|
|
Join The Student Room TodayBe part of the UK's largest and fastest growing student community. It's free to join and a lot of fun - Get inspired, express your ideas, interact and share Kings College LondonFrom The Student Room(Redirected from King's College London)
TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > King's College London
 King's College London (KCL) is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London. It was founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829 as a university college in the tradition of the Church of England. It now welcomes staff and students of all faiths and beliefs. Today it has 14,750 undergraduate students and some 7,005 postgraduates in nine schools of study. The staff and alumni of King's and its constituent institutions made major contributions to 19th-century science, medicine and public life in general. In the 20th century eight people from these institutions were awarded the Nobel Prize.   The Student Union is one of the oldest in the country and the oldest in the University of London, and a KCLSU President was also the first ever president of the NUS (Sir Iveson Macadam). Famous People from King's:
King's College London is also the 24th best university in the world (Times 2007). FacilitiesLibrariesKing's College's main library, the Maughan Library is located on Chancery Lane, about a five minute walk from the Strand Campus. It is home to the American studies, Australian studies, Byzantine & modern Greek, classics, cultural & creative industries, digital culture & technology, English, European studies, film studies, French, geography, German, history, linguistics, music, philosophy, Portuguese & Brazilian studies, Spanish & Spanish-American studies, theology & religious studies, war studies, law (including the Institute of Taxation's Tony Arnold Library), medical ethics, computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics collections. The Circle room, at Maughan library was used in the Da Vinci Code and Derren Brown: Trick or Treat, amongst other programmes. Extensive and specialised library collections also exist at King's other sites (Guy's, St. Thomas, Denmark Hill and Waterloo). Guy's Campus has two libraries, one in New Hunt's House and one in the Hodgkin Building. The one in the Hodgkin Building is open 24 hours a day, though the one in NHH is only open until 9pm. The NHH library is, however, open 24 hours a day during the exam period. IT and ComputingSportsKCL has a wide range of Sports clubs. Four sports grounds New Malden and Cobham in Surrey and Dulwich and Honor Oak Park in south London cater for hockey, football, rugby, cricket, tennis and netball. Rowing takes place on the river Thames by Chiswick Bridge, 800m from the University of London boathouse. The nearest station is Mortlake. The Strand has rifle ranges and Guy's Campus has a swimming pool and gym. There is a KCLSU gym at Waterloo campus just round the corner from Stamford Street Apartments. For more information on Sports at King's, visit www.kclsu.org
WelfareHealthcareThe King's College Health Centre is located on the third floor of the Macadam Building (student union building) on Surrey street. Any King's student can register there and receive treatment from any of their several doctors and nurses. The health centre won the “Quality Practice Award” from the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2006. There is a walk-in clinic every weekday from 11:30 to 14:00. You can also, of course, make an appointment. They also host a sexual health clinic every Friday from 9:00 to 11:00 (although an appointment for a sexual health checkup can be made anytime). There is also a free counselling service. ShopsThere are student union shops in the Strand, Waterloo, and Guys campuses. There, you can buy snacks, drinks, stationery, college merchandise, and other miscellaneous items. At Guy's campus, the shop is also where you go to buy event tickets, to join clubs and societies, and to get your TFL form stamped. You can also apply to work part-time at any of the shops. At the Strand, there is also a Blackwell's bookshop, Endsleigh Insurance, and a Natwest branch. There is also a Blackwell's on Guy's Campus. RestaurantsThere are two restuarants located at the Strand campus: Chapters, in the main building, and the Terrazza, in the student union building. There is a restaurant on the ground level of the Henriette Raphael building on Guy's Campus. There is also a café inside New Hunt's House, also on Guy's Campus. BanksThere is a Natwest on the first floor of the Macadam Building on Strand Campus. There is a Natwest cash point at Guy's campus. Alternatively, you can take a very short walk to Borough High Street where there are many cash points for many different banks available. TransportThe Strand Campus's nearest tube is Temple, but it is also walkable from Covent Garden, Holborn, Charing Cross or Waterloo. It is likely that you would only walk from Waterloo after getting off of a train that got into Waterloo station, as there are certainly much closer Underground stations than Waterloo. Aldwych is a