King's College London

London

How is KCL viewed as a University?

Since I first heard about KCL I always viewed and presumed that LSE, UCL, Imperial and KCL were regarded as the top 5 Universities in london. I know that they are but I have the feeling that KCL is regarded as quite a deal 'worse' than the other 4 universities.

Is this true? What's your view of KCL? I mean in terms of some subjects, such as history its got one of the best departments in the country but overall it struggles to get into the top 10 Unis in the guides, finishing #12 on the Times and something like the #25 in the Guardian. To begin with I presumed that this was due to the rather uneven departments, as subjects such as history/music/philosophy etc are very highly regarded and others have entry points of BBC. But obviously not as UCL also has much lower requirements in some subjects but finishes consistently at the top of the university rankings.

If your a current student, a student at another university (or another london one such as UCL), thinking of applying to KCL, a graduate, in a post-grad job etc how do you view KCL? Is it still viewed, as it was historically, as a prestigious london uni with UCL/Imperial etc which could rival oxbridge?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

ali242

well according to their prospectus they are top 25 in the world
ive heard many bad stories about KCL not as a uni but location wise especially the Guys campus but its definitely one of the best unis in the world

King's College London

London

Reply 2

lrkn

Ignore those tables. They're pointless and only an idiot would make a judgement based on one.

Reply 3

Dante786

ali242

ive heard many bad stories about KCL not as a uni but location wise especially the Guys campus but its definitely one of the best unis in the world

oh please tell :biggrin:

Reply 4

fredo22

How very dare you!

Ill have you know it is the Univeristy of the Kings! :smartass:

Reply 5

ali242

Naffy

oh please tell :biggrin:

LOL well one of my friends is doing dentistry, says she hardly gets any holidays, load of work is stupidly high, location is rubbish and campus isnt great.

Reply 6

Realism

I'm applying to for history which is situated at the Strand, which apparently is the best campus to be at if your at KCL?

They also have recently acquired Somerset house for the humanities which apparently is a good thing..

Reply 7

Realism

lrkn

Ignore those tables. They're pointless and only an idiot would make a judgement based on one.

Obviously I have taken other things into consideration but it is hard and pointless to ignore the tables... when applying it is best to atleast compare them and take them into consideration. The teaching and quality of life is mainly what interests me on the tables..

Reply 8

student4A

ali242

LOL well one of my friends is doing dentistry, says she hardly gets any holidays, load of work is stupidly high, location is rubbish and campus isnt great.

lol well thats to do more with the course than the actual uni! location seems really nice whenever ive visited it :smile:

Reply 9

Realism

regardless of location anyway - I mean the University's repute. Would anyone say that KCL is on par with other london unis such as UCL?

Reply 10

gamer9

UCL is slightly higher but it is highly regarded still. Strand and Guys are both nice campuses tbh with everything being within walking distance. After all both UCL and Kings were created together (i think) and are both part of University of London so you get access to LSE's and UCL's library etc (i think).

Reply 11

wilson_smith

Tables aren't great, but i wouldn't rank KCL besides ICL,UCL and LSE, no. It's got a few very good departments (Laws, War Studies, Nursing), but really doesn't compare to the former universities in my mind. Still a top university though.

Reply 12

Realism

wilson_smith

What do you define as being a 'top University'?

Reply 13

lrkn

Realism

The tables are pointless.

How can you seriously expect to assign a number to an institution?

You're looking at general tables for a start. Some universities are top of their field in some subjects and in the bottom 20 for others. How can you say an overall table means anything?

They're pointless exercises.

Reply 14

DAVF

In which case how do you decide which universitys you want to visit?, there needs to be some sort of way of comparing the statistics between different departments? Don't most tables show research results, average entry points,good honours etc. are they not usefull to look at then?

Reply 15

MDEH8176

I've always seen King's as a solid top 15 UK university, but not as highly regarded as UCL from those in the know. I think in terms of reputation King's is more renowned internationally than here in the UK.

From the general public I get the impression that many regard King's and UCL as the same (although there clearly is a slight difference). Also, 'King's' sounds way better in conversation than 'University College London' or 'UCL'. :wink:

I was going to apply to UCL, but I hated the linguistics course and the university environment/atmosphere was no way near as friendly or welcoming as King's. I've heard a few people complain about Guy's campus, but the Strand and Waterloo areas are excellent. The Maughan Library looks like a great place to study too. I think the 'centre' of the university is at the Strand.

Imperial and LSE are regarded as more prestigious than King's, but they're subject-specific so I don't think you can judge them fairly.

Reply 16

JellyBean123

www.unistats.com ! I reccomend it to anyone and everyone.

Reply 17

wilson_smith

Realism

What do you define as being a 'top University'?

Top 15 in the country?

Reply 18

Realism

MDEH8176

But isn't KCL subject specific? That's my point, it's incredibly prestigious for history but I was wondering if as a whole that reputation extends itself for the uni overall.

Reply 19

MDEH8176

Realism

But isn't KCL subject specific? That's my point, it's incredibly prestigious for history but I was wondering if as a whole that reputation extends itself for the uni overall.

Honestly, no. All top universities will have their subject strengths and weaknesses, however, there are a few multi-faculty universities like Oxbridge and UCL that are generally strong across the board. This is rare though.

At King's subjects like Law, History, Philosophy and German have the reputation to compete with the likes of UCL. Many people regard the King's Law School as one of the best in the country.

However, there are subjects (such as Maths and English) that rank slightly lower. People can argue that their university is strong in their field, but would you turn down a place to study Maths at King's College London to go to Heriot-Watt or Greenwich just because they're higher on a league table for the subject?

If you're bothered by prestige, I think a universities general reputation is more important and King's is highly regarded in the UK and abroad. It also has one of the best employment rates, although this is probably due to its strengths in vocational degrees such as law, medicine, dentistry and nursing.

You're not likely to find a university where all it's subjects rank within the top 10 aside from Oxbridge and to a lesser extent UCL. That's what I meant when I said you can't compare LSE and Imperial to UCL/King's as their subject-specific universities. LSE doesn't really have a 'weak' subject as it's a specialist school that only offers certain subjects.