and soda cans, cake and biscuits and coffee and tea. There was even plates of olives. Oh and a free bathroom (it’s 30p elsewhere in the station!) Finally, the journey home. A complimentary copy of the Evening Standard was worthwhile reading, as well as some more free cups of tea and crisps!

In conclusion: a great trip. But no Heat Magazine was bought. Nor will it ever be bought because it’s shit…

Guess who got her results! I did three exams in January which made up 50% of my final AS Grade for Economics & Politics, and 33.3% for Maths (the rest completed in May/June ‘09).
Results were as follows:

AQA Economics: Markets and Market Failure (88/100) (A)
OCR Politics: Contemporary Politics of the UK (85/100) (A)
Edexcel Mathematics: Core 1 (80/100) (A)

THREE As!!! ZOMG. The A boundaries were 80/100 for all three so I was sat quite comfortably in Economics and Politics…and not so comfortably in Maths. To be fair I was expecting a B because I got half way through several questions and then gave up (hooray for method marks!) I’m going to retake Maths in June to hopefully get more of a solid A so it won’t matter when I (envitably) mess up the much harder Core 2 and Statistics 1 modules in May/June! Economics and Politics results were such a relief though, retaking would’ve meant I’d have to learn four months of teaching again, on top of the four months of teaching for the second modules!

So London School of Economics is getting slightly closer. I’ve still go to somehow get at least a B in Critical Thinking (the most dire subject know to man) and hopefully get an A in English Literature, both through the art of blagging. Anyway, posts on this site are slightly few and far between at the moment due to the amount of studying I need to do. Things will pick up when I get more a social life, trust me. More social outings, two trips to London and a visit to Thomas Hardy’s house in Dorset in the coming weeks!