central point and is served by a multitude of buses - see www.tfl.gov.uk Including: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 59, 68, 76, 87, 91, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, RV1. Guy's Campus's nearest tube/rail is London Bridge, but it is also walkable from Bank/Monument and Borough. Buses include: 17, 21, 35, 40, 43, 47, 48, 133, 141, 149, 343, 381, 521, RV1. St Thomas' Hospital can be reached through a free shuttle bus that leaves from Guy's Campus every half an hour (and every 15 minutes during peak time, which seems to be from 5-6pm). The trip takes 15 minutes. Anyone can use this bus - you don't have to be medical students. King's College Hospital can be reached by bus (the number 40) or by train (Denmark Hill). As of 2nd June 2008, there is a new shuttle bus service to King's College Hospital from Guy's and St Thomas campuses which runs every 30 minutes from each site. Waterloo Campus's nearest tube/rail is Waterloo. There are regular buses from Waterloo campus to London Bridge, and alternatively you could also walk to St Thomas' Hospital to use the free shuttle bus if you want to avoid paying 90p (this assumes you don't have a Travelcard). www.tfl.gov.uk answers any transport questions you might have. Careers servicePart-time jobsPart-time jobs are available through the student union. You can work in one of the retail shops, at reception, or at one of the bars. Hours are very flexible. You can get an application on kclsu.org. Religous facilitiesAt Guy's campus there is a chapel on the 1st floor of the Henriette Raphael building. There is also a chapel on Strand campus. King's College Discussions
SocialBars, Pubs and clubsAs the name suggests, the Waterfront is a gorgeous, recently refurbished bar that overlooks the Thames. It is in the Macadam Building, on the 2nd floor. They also sell coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and snacks (such as nachos and curly fries. I really recommend these). Guy's Bar is in the basement of Boland House at Guy's Campus, which was also recently refurbished (and from the sounds of things it was fairly grotty beforehand). Guy's Bar also sells coffee, pastries, sandwiches, paninis, snacks, and if you're really lucky, absolutely gorgeous chocolate cake. Guy's Bar normally shuts at 11pm. However, on Sports Night (Wednesday nights), it's open until 1am. I believe this is the same for the Waterfront, but I'm not sure. Tutu's is a club located on the fourth floor of the Macadam Building. The club for Guy's Campus is Inverse, and it lies opposite to Guy's Bar in the basement of Boland House. EventsThere are several regular club nights, the most popular, arguably, being Phase which is hosted at Tutu's at the Strand every Friday. Tickets cost 6 pounds. Phase features "pop, chart, cheez and Phase classics." For those into "UK garage, hip hop, r'n'b, swing, bhangra," is Fuse, which is hosted at Tutu's on sporadic Thursdays. There are also many bands (some very well-known) that play at King's. 4th floor is an indie night which occurs on Saturdays at Tutu's. Truffle Shuffle is an 80s night which occurs on sporadic Thursdays at Inverse on Guy's Campus. Inverse is also used after the Christmas Show and Sports Hop (Sports Hops occur in Fresher's Week and Rag Week). Clubs and societiesKCL Dance Society: One of the largest most successful societies at KCL, Dance Soc is a great place to meet loads of new people. We offer a variety of dance styles, including street jazz, salsa, ballet, ballroom, and hip hop. In the second term we rehearse and perform our sell out dance show. We have regular socials including the amazing Christmas and aftershow parties! Check out the website for more details. KCL Dance Soc AccommodationAccommodation policyMost students will only receive university accommodation for one year (generally, their first). Priority is given to international students and students living outside the M25. FacilitiesResidencesThere are seven halls of residence at King's. They are: Great Dover Street ApartmentsLocated off of Borough High Street, within easy walking distance from Guys Campus, Great Dover Street Apartments boasts 769 en-suite rooms within 113 apartments arranged around a courtyard. It is a self-catering accommodation. GDSA has 10 blocks. Blocks 9 and 10 have bigger rooms than Blocks 1-8 and are also off the main alarm circuit. Thus when alarms go off in blocks 1-8, blocks 9 and 10 are left in peace. Bikes are kept in a room on the ground floor in each block. There are stands to padlock the bikes to. Security is high at GDSA. To get to their room, a student must use a swipe card to get into the foyer, a swipe card to leave it to get to the courtyard, a swipe card to get into their actual block, a key to get into their apartment, and then a key to get into their actual room. Despite this, it's fairly easy to smuggle visitors in. This is not true at Stamford Street. (Smuggling visitors in, not the high security) Stamford Street ApartmentsUndoubtedly the most convenient residence for students at the Strand and Waterloo campuses, Stamford Street Apartments is