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UCL vs KCL

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Reply 20
kings probably.....cos my friend went there lol
Reply 21
accommodation is about £110/week (ensuit), i've been there and its really nice....
Reply 22
human sciences at kings? or biomedical science at UCL?? anyone?
Reply 23
shaamsoni
human sciences at kings? or biomedical science at UCL?? anyone?


I don't know anything about either..
Reply 24
I think it really doesn't matter wherther you study Law at king's or UCL....Both universities have the facilities and teachers to give you a decent education....but what you get out of your time at university is entirely up to you....open days are helpful....gives you an idea of what it would be like to study there as a full time student....
as for the squash is concerned.....KCL is better than UCL..know that because i am the capt of the KCL 1st team.....you can go on to the busa website and check out the results yourself......this is not to say that UCL hasn't got a good Team...Matt and Jack are good friends and they play for UCL....it also really depends what level you play at....because here at king's, we have got guys who played junior wold circuitand represent their countries at the commonwealth games and other tournaments...so the standard is high....we have three mens teams competing in the BUSA and ULU leagues....so you have enough chance to represent the uni....
Reply 25
Fantastic, high standard squash is exactly what I'm looking for.

What about the accommodation of each place?
I really wouldn't put much weight on what various different people are saying in this thread, the only way you're going to know for sure which one is best for you is to actually go and look at both of them.
Reply 27
OppressedMass
King's. The UCL lawyers I know are all whingers. If you go there you'll either hate your course or just whinge anyway.


any1 doing a course that requires work whinges...especially lawyers, whethere UCL, KCL or QM
tetedupet
I really wouldn't put much weight on what various different people are saying in this thread, the only way you're going to know for sure which one is best for you is to actually go and look at both of them.


exactly

we could debate about who has the getter reputation all day, but perception of this varies from person to person, employer to employer, institution to institution. I'd say visit them, see which "feels right", and go with your heart
Come to KCL with me!! :smile:

but anyways looking at the accomodation Great Dover St. Stamford Street at KCL win hands down! I didn't apply to UCl as you know but i checked out the accomodation online a few days ago and i was not best pleased.

Anyhoo the KCL open is tomorrow! That should help you decide.
Reply 30
shaamsoni
human sciences at kings? or biomedical science at UCL?? anyone?


i applied for exactly the same and got unconditional for both and it is really difficult to decide UCL has got the better reputation but Kings has nicer feel and better accomodation! Its really tough decision i'm leaning towards St George now tho so might not have to choose but going to UCL open day tomorrow which will help!

maxine

Human Sciences - KCL - Unconditional
Physiology and Pharmacology - KCL - Unconditional
Biomedical Sciences - UCL - Unconditional
Biomedical Science - St Georges - Unconditional
Physiology - Liverpool - Conditional on getting B in maths resit
Reply 31
Original post by ja123
Coming from the US I can say that UCL and KCL are probably seen as about equal... I studied at King's College for my master's, I never really considered UCL though I wish I had applied to both schools--when I got to England suddenly I heard quite a lot about how UCL edged out on KCL. Believe me, I would not have applied to King's had I not felt that it had an excellent reputation... perhaps that's more illustrative of the overseas view of the school.

It's difficult in America to get a grasp on the reputations of the various top schools in the UK, as I'm sure it's difficult in England to differentiate between some of the top schools in America (UPenn, Cornell, Columbia, etc.). For example, in America you hear an awful lot about Oxford but as I understand it Cambridge tends to outrank Oxford. Once you're in the country you hear plenty about the schools' reputations but it's difficult to form an opinion.
Hope that helps--
Jordan


Hi Jordan-
I've been accepted to King's and UCL for Master's programs... Intelligence and Int'l Security at KCL, and Organized Crime and Terrorism at UCL...I'm hearing a lot about both institutions, and am having a hard time deciding which one is best for me. Having been a Master's student from America, and having previously studied at King's, do you have any insight? Anything is appreciated!
Best,
G
Reply 32
Original post by Ryands
Having a hard time differentiating between these two. I'm applying to do Law.

Could people possibly help me out with particular attention to;
- Reputation as a whole and for Law
- Accommodation
- Location
- Squash scene (long-shot but someone might know!)

Ta.


There's very little between them, really, both are fantastic Law departments. I had offers from King's and UCL, but my decision was a bit easier - UCL's offer was for LLB Law with Hispanic Law, so I opted for the course which offered me direct entry to a course where I'd be spending my third year abroad.

As you probably know, King's has just had a massive cash injection into its Law department, and it's certainly a very beautiful Law school (Somerset House is stunning!). That being said, UCL's Law Faculty is also really quite nice. I went for a post-offer open day last week, and the Law seminar room was large, airy and very modern, and I quite liked their moot court.

