Hows UCL

Heyy,
I just got an offer from UCL (post Oxbridge rejection lmao) and I am so excited but weirdly enough despite it being such a popular uni, I haven't found much useful information on how the uni is. I'm thinking of putting it as my firm even if I do get my other top choice (Bath) but I want to make sure I'm making the right decision. Any current UCL students who would like to share how UCL is?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

It would probably help if you had more specific questions and/or noted what course you are actually applying to?

University College London

London

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post by artful_lounger

It would probably help if you had more specific questions and/or noted what course you are actually applying to?

Thats true mb lol. I applied for Biochemical Engineering. I was mainly wondering about accomodation, student life, how academic it is, how many international students, also is it possible to live affordable life there

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous

Well I'm in a different department (humanities) and a commuter student so hard to advise on some of those things for me. In terms of "how academic it is" I'd say fairly - even for my "easier" module the workload is reasonable, certainly more than previous unis I've been at. They set a brisk pace for the material and it only seems to get faster, so falling behind very quickly becomes an issue - I missed two sessions due to being ill and then trains not running and even with reading week it took quite a while to have the time to fully catch up and I'm still a bit on shaky ground in that module honestly.

For affordability since I don't live in London it's a bit hard to give too much advice but even commuting is very expensive for me, if you live in London then inevitably after first year you'll be living in private accommodation further out in London and getting the tube every day and the tap in costs add up. Also things are just more expensive in London in general. A silly example but that illustrates this well: if I buy a Boots meal deal in my city before commuting into London, it costs £1 less than if I buy it in London!

In terms of how many international students, I think a fair number overall but also plenty of domestic students. Quite a lot of "local" London students I think particularly too. That said I could imagine engineering might have a higher proportion of international students perhaps?

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

London is just too expensive for everything, Bath is a very good choice!

Reply 5

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous #1

I think I’ll firm biochemical engineering at UCL too!

Reply 6

TWaynefromthe9

Original post by Anonymous #3

I think I’ll firm biochemical engineering at UCL too!

When did u get your offer, where in the uk are u from? I also applied for that course hoping I get in.

Reply 7

TWaynefromthe9

Original post by Anonymous #3

I think I’ll firm biochemical engineering at UCL too!

What were ur predicteds?

Reply 8

Anonymous #3

Original post by TWaynefromthe9

When did u get your offer, where in the uk are u from? I also applied for that course hoping I get in.

I got my offer in November and I live around London. Predicted 3 A* (maths bio chem)!

Reply 9

Anonymous #4

I got an MRes from UCL (faculty of Medicine) and the vibe was bad. 90% of my course were international students who did not want to integrate and only sticked together. The lectures kept changing every week as most of them were industrial partners who got invited to throw a lecture. Because of that their power point presentations were bad. I enjoyed my ordinary uni more when I did my bachelor’s than my masters at UCL.

Reply 10

BubblesBB

Original post by Anonymous #1

Hi, you can use UniBuddy to connect to UCL Student Ambassadors. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-physics-biomedical-engineering/study/student-experience/chat-our-students

There are a lot of international students in London. Not just at UCL. I mix with friends from my old school as well as new friends from UCL. Socially, if you make the effort to get to know people, you will have new friends in your student accommodation, classes, clubs, societies, etc. There is a lot to do in London. The key constraint has got to be money. So be financially prudent and save when you can save. Give yourself a treat when you have saved enough. Just know what everyone has different budgets and so you will need to navigate your way around social circles before you finally find your village. London is expensive but truly manageable if you don't feel like you need to party every weekend! After tuition fees and accommodation is taken care of, weekly groceries can be kept to about £50. Each time you eat out, it will be additional to this base amount. If you live close enough to UCL, you can walk. If you have to commute, it's again additional cost.

Accommodation - should you decide to firm UCL, watch for when you can register an account to make your accommodation selection. Make your selections and hope for the best. One of my friends (despite being in first year and is international) has been allocated quite far away from Bloomsbury. Allocation can be quite random!

How academic - I think the current students in BioChem Engrg should be the best people to ask.