I'm a 2nd year UCL student- ask me anything about Freshers year

The 'party rep' is kind of a double-edge sword, to be honest. There is often a lot going on, but because it's so massive and has this reputation a lot of people seem to feel they need to don this massive, loud persona in order to 'be somebody' in Ramsay. So, although it has a high population of people, it also has a massively high proportion of dicks. Make sure you talk to everybody at freshers, not just the eager beaver social ones, because they'll often turn out to be the ones you stay friends with and don't just hide behind fire extinguishers from because you don't want a three-hour conversation (about them) on your way to get your post. You're also going to have to put up with them setting off fireworks in the corridor at 4am and getting you all turfed out on the pavement, or spreading jam on the computers (both these things happened, and much more, last year). You'd think something would occur to them about ****ting where they eat. Sometimes they're pretty amusing, like the time they dragged a leaking stuffed bear down every corridor (it looked like it had snowed), then lobbed him off the stairs so that he landed in the basement with 'RIP BEAR' pinned to his head.

Oh, and promoters. They get in and dump tons of flyers under your door every day if you're NOT in. If you are, you get the pleasure of this conversation nearly every day: *bangbangbang*, 'Hello?', 'Hey! Hay!!111 Do you like to PAR-TAY?!', 'No.' *shut door*. For the record, in case I'm sounding like a misery here, I do like to par-tay, but not at Zoo bar, eurgh.

Oh yeah, speaking of 'getting in', the turnstiles will be the bane of your life. You have to go and let everybody in AND OUT, because nobody but keyless-Ramsay residents and promoters seem to have the ability to ask anybody to fob them in, or to even USE the turnstiles. They all inexplicably walk the wrong way into the metal. When you're having a party in your room and you've got fifteen people all arriving separately that you're going to have to go and let in and out, it's infuriating. Especially since the lifts often get turned off, and I lived on the fifth floor. The lifts are turned off every Friday and Saturday night, FYI.

The food is pretty decent, actually. The vegetarian option can be a bit too adventurous and the vegetables are always overcooked, but it's a LOT better than the other catered halls. The cheesecake is epic. The dining staff are also legends, you will get to know them very well over the year...

The kitchens are poky, ill-equipped (ancient ovens, broken microwaves) and too small to serve their purpose, in my opinion. On the weekends, when you need to cook, I didn't find it practical and ended up eating out/getting sandwiches from Tesco Express (again, a place you will get to know like the back of your hand - also the various 24 hour corner shops adjacent to Ramsay, check them all out immediately and find out what they have for when you need it, because you will and you'll probably be drunk). The first night you're all there, you'll have this massive love-in where you promise never to steal each other's food from the fridge. It takes about a week till the first '**** you whoever ate my ****ing pasty!!!' note appears on the door. Anybody from any part of the building can get to your kitchen, and your food WILL get stolen. I used to hang my milk in a bag out the window.

The decor varies wildly. I was on the top floor of NY which is lovely - I had a massive room (like, twice the size of the normal ones) with a balcony (which you aren't allowed on, not that anybody takes notice and it's a great view) and the corridors are full of light because of the skylights and massive windows. When you go down to first floor NY...eurgh it's no-windows, fluoro-yellow and feels like a migraine. And it smells funny. I would have hated to live there. London has a reputation as being the most run-down block. I think they generally assign you based on your interests, because people's personalities on various corridors did seem to fit together well, though if you've been assigned a room you know is in a bit of a **** area, you could always ask them if you can change upon checking in, they do reassign some people. I was going to ask for NY if I didn't get it.



The facilities basically encompass the TV room and the piano room, there's not a lot else. I never went in the TV room, which isn't as popular as you would expect. The piano room is big and the perfect temperature(!), I went in there a lot in my solitary (and some social) moments. The piano is old and out of tune, but what can you expect. People are generally very good and won't move your music etc. if you leave it on top of the piano, though occasionally the dickhead-brigade get in and trash it.

That's about it, really. I was quite often jealous of my friends at the smaller Gower St halls who all had very close-knit buildings where you knew everyone and there was always somebody chilling in their massive kitchens etc. - Ramsay can actually be quite isolated in that respect. There is no communal hang-out area because the kitchens don't have tables. On the whole, though, it's got a lot of advantages over the smaller halls too, and you really can't beat the location. I did have an amazing year there.

Do many people actually go to Fresher's ball? It sounds a bit overpriced for what it is and I'm feeling a bit meh about it, based on pictures it's basically just a massive club night which I'm not opposed to but it isn't 100% my thing especially for £20. I just don't want to be stuck with nothing to do if all my flatmates go to it and I don't!

Im an econ fresher and got a room at Ramsey . How far is it from Euston station coz i m a mancunian babe , no idea about this place ? Also is it close to the main study campus ?

Im an econ fresher and got a room at Ramsey . How far is it from Euston station coz i m a mancunian babe , no idea about this place ? Also is it close to the main study campus ?

Do you need passport photos or photos with are passport sized?

Astor. But you don't have a choice, you only have preferences, they're quite often ignored, more people share than have singles, and you're lucky to even get any accommodation in the first place.

This.
And it's like they don't give a flying **** about your preference or even the price limit you state for rent.

OP: probably a very, very naive question that betrays the fact that I haven't lived in London, but how do people get back to halls after club nights? I mean, Tubes don't run between midnight and 5am, so you can't get those, it's about 30 minutes from Camden Town to my halls, which might be a bit tricky/unsafe to walk (and if you were somewhere like Ministry of Sound, you definitely couldn't walk it), and I don't know if buses run in the middle of the night. Do people usually stay around there until Tubes run at 5am, or do they get taxis, or what?

