UCL vs. X official question thread

I feel I can comment as I go to UCL and my boyfriend is at durham.
We're both very suited to our universities, I feel. I couldn't go to durham and he'd hate to be at UCL.

UCL Pros:
-it's in central london and has lots of important and interesting landmarks on its doorstep. Camden Market, Oxford Street, the British Museum, Tottenham Court Road and Covent Garden are within walking distance
-it's a very well equipped university whilst still being quite traditional. There are 16 libraries and then an extra arts and humanities one at Senate House.
-We kind of get 'double facilities' as we've got our own union and then ULU (the university of London union)
-Lots of opportunities to work part time at the university or in nearby cafes, pubs and shops.
-Most programmes are very well taught and we're highly regarded
-If you're after networking or getting a job in law, media, finance and business then you're in the centre of it all.

UCL Cons:
-It's expensive to live in London and you have to balance your time very well to have time for a part time job to offset some of this cost
-There may be too much to do and it may mean you get distracted
-Some may say it's more difficult to make friends (although I've never experienced this, nor do I know anybody with no friends) as we're not forced together in a collegiate setting.
-It's busy. There are 25000 students and it makes it a pain getting a computer at lunch time or queuing up to get food or whatever. Have fun trying to get a seat in the library during exam time unless you arrive before 8am.
-From my experience, it can be a bit lefty and overly political. Not everybody is like this (by any stretch) but our union has a history of strong political activism and they can be really annoying (have a look at my blogpost in my sig for more info)


I absolutely love it at UCL and I've really enjoyed my time here.
Here are some pros and cons about durham I can think of:

Pros
-Cheaper to live
-More of a community feel as you have the college system
-If you like the 'bubble' feel then you'll durham as it is very small and you'll probably regularly bump into somebody you know
-parts of it are very pretty

Cons
-Quite a big drinking culture (though this may be a pro for you) and a lot of people don't do anything in their spare time apart from go to Klute or get pissed.
-It's tiny (this is a big con for me), for me it's very claustrophobic - you can't escape the university as most of the town is the university.
-some departments aren't as strong
-less opportunities to work part time as it is so small.
-The closest big city is newcastle, you're cut off from a lot of the UK when you compare it to london.

Thank you, that's some really helpful information! I come from a small town in the North, so Durham feels familiar to me, but sometimes I just feel like I need that massive change. A big worry of mine was if I'd struggle making good friends in such a big place.. so thanks for putting my mind at rest a bit My boyfriend will hopefully be going to Birmingham so I guess London's a bit handier for that too..
Ahhhhh decisions xD

If you're in halls and know how to introduce yourself to strangers and join societies then you'll definitely make friends Would not recommend the Birmingham - Durham long distance thing. Have been doing the London Durham one for nearly 2 years now and it's so painfully expensive (73 return with a railcard) , we only see each other ever 3 or 4 weeks most of the time.

Birmingham to London can be done for about £8-12 return (I live in Birmingham and I come home regularly)
What's your course?
Just seen you're doing Earth Sciences - I don't know how the departments and rankings work but I have 2 friends who dropped out of Durham (Grey College for both i think) to go to UCL...obviously it depends on the person but it says something I guess.

UCL has it's own character (traditional yet modern and secular, and in a huge city) whereas Durham is an unashamed Oxbridge copy. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this but I couldn't be able to live with the fact that I go to "a pale Oxbridge copy" Better to go somewhere completely alternative yet still academically rigorous if you don't get into Oxbridge.


Also UCL is much more well known and more highly ranked than Durham.

probably should have placed this in general uni discussion not the ucl forum as you may well get a bit of a biassed responce .. :P
none the less personally id firm ucl its an excellent uni and since its in london the social life will be a lot bigger [probably better] than durham .. i mean theres what over 100,000 students in uoL to meet :P

hahaaa whoops :P ah well, i'm definitely swaying towards UCL so maybe it was a good mistake so now I'm just being reassured UCL is the right place

Thank you! I've applied for Earth Sciences at UCL (or Geology/Environmental Geoscience at some of my other choices)

I clever person would have mentioned this at the very beginning before asking what people think because if you just ask which is better , people get confused for which course ? Now that we know it helps and because i have no clue about that course , i cant comment but if it was econ , it would have been a pleasure .

As I mentioned earlier the two courses are very similar; I'm more interested in the differences between the two unis, and how student life at each uni differs, I didn't feel it necessary to mention my subject tbh

I am an American postgraduate student holding offers from both King's College London (MA War Studies) and University College London (MSc Security Studies).

From what I hear, the War Studies Department at KCL is quite prestigious, but I would like information on the Department of Political Science at UCL. Does anyone have any information on the reputation of this department or the program that I have selected (Security Studies)?

I welcome your advice on which program to choose . It's a difficult decision and I'm completely torn between the two options.