Ask a Current UCL Student: The Official Thread

Hello! I was wondering if anyone could answer my question

Is London really that expensive in the way UCL makes it out to be? I mean, £12,000 is pretty steep for one year. That's their living cost budget for London at the cheap end. Is this exaggerated?

Thanks! Is there anything that makes you glad you went to UCL and not LSE, or would you have gone to LSE given the chance? If so, why?
Are the students at UCL really competitive? Are they study-all-the-time people or easy to get on with? Do you mix with students from other departments quite often? If so, when?
Also, during your A-levels, is there anything in particular that kept you motivated to work hard? For your A stars in math and economics, would you say there was anything else that got you those marks other than learning content and doing past papers? In math, did you only solve the book and past paper questions or look at questions from other books as well? And where did you get your writing style for economics - the way you write your essays with critical analysis and how you evaluate it? Did you just practice, or learn it from a book or a teacher? Were A levels very stressful for you and how did you manage your time and stop procrastinating?
Sorry if my questions are too much!

On average you will be spending around £8500 on accommodation alone with UCL. Reasonably, you'll spend about £30 on food and maybe an other £30 for entertainment stuff a week if you go out.

So overall, that's £10,300 minimum. I'd say realistically, you'll be spending about £12-14,000 because let's face it, unless you're really strict with your budget, there will be days when you splash out on entertainment, clothes, events, food etc.

Whats the atmosphere like for international students? (Also, i'm in for Postgrad so if anyone can comment directly on that atmosphere, it would be even more helpful.)

I think it's okay, there are many internationals at UCL and I've never come across xenophobia there - although I have had to fight some stereotypes and misconceptions (recently, a friend of mine was surprised to hear that not all the media in the Czech Republic are pro-Russian ).

Well, that takes a load off of my mind, so thanks for that!
How are job prospects for international students - are you guys hustling for work back home, staying to work in the UK? Is it easy/hard to get jobs?

Thanks for responding!

It depends. From the circle of my friends or acquaintances, I can speak of these cases:

- graduate in computer science, couldn't find a job in the UK, returned back to her home country and found a job quickly (she works in IT)
- graduate in economics, couldn't find job in the UK for like half a year, then did an internship at the embassy of her home country in Brazil, then got back to the UK and now works as a management consultant
- graduate in project management in construction, did an internship in the UK related to her degree, but now works as a waitress (also in the UK)

With regards to myself, I am applying for postgrad. However, if I don't get anywhere, I will head back to my home country to work, although I'm willing to live elsewhere as well (albeit not in the UK - at least for a few years).

So far, I have been headhunted twice - once from a friend that was searching for someone that could work for a think tank he had been involved with, I think, but I couldn't accept that, because, as I said, I don't know where I'll be in a few months' time. The other time it was from my friend working in Brussels, because he was looking for someone knowing languages, but my problem is that I still study, so I can't move nor work full time (and Brussels is not a very nice city, in my opinion ). Both of these friends come from the Czech Republic.

Careers Office's advice is to network or find work experience in a country you want to work in, because then finding a job or being headhunted through someone living there will be easier. And it's always better to stand out from the crowd, to have a speciality, so people will remember you and contact you if they need someone like you.

How good is the career office for UCL? Ideally i'd love to go back to America after I graduate, I wouldn't have a problem in remaining in London for a few years either though... I've been accepted for a MSc. Public Policy, and I'm just wondering if it'll be realistic for me to get a job/internship in a think-tank or something while there. I know that the LSE reputation for policy is better and more established than UCL, but UCL appeals to me because it's MPP can be a very quant heavy subject, versus a managerial focus for the program at LSE.

It's reasonably good, they organise a lot of events, they run mock itnerviews, look at your CVs and there's a library as well.

There is a list of other case studies, so you may have a look to know what to expect: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/specialistsupport/gradclub/jobhunting-casestudies.

Will it make a difference if I apply for accommodation now or closer to the deadline? Or do they start giving out accommodation before the deadline?

everyone gets their accommodation the same time - i think it's the last two weeks of august , so just make sure you don't miss the deadline.

they don't start allocations until results have come in and people have confirmed their place