Anyone regret Royal Holloway?

Hammer guy was caught. Has anyone actually heard of rapes in either of the rape alleys or are they just called that for being dark?

Those non-friendly pubs are non-friendly to students in general - although i'm sure they have some racist customers.

You can't ssume locals haven't seen a black person just because the majority of locals are white.

I'm not saying there is no crime just that egham has low crime rates.

I tend not to bother here. You do learn after a short time. If you wanted to go out while you're here, you'd be better off travelling closer to London.

Rape Alley was closed off? I lived in Ilex Close and didn't notice anything.

I must have missed this whole incident. You have to stress that it is the exception rather than the norm however; it's not like every day you have gunmen and rapists rampaging around the local area. I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience here but what has really depressed you about studying at RHUL?

Me, personally? The state of halls. The state of alot of societies - esp. the LGBT which is a shambles - just like the security team here. The fact that if you try switching halls, they'll try charging you all over again for that particular term. The constant theft. The lack of local pubs and clubs which are lively (and which you don't have to queue forever for). The fact that the administrators of my dept' are so unfriendly, unhelpful and sarcastic. The reputation some members of staff have for relationships with students. The fact that my Personal Advisor very rarely knows how to handle any of my queries. The fact you'll get ostracised for being anything other than the norm. The attitude of so many members of teaching staff. The Health Centre - which is absurd (they'll tell you you're not ill, you go elsewhere and they'll tell you that you most definitely are) and keeps losing my bloody paperwork. The fact that when, in my first year, my room-mate kept making remarks about my bisexuality and the fact that I'm Welsh, they moved me - not her (and took a month to do even that) - and basically told her 'it's not very nice'. They aren't good with bullying.

Ok, I didn't even apply but I loved the look of it from my research and was really looking forward to the open day and then was so dissapointed when I turned up. Everything about it was aweful, not the kind of place I'd want to be at all.

You still can, a lot of it's courses are in Extra. I got an offer for not that long ago, (which I'm not going to firm or insure) and I don't have brilliant grades or anything.

Edit: For English Q300 btw, dunno if your course is more competitive.

i was just gunna ask about the LGBT scene there. sounds awful.

Wow OP, you really don't like the place eh I'm sure it has some good points but your bad experience has made you extremely biased.

I wasn't even aware that there were LGBT women at RHUL until recently when I saw a couple kissing in a queue in the shop.

But I suppose if a scene doesn't interest you then you're not going to be looking for it everywhere.

And there were masses of laptop theft from the ground floors of all halls in the year I was there.

Was this because of people leaving doors unlocked? And why the ground floor in particular?

Windows All the desks (well they were are in Runnymede) are below the windows.

Oh yeah, that makes sense. I'd hate a room on the ground floor anyway. Sleeping near the ground is wrong unless you're camping. And the perverts can look in

It's interesting to hear what other people's experiences have been, though. It definitely seems like RHUL could be improved quite a few ways, and hopefully some changes will be instigated sooner rather than later.

I can honestly as a postgrad, given I've studied elsewhere and used various other unis/have friends elsewhere, RHUL's needs to improve on a LOT of things but unfortunately it can rest on the laurels of the London reputation and get away with it.

You'd hope, especially with a new principal coming in. BUT the comments left on the THE webpage arn't exactly positive about his move.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410916&c=1

That's a great shame, then. One of the things that attracted me to RHUL was the way that they weren't so driven, so to speak...It's difficult to describe, but like for example when I went to visit Exeter it was all about getting the best place in the league tables and that kind of thing, and when I spoke to the head of department for my subject about the very high offer I'd been made, she said that if she had control she'd lower it but wasn't able to because of how the university wants to stay high in the league tables. It was the same kind of thing at Warwick, it seemed to be all about self-promotion, which is fair enough to a certain extent because universities are businesses in a way and to do well they have to advertise.

But at RHUL it seemed less commercial, less pushy as it were. I guess that's why it felt more like home to me, rather than a business. On the other hand, the facilities at Warwick and Exeter are better than at RHUL overall, and it sounds like RHUL has some problems that Warwick and Exeter don't have to such an extent. Maybe their approach is the correct one. It just didn't appeal to me, though.