Why does UCL have low student satisfaction?

UCL seems to have low student satisfaction and many people unhappy with teacher feedback. I am going in for philosophy and its discouraging to see that it has low satisfaction rankings below KCL and St.Andrews which I turned down. Also here UCL students are the least satisfied and under 60% are satisfied with feedback. I looked at uni stat and there were a lot of 50%s around feedback, marking speed and the like. For those who go to UCL, has this been your experience? I am not sure why I firmed UCL now. UCL seems to have lower satisfaction, a worse rated student union, worse career prospects and lower entry standards than KCL or St. Andrews for philosophy. Also they have no tours available at all and they have been terrible at replying to emails this application cycle. Does the communication remain poor when one becomes a student? Has anyone had a good experience with UCL philosophy?

Reply 1

IAmAStegosaurus

I'm also going to UCL for Philosophy in September and these things concern me too. Then again, I started at Nottingham for English and Philosophy in September and everyone raved about how amazing it was, but it turned out to be totally wrong for me and I ended up leaving. I think it's very subjective and each student has a different experience, but your statistics are a bit worrying. But I was speaking to someone on TSR recently who said he knew multiple people taking Philosophy at UCL and apparently they're having the time of their lives, so I'm trying not to worry too much... :redface:

University College London

London

Reply 2

HibernatingSeal

Sigh. Thanks for the response. One other weird thing with UCL is that they seem to have no exchanges for philosophy at all. They have ESPS, psychology exchanges, etc., but no philosophy. I've looked everywhere and still can't find it. I wasn't 100% set on doing an international exchange for a year, but it would be nice to have the option and when KCL and St. Andrews have exchanges with Chicago and the UCs, its odd for UCL philosophy to have no exchanges whatsoever. :s-smilie:

Reply 3

SR255

Big research unis tend to have low student satisfaction because they have high workloads and they tend to just leave students to it. The students tend to do well anyway because they are highly qualified upon entry. Bearing this in mind if you go to UCL with no expectations beyond good lectures and a good library you will do fine. If you expect it to be like school where you're spoon-fed then you will be disappointed.

Reply 4

IAmAStegosaurus

I was really disappointed about the lack of philosophy study abroad, I also wasn't set on doing it but would have liked to have at least had the option :frown:

but I'm still really excited about going and I love the uni in general, and the subject will be so fascinating regardless :smile:

Reply 5

HibernatingSeal

Original post by SR255

Yeah I agree that a lot of people can be a bit unsatisfied with the independent study system at UCL, and I think I would actually prefer it. I don't think UCL has a higher workload than KCL or St. Andrews though. Certainly not more than St. Andrews with its 3 majors in year 1-2. So that might not be the reason the student satisfaction is low...

Reply 6

herrschmidt

Original post by HibernatingSeal

You can go on a year (or semester) abroad even if your program might not seem to allow it. Basically, you can take a year at a European university using the Erasmus scheme. My friend in Law did this, spending a year in Strasbourg, despite being expected to graduate after 3 years, it took her four. As to non-European destinations, I am afraid I don't know. :P

Moreover, UCL is a place where you study by yourself after lectures. The tutors are rather approachable and willing to guide/help. Having said that, there's an expectancy that you should be able to take responsibility for your studies, without having to be spoon-fed. This is one of the things I love the most about my uni. :smile:

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Reply 7

James Perfect

The general consensus seems to be that satisfaction is low simply because UCL expect a certain amount of independent work. Other than that is there nothing that significantly affects the satisfaction at UCL? I need my worries set to rest!