OP: probably a very, very naive question that betrays the fact that I haven't lived in London, but how do people get back to halls after club nights? I mean, Tubes don't run between midnight and 5am, so you can't get those, it's about 30 minutes from Camden Town to my halls, which might be a bit tricky/unsafe to walk (and if you were somewhere like Ministry of Sound, you definitely couldn't walk it), and I don't know if buses run in the middle of the night. Do people usually stay around there until Tubes run at 5am, or do they get taxis, or what?

It varies, some people get the night bus (some more regular than others), some walk, some flag down a taxi, some just don't leave till the club closes. One of my mates couldn't be bothered and went to a 24hr mcdonalds and stayed there until well after the tubes began running.

If you're going with mates from halls, you're ok to walk, fortunately chavs have a early bedtime so usually in the early hours there's nobody about, except people trying to get home.

Don't worry about that. You'll barely use the tubes when they're running unless you're late/going really far. The buses are way more convenient/devoid of tourists.

There are often several nightbuses that go to Frances Gardner from the usual spots, you'll be fine. There will also be loads of people going towards FG/Langton/James Lighthill, so you'll also be fine to walk in a group if you're that way inclined. Actually, you probably won't believe me but you'll be absolutely fine to walk back by yourself, it's central London, not the back roads of Peckham - I feel a lot safer than I would in a smaller city. It's got big, wide, lit streets and there are often people around even in the dead of night. I'm a bit of a walker/cheapskate and I walk back by myself at 3, 4, 5 a.m., several times a week (not just at uni, for years) never had a problem. It took a while to convince all the non-Londoners of this, though . If you're dressed a bit too provocatively or are blind drunk then obviously just take the bus to save yourself from a bit of cat-calling/getting lost if nothing else. You probably won't want to walk often, I'm just saying that if you get stuck by yourself, without any Oyster credit, in the middle of London at four in the morning, you've got no reason to freak out. Generally, you'll want to take the nightbuses. You'll get to know all the routes very quickly.

You'll definitely laugh at yourself in a few months if you wait around till the tubes are running or take a taxi. Unless you're carrying something heavy (and even then I've taken some ridiculous things on the bus), you will never have any reason in London to take a taxi, ever. I remember a girl at freshers (OP will know!) who used to very loudly declare that she was going to take her taxi now, as her daddy had given her money for taking taxis, as daddy didn't think she'd be safe on the bus (this is not just at night, this is in the middle of the day). She was clearly very proud of this apparent status symbol. After about a month, this fell away, never to be mentioned again. Weirdly, it's more of a status symbol in London to know the TfL network well .

Thanks a lot to both of you

I wasn't planning to take taxis, just because of the cost! But it's good to know about buses. (Are they relatively safe? Of course it's the centre of a major city, but I'm from the rural wastelands of Yorkshire and don't know these things )

Although, thinking about it, I did once walk a mile or so to St Pancras at 3am to get the earliest Eurostar, and didn't even see another person... so if the rest of London is equally safe at that time of the morning, it should be fine

Or even about processing your application Don't get me started.

OP: probably a very, very naive question that betrays the fact that I haven't lived in London, but how do people get back to halls after club nights? I mean, Tubes don't run between midnight and 5am, so you can't get those, it's about 30 minutes from Camden Town to my halls, which might be a bit tricky/unsafe to walk (and if you were somewhere like Ministry of Sound, you definitely couldn't walk it), and I don't know if buses run in the middle of the night. Do people usually stay around there until Tubes run at 5am, or do they get taxis, or what?

Don't worry about that. You'll barely use the tubes when they're running unless you're late/going really far. The buses are way more convenient/devoid of tourists.

There are often several nightbuses that go to Frances Gardner from the usual spots, you'll be fine. There will also be loads of people going towards FG/Langton/James Lighthill, so you'll also be fine to walk in a group if you're that way inclined. Actually, you probably won't believe me but you'll be absolutely fine to walk back by yourself, it's central London, not the back roads of Peckham - I feel a lot safer than I would in a smaller city. It's got big, wide, lit streets and there are often people around even in the dead of night. I'm a bit of a walker/cheapskate and I walk back by myself at 3, 4, 5 a.m., several times a week (not just at uni, for years) never had a problem. It took a while to convince all the non-Londoners of this, though . If you're dressed a bit too provocatively or are blind drunk then obviously just take the bus to save yourself from a bit of cat-calling/getting lost if nothing else. You probably won't want to walk often, I'm just saying that if you get stuck by yourself, without any Oyster credit, in the middle of London at four in the morning, you've got no reason to freak out. Generally, you'll want to take the nightbuses. You'll get to know all the routes very quickly.

You'll definitely laugh at yourself in a few months if you wait around till the tubes are running or take a taxi. Unless you're carrying something heavy (and even then I've taken some ridiculous things on the bus), you will never have any reason in London to take a taxi, ever. I remember a girl at freshers (OP will know!) who used to very loudly declare that she was going to take her taxi now, as her daddy had given her money for taking taxis, as daddy didn't think she'd be safe on the bus (this is not just at night, this is in the middle of the day). She was clearly very proud of this apparent status symbol. After about a month, this fell away, never to be mentioned again. Weirdly, it's more of a status symbol in London to know the TfL network well .

Hi, do you have any information on "Msc in information Security" degree offered at UCL? How are the job opportunities for this field in the UK?.. I was unable to find information about the department staff...have you heard anything about the quality of the course/infrastructure such as labs etc..Please recommend other universities, if any that offer similar course....Awaiting your response.....