located just a couple of minutes' walk from Waterloo Station. It is right across the street from Waterloo Campus and a 10-15 minute walk from the Strand. It has 548 en-suite single bedrooms within 89 apartments. It is arguably the most sought-after hall of residence at King's, closely followed by Great Dover Street Apartments. The RectoryBrian Creamer HouseLocated very near Lambeth Bridge, it is a self-catered hall for KCL students, a walk or cycle ride away from the Strand along the South Bank. Rooms do not have ensuite showers but all have washbasins, and showers are shared between only a few people. The advantages of a halls layout and shared kitchens make BCH particularly sociable. Wolfson HouseWolfson House is the closest accommodation to Guy's Campus. The rooms are not ensuite. The building is literally right next to the Greenwood Lecture Theatre, and so is ideal for anyone whose course uses this lecture theatre (ie medicine, biomedical sciences, neuroscience in their first year). Hampstead CampusFurther away than most halls, but easily accessible via Finchley Road / West Hampstead tube stations. Quieter but a very nice area, most people dread it going then miss it leaving. There are 7 accommodation buildings here, housing approximately 450 students. We have a wide range of facilities, including a bar - with a club downstairs - which has two pool tables, a dart board, a projector to show football games on, and many sofas and comfy chairs. I don't know all of the prices, but spirts with a mixer (eg Arches and lemonade, vodka and orange), are £1.40, and beer is £2. There's a couple of games rooms; one has a full size snooker table and a pool table, as well as two table tennis tables, and the other has just a table tennis table. Then we have Bay House...this has two TV rooms, two music practice rooms, and a "noise room". One TV room is Bay Lounge, and this is a really large room with a few sofas and a large range of videos (!) and DVDs. You can borrow the videos for free, and if you want to borrow the DVDs that's free too, but just requires a deposit o £10, which you get back on return of the DVDs. They have a PS3 and Wii that you can borrow too, although they are in the process of buying games for them at the moment. The other TV room is quite large, with a huge plasma TV with built in DVD player, as well as a freeview box and video player. There's about 20 comfy chairs in there, laid out like a cinema, so it's cool for watching films with your mates. The noise room is basically a room where you can go and make as much noise as you like. This is usually active in the AM hours, for when people get kicked out of the kitchen, or when you get back from a club but don't want to go to bed. You can take anything down there, like alcohol, food, or guitars, for example. There are a lot of comfortable chairs and a couple of sofas, and a table as well. There are also several plug sockets. We're very near to several bus stops, and the quickest way to get to campus is to catch the bus (any of the ones that run down Finchley Road - 13, 113, 82), which takes about 5 minutes, or about 2 when it's not rush hour, and then get off at Finchley Road Tube Station. You could also walk to Hampstead Tube Station. It then takes about 15 mins on the tube to get to Waterloo; about 17 to get to London Bridge, for Guy's Campus, and for Strand it takes about 13 mins to get to Westminster and then a further 5 mins to change and get to Temple Tube Station. All of the tube stations are a 2 minute walk to the relevant campuses. The good thing about London means that you can get to and back from anywhere, at any time. We have a 24 hour bus (the N13) which goes to the stop by Hampstead Campus, and goes through places like Oxford Street. But wherever you are, even if the N13 doesn't service that route, just ring TFL and they will tell you exactly which bus to get, and you can change for the N13. Anyone at Hampstead is able to hire a fridge, for as long as they want, for 50p a day. It's fairly big, has three shelves and a little freezer compartment. Reception: There are about 5 or 6 security guards, that sit at reception on rota. They collect all of your post and will keep for you any parcels that get delivered. To get this, you just need to go down to reception with your student card. They are generally really friendly, however they can get annoying at night. They often try and kick you out of the kitchen by about 12am, but this, it seems, is changing, and we may well now be allowed in there till whenever, as long as we're quiet. Maynard: This is the building that I am in. There are three floors, and each floor houses 24 students. The rooms are not that big, but they're not small either. They are square shaped, so there is a fair bit of floor space (as opposed to a long room) - enough to sleep about 5 mates anyway. Starting with the basics, in the room everybody gets: a bed, matress, matress cover, two sheets, duvet and duvet cover, large noticeboard, two shelves, desk with drawers, a wardrobe, (with long door mirror inside) a sink, a mirror above the sink, a towel rail a waste paper