In terms of prestige, I think UCL might just edge it. But the difference isn't substantial at all! Opting for King's won't harm your chances at all, they're both very well respected internationally and nationally.

Have a good think about the teaching methods as well. King's offers twice as many tutorials (one tutorial per week per module) as UCL does, but think about the pace of work and how you like to work, whether twice as many hours would be an advantage, or would it hinder the way you work. UCL also offers tutorial groups no bigger than 8 students, so that's something important to consider.

Location-wise King's is slap bang in the middle of London (well, at least their Strand/Somerset campus is) near the Waterloo Bridge, about 5-10 minutes walk from the Royal Courts of Justice. UCL's Bloomsbury campus is in a leafier, arguably quieter part of London. It's a stone's throw from the British Museum, two minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road, a fifteen minute walk from Oxford Street and I think is quite near the British Library too. Accommodation-wise, I think it's 75% of UCL's accommodation that's within 20 minutes walk of the main campus or something. I think for King's and UCL you'd pay being roughly the same per week.

I'd imagine King's has a pretty strong sports scene, but I can fill you in a little bit on UCL's sports side. The Law Society has its own netball and rugby teams (I think King's does as well!), and the Bloomsbury Gym is pretty huge, pretty well priced for central London. UCL also owns a pretty bigass sports complex in Shenley, St. Albans (we were told Arsenal used to play there before the Emirates was built? I don't know football so don't quote me on that one!). They've also got a pretty huge list of societies, so see if what you're looking for is on it:
http://uclu.org/clubs-societies/directory
Here's the sports clubs list for King's:
http://www.kclsu.org/society.asp?section=346&sectionTitle=Clubs+list
...and the directory of their societies:
http://www.kclsu.org/society.asp?section=295&sectionTitle=Societies+List

I loved both universities, but in the end, it was UCL's Law Society that won it for me (even if I were doing just the Law LLB at both, without Hispanic Law) and the fact that the name carries a teensy bit more weight (but that's open to debate). It's incredibly active: it puts on careers events every week, throws massive balls about 4 times a year, has an incredible social life, very strong mooting/debating team and to top it all off, everyone I met there was just lovely! That's not to say King's doesn't have these things, it's simply because I know a bit more about UCL...which is why it's of paramount importance that you go and have a look around yourself when you choose. I don't think it's wrong to go with your gut with this one :biggrin:

Good luck!
xxx
Reply 33
As an international student, I don't entirely agree. There both great Unis though.
Reply 34
I might be biased but woo Team Birkbeck

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Reply 35
Been made conditional offers to both UCL and KCL for biomedical sciences and I cannot decide! I love the feel of King's but I like the prestige of UCL. As someone hoping to pursue medicine at a later date, which would be more beneficial for me to attend?
Thanks!
Reply 36
For law (no particular in-group order)

Oxford
Cambridge

LSE
UCL

Durham
Nottingham
Warwick
Bristol
KCL

That said, KCL<<<<UCL—just that KCL makes it sound like it has one of the top law departments in the UK when it really doesn't.




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Reply 37
The way I see it, LSE, KCL and UCL are all so close to each other in terms of the rep of their law departments that it makes no significant difference which one you pick. Employers are shrewd enough to know that they are all amazing institutions and hard to get into, so appreciate them all. They're also not naive enough to think that just because you went to one of them, you're a fantastic applicant. It comes down to how you sell yourself afterwards and the skills you display. To that effect, choose the university that you personally could see yourself excelling at and are likely to gain the most from. UCL has smaller student body for law, and more intimate tutor groups. I've heard that King's offers more regular tutor sessions though (I can't say I know this for sure), so I suppose if you like that sort of guidance, then that's useful. Also King's recently moved into the East Wing of Somerset house, which looks bloody fantastic. As the home of the School of Law, you should expect to be spending some time there. If you think that sort of atmosphere would help you excel, then take that into account too.
In essence, what I'm saying is that the ranking differences are more or less negligible. They're volatile and the differences are tiny. What's more important is which course and institution suits you. I'm sorry I can't give you many specifics on the things you asked for, but I just thought I should point this out after seeing half the above posts harping on about rankings.
For Law, if you read the latest REF ranking, the most standard and authoritative ranked within seven years, which decide the allocation of research budgets from government to all the UK universities, you will see KCL is the best, and the LSE, and then others. I always believe firmly that Oxbridge are the best in social sciences subjects, but for the second level, no doubtfully, KCL and LSE has the cutting-edge compared with others. Especially for Law, History and Philosophy, KCL probably are the best with Oxbridge
Reply 39
Just finished my first year at UCL and hated it in every sense, I have some friends at Kings and it seems A LOT better, tutors are prompt and apparently put maximum effort into subjects, more 1 on 1 time, more down to earth people - this may just be subject specific.

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