Goldsmiths uni media and communication

I'm a first year and personally I wouldn't recommend it so far. I'm trying my hardest to like it for my own sake but it's hard haha. I've spoken to both a current third year and an alumnus who graduated from the course around 5 years ago and the quality seems to have gone down a lot since then.

1) Strikes. For the first two terms (24 weeks total) there have been 5 weeks of strikes. That's over 20% of the money we have paid to be taught for these terms down the drain - thousands of pounds. The university staff have suggested we could get our money back but at the end of the day we're on our own to sort all this out. FYI neither the third year or alumnus I spoke to know of anyone from their time studying here who was able to actually get this money back. Sadly, strikes seem to be a long term issue for this university that has disrupted students over the last decade. The staff encourages (even guilt trips) us into showing solidarity which is cool if that's your thing. Personally, I grinded my A Levels and saved my money to be here to get the education I was told I would get.

2) The course content I have had so far is really interesting. There's a lot of emphasis on practical skills so far if that appeals to you. The issue is there doesn't seem to be much quality control of who gets admitted into the course. I've heard of a few people who have never shown up to a class and they're still somehow enrolled on the course. I guess it's not in the university's financial interest to kick them out. Also, a lot of students don't even do the reading or participate in seminars. It makes classes really awkward and the vibe is that people who do the reading feel pressured to speak loads. It's definitely not the most academically challenging environment to be in. But if you're more interested in learning practical skills like animation/photography the facilities seem to be really good for that.

3) On the positive, the social side has been quite good, especially if you live in halls. There's lots to do here and it's more well connected than say, Warwick. You just need to consider if the social side balances out the questionable uni experience.

Based on those points, I'm not sure about the longevity of the prestige of this degree to be honest. I'd still consider it if you're more interested in practical skills - but I can't promise they wont be heavily affected by strikes if you choose this uni anyways. My advice is to keep your options open and look around. If you're looking for other universities to study media in London I've heard LCC is pretty good. These are just my thoughts though. Let me know if you've got any more questions

hi! Thank you for this reply it's really detailed and useful. I went to the applicant day at Goldsmiths and I really liked it but I'm still keeping my options open until I hear back from every uni

I'm a first year and personally I wouldn't recommend it so far. I'm trying my hardest to like it for my own sake but it's hard haha. I've spoken to both a current third year and an alumnus who graduated from the course around 5 years ago and the quality seems to have gone down a lot since then.

1) Strikes. For the first two terms (24 weeks total) there have been 5 weeks of strikes. That's over 20% of the money we have paid to be taught for these terms down the drain - thousands of pounds. The university staff have suggested we could get our money back but at the end of the day we're on our own to sort all this out. FYI neither the third year or alumnus I spoke to know of anyone from their time studying here who was able to actually get this money back. Sadly, strikes seem to be a long term issue for this university that has disrupted students over the last decade. The staff encourages (even guilt trips) us into showing solidarity which is cool if that's your thing. Personally, I grinded my A Levels and saved my money to be here to get the education I was told I would get.

2) The course content I have had so far is really interesting. There's a lot of emphasis on practical skills so far if that appeals to you. The issue is there doesn't seem to be much quality control of who gets admitted into the course. I've heard of a few people who have never shown up to a class and they're still somehow enrolled on the course. I guess it's not in the university's financial interest to kick them out. Also, a lot of students don't even do the reading or participate in seminars. It makes classes really awkward and the vibe is that people who do the reading feel pressured to speak loads. It's definitely not the most academically challenging environment to be in. But if you're more interested in learning practical skills like animation/photography the facilities seem to be really good for that.

3) On the positive, the social side has been quite good, especially if you live in halls. There's lots to do here and it's more well connected than say, Warwick. You just need to consider if the social side balances out the questionable uni experience.

Based on those points, I'm not sure about the longevity of the prestige of this degree to be honest. I'd still consider it if you're more interested in practical skills - but I can't promise they wont be heavily affected by strikes if you choose this uni anyways. My advice is to keep your options open and look around. If you're looking for other universities to study media in London I've heard LCC is pretty good. These are just my thoughts though. Let me know if you've got any more questions

I'm a first year and personally I wouldn't recommend it so far. I'm trying my hardest to like it for my own sake but it's hard haha. I've spoken to both a current third year and an alumnus who graduated from the course around 5 years ago and the quality seems to have gone down a lot since then.

1) Strikes. For the first two terms (24 weeks total) there have been 5 weeks of strikes. That's over 20% of the money we have paid to be taught for these terms down the drain - thousands of pounds. The university staff have suggested we could get our money back but at the end of the day we're on our own to sort all this out. FYI neither the third year or alumnus I spoke to know of anyone from their time studying here who was able to actually get this money back. Sadly, strikes seem to be a long term issue for this university that has disrupted students over the last decade. The staff encourages (even guilt trips) us into showing solidarity which is cool if that's your thing. Personally, I grinded my A Levels and saved my money to be here to get the education I was told I would get.

2) The course content I have had so far is really interesting. There's a lot of emphasis on practical skills so far if that appeals to you. The issue is there doesn't seem to be much quality control of who gets admitted into the course. I've heard of a few people who have never shown up to a class and they're still somehow enrolled on the course. I guess it's not in the university's financial interest to kick them out. Also, a lot of students don't even do the reading or participate in seminars. It makes classes really awkward and the vibe is that people who do the reading feel pressured to speak loads. It's definitely not the most academically challenging environment to be in. But if you're more interested in learning practical skills like animation/photography the facilities seem to be really good for that.

3) On the positive, the social side has been quite good, especially if you live in halls. There's lots to do here and it's more well connected than say, Warwick. You just need to consider if the social side balances out the questionable uni experience.

Based on those points, I'm not sure about the longevity of the prestige of this degree to be honest. I'd still consider it if you're more interested in practical skills - but I can't promise they wont be heavily affected by strikes if you choose this uni anyways. My advice is to keep your options open and look around. If you're looking for other universities to study media in London I've heard LCC is pretty good. These are just my thoughts though. Let me know if you've got any more questions