bin, a chair and a wierd hollow box thing, the same height as the desk...perhaps a bedside table? Or just a table with a storage area? I don't really know what it is, but my fridge is in mine, and it's next to my desk, so I use the top as an extension to my desk. With regards to the chair, people either get a comfortable chair for a desk chair, or a hard desk chair and an easy chair, although some people seem to have the comfortable chair and the easy chair. The top floor have sloped ceilings, which means that we have massive walk in wardrobes (I'd imagine this is because they couldn't fit a full height wardrobe under the slope), which goes back about six feet, and has a cupboard above it. So there's plently of storage space. Our accommodation was refurbished last year, so most of the other buildings are jealous of our luxury kitchens! We have a massive kitchen, allowing each student to have 2-3 cupboards each (with a place to have a padlock - which most people use), and a large fridge, large freezer and a fridge-freezer. This means people tend to get about 1 shelf each in the fridge and in the freezer. We also have two cookers (so 8 hobs in total), and two sinks. There's a couple of tables with 12 chairs, which seems strange for a kitchen on 24, but the only time we tend to have a problem is if we're all sat around there in the evening playing drinking games, in which case we need to grab a couple of chairs from people's rooms. The kitchen is looks really nice and modern too. It has white cupboards with chrome handles and the surfaces are all grey granite. There's always enough room when people want to cook, even if there's a lot of us cooking at once. We have shared bathrooms, consisting of a girls' and a boys' bathroom, and a communal one. Both the girls' and the boys' bathrooms have two toilet cubicles and three shower cubicles, and the communal one has two more toilet cubicles. As of yet, none of us have ever had to wait for a toilet or the shower. King's College HallKing's College Hall is situated close to King's College Hospital. Private sectorPrivately renting accomodation in London will generally cost from about £90 a week upwards, depending drastically on how far out and how big places are! The University of London Accomodation website has a database of landlords/landladies, but searching websites like Gumtree also brings up results. Remember to budget for bills and travel, and that if you're all students sharing, you don't have to pay council tax. Student unionThere are 2 main unions - Boland House at Guy's Campus and the Macadam Building at the Strand Campus Boland House: Guy's Bar, a lot of society facilities. Guy's Bar holds some club events. Guy's bar is the place to be on a Wednesday night - sport's night! Pint of snakebite is £1.50, and it's always fun! Stays open a bit later, and puts on a dancefloor and music later in the night. Serves hot and cold food for most of the day and night - the nachos on a good night are amazing, as are the curly fries. Non and alcoholic drinks served all the time. VERY convenient for Wolfson students, also GDS is less than 10min walk away and SSA is a short bus journey (381/ N381). Macadam Building (Main KCLSU): 6 floors - this building houses music practice rooms (B2) a large study area (B1), The Terazza Cafe (G), Blackwell's Bookshop, various financial services and a cash machine (1), The amazing Waterfront Bar, with panoramic river views (2), KCLSU health centre (3), Tutu's (club and gig venue) (4) and upstairs on the balcony of Tutu's, a shot bar. Tutu's hosts 2 weekly nights - Phase on Fridays (general pop/chart music), and 4th Floor on Saturdays (Indie). There is also a monthly 80s night called Truffle Shuffle (on occasional Thursdays), as well as other events, and public music gigs. PricesDrinks: Vodka + Mixer: £1.80 Double Vodka + Mixer: £2.80 Gin + Mixer: £2.05
Food: Large Sharing Platter of Chips/Curly Fries: £1.75 A Slice of Chocolate Cake: £1.10 EnvironmentArchitectureParticular interest: The Maughn Library in Chancery Lane, KCL Chapel. Local areaThe Strand Campus is located on Aldwych, a sort of oddly shaped roundabout connecting the Strand (going west towards Trafalgar Square), Kingsway (going North towards Euston), Fleet Street (going East towards the city) and Waterloo Bridge (going South to Waterloo and the South Bank). This places it just on the corner of Covent Garden, and theatreland. Going slightly north and west leads to Leicester Square and Soho, and a bit further to Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. These places are walkable in 10-15 minutes, going through Covent Garden. This places KCL in very close proximity to London's favourite shopping areas, markets, and tourist attractions such as monuments and art galleries, making it arguably the best located college in the University of London.
Applying to King's CollegeThinking of applying to King's College London? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other King's College ArticlesWhy not read these other King's College London Articles? Links |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|