Barts and The London Applicants 2012

don't forget to join the facebook group guys: https://www.facebook.com/groups/322009871181946/

They said in the open day it starts in a couple of weeks

I'll try do a quick little review. Whenever I mention postgrads by the way, I DON'T MEAN MEDICS. I mean postgrads. I know there was a little bit of a dispute on this thread but postgrads are freshers. They are medics. We are one the same. Postgrads are postgrads doing MScs or PhDs.


Mile end

Rooms
Small but very modern. Mixed with non-medics. I've got mixed opinions of living with medics. Sometimes I think it's a good idea, other's not so much. Overall I'm glad I'm living with just medics/dentists. They understand the time commitment of the course and we tend to go to the same events.

Location
The campus is really nice, but Mile End is a shed. I generally dislike going to the Mile End campus when we have Anatomy. There's always raging lefties handing out leaflets or people trying to re/convert you. What is it with lefties being like Jehovahs witnesses anyway? At freshers I had this debate with a radical socialist who ended up telling to **** off when I destroyed her with words. Anyway, bit off topic. About 20 minute walk to Perrin or you can bus the 25 in about 10 minutes. Closest station is Stepney which is about a 6 minute walk.

Stuff near by
Loads of fried chicken shops all down ****echapel/mile end/Stepney. There's a spoons just down the road. Drapers is in Mile End but we barely ever go there. There's a 24h pool/snooker house close by too. The campus food is a bit naff, the cheaper area is worse than school dinners (seriously). The other restaurant (muchi's or something vaguely Italian sounding) is alright but overpriced. There's a campus food shop as well but from what I gather people don't really go there.

Other notes
It's the only accommodation with en-suites. Now, this might sound like a big deal (it was to me) but it's really not. Our bathrooms are huge and I've never had to wait for a shower, toilet, sink or anything. There's separated out as well so you can use the sink/toilet while everyone's using showers etc.

Overall
Well, I didn't pick it because I wanted to live with medics. I think I made the right choice. Sometimes I miss not being able to hang out with non-medics but not very often. I visit my girlfriend in another university every three weeks or so so don't have much of an issue with that.

Floyer

Rooms
Slightly bigger than mile end not as big as Dawson. Rooms are a bit dank and manky. The building is really old. The other big issue with Floyer is the severe lack of freshers. There's so few it's unreal. There are so many more Postgrads(not medics)/finalists 'cause it's close to the hospital.

Location
It's in ****echapel. Slightly worse area than Mile End. So close to the union/library/Perrin/Garrod/Hospital though. Literally 2 minutes. You can get out of bed 10 minutes before the lecture and get there. Really shed of an area though. I'm sure you're familiar with ****echapel by now.

Stuff near by
Floyer has the common room which I hear is pretty cool and often a good place to hang out. There union is near by but it's been a bit of a waste of space this year. Events failed and unless you go to tables this isn't really an advantage. The new sainsburies is about a 5 minute walk away and there are loads of fried chicken places. McDonalds is about a 5 minute walk too. Closest tube station is whitechapel about 5 minutes walk away.

Other Notes
The rooms are quite dank and not particularly nice but the location is really convenient. Lack of freshers is a bit of a pain. One of the girls downstairs was placed in Dawson while her room was fixed in Floyer but then actually requested to come back after a week. Another was placed in Floyer but again transferred to Dawson.

Overall
Convenient but bad location and bad rooms. Lack of freshers really sealed the deal for me.

Dawson

Rooms
Nicest rooms BY FAR. They're absolutely massive. However, I'm not sure you'll get them. This year we got the postgraduate rooms because they started earlier than us but the rooms were being remodelled. However, no postgrad rooms have sinks. You may get the slightly smaller rooms but have the option of sinks. If you get these though, they are by far the best rooms you can get here. It's only medics/dentists/postgrads. They group you by corridors 'cause it's split into like three corridors per floor. You'll be grouped with medics/dentists. Usually school leavers/gappers on the same floor. Always exception to the room though.

Location
Nicest location by far. Barbican is a really nice area of London. So much so you'll probably never be living here in the future due to house prices. There are some £1million rentals in an apartment block right opposite Dawson. The green outside in the summer is great for BBQs and chilling out. Closest tube is Barbican, 2 minutes away. The 25 bus goes from St Pauls to the union and mile end. Hand bus that connects all of the campuses and accomodation.

Stuff near by
Tesco is right around the corner, no big shops around though which is a pain. Loads of nice pubs around. They tend to shut by about 11 though on weekends which is a pain. The place is primarily a business district so it sort of shuts down a bit on weekends. The sainsburies in whitechapel is right next to the tube station though. Barbican tube station is 2 minutes away. Hence, 10 minute tube journey and 2 minuet walk = big store. There's a waitrose near by and if you go out the back entrance there's a waitrose/decent tesco 5 minute walk away. There's a gym downstairs but it's a bit crappy. We also have the shield. It's a bit like a cafe but it's only really open in the day so it's a bit useless to us. Barts library is just down the corner with a 24h room and because nobody ever uses it it's always got books. St. Pauls is a 10 minute walk which is a big shopping centre. Mostly clothes though. Some restaurants and other shops there too though. Also found a 24h costcutter 3 minute walk away which was immense. Fabric is near obviously.

Other notes
Lack of medics can sometimes be a bit dreary but the thought only passes my mind every once in a while. Usually at exams. The common room downstairs is never used either. Gets a bit annoying to have to stay in the kitchen all the time to just hang out and chill, especially if it's a bit messy.

Overall
Well, I have a bias. I chose this accommodation so I clearly think it's the best. Location and rooms are really nice, great retreat from ****echapel. I don't know about the other accommodation but the walls are SO THICK. In the remodel they made them fireproof and you literally cannot hear anything through them. I've only ever had issues once and it was due to massive levels of drunken shouting. Oh, the ceilings aren't so thick though and overly loud sex girl has earned herself a rather apt name.

Conclusion
Anything else you need to know or query, ask. Hope this was helpful. Mile end and Dawson both have their advantages and disadvantages. Mile End is a bit more "studenty" but we're not normal students doing normal degrees. I like that everyone in Dawson gets that. Do you need an en-suite? Mile end. Do you want to live with non-medics? Mile end. Everything else, got to be Dawson <3

Here's a post I made about a year back wrt everything I know about accommodation. I've quoted myself below:

Might have to join so that I can shark the pre-freshers see what you lot are talking about

****...I can't shark freshers anymore

Here's a post I made about a year back wrt everything I know about accommodation. I've quoted myself below:

What are the differences in rooms at Dawson? There is small, basic and standard but when i ring up no one knows what the real differences in size are. Is the size of small really that much different to standard and basic?

Small =first floor iirc, can't see much of a difference in size though they could be slightly smaller than the others (still big for uni accom)
Basic = no sink, choose this one! You DON'T want to be paying for a sink, you get a worse room!
Standard = with sink, smaller than basic because of those sinks, and on 'prison block' side. Avoid, you'll pay more for less really.

That's if the accommodation is like last year with us

What textbooks are absolutely necessary in yr 1? I don't want to be wasting money on books I could just find in the library if I don't need them often.
Thanks

Here's a post I made about a year back wrt everything I know about accommodation. I've quoted myself below: