Goldsmiths College, University of London

London

Is Goldsmiths a respected university?

And is is just as good as Queen Marys?
I want to study psychology but I also want to know the university's reputation :smile:

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Reply 1

Victor-PP

Not really.

Goldsmiths College, University of London

London

Reply 2

cl_steele

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/queen-mary/student-reviews
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/goldsmiths/student-reviews
i personally think QM is better but goldsmiths certainly isnt too bad =]

Reply 3

FranticMind

Its not considered bad, but it isn't considered prestigious either. It is a good university from what I've heard though, better than some.

Reply 4

MRANovi

If you're worried about reputation then Goldsmiths isn't for you. Not that it doesn't have a good reputation its just that no one at Goldsmiths really cares about reputation, people are just there to do what they love. I know several people that rejected places at 'respected' university like Kings to come to Goldsmiths.

Reply 5

kaosu_souzousha

They have gold in there

Reply 6

akmd

As a Goldsmiths graduate, I'd say it has a decent reputation. It's arguably a bit less regarded than Queen Mary but there's hardly a big gap between the two. The main difference is that QM is more of a multi-faculty university than Goldsmiths, which is really an arts and social sciences institution. If that's what you want to do, then I think you'll find it an enjoyable and rewarding place to study particularly if you're interested in art, media, anthropology, drama, sociology, english and music.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

mc1000

QMUL is ranked 11th for research; in this regard it's a better university than certain traditional Universities such as Durham and KCL, and is certainly considerably better than Goldsmiths.

Goldsmiths definitely is not a bad university, though. Hell, it's in the 1994 group. But it's not in the same league as Queen Mary.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

Hollayy

I don't really know much about the other courses apart from the fine art course. Art at Goldsmiths is pretty prestigious having spewed out a lot of successful artists, but other than that I think it's a pretty good uni to be at but there are probably better ones out there too.

Reply 9

chazbc4

I rejected Edinburgh University for Goldsmiths and so glad I did. It's purely an arts and social-sciences university, which therefore means that it's highly respected in the creative industry. Of course, it's best known for its sociology, anthropology, design and fine arts courses, but the creativeness of all Goldsmiths courses makes them all outstanding in my opinion. For psychology it's meant to be really good too, from what I'm aware.

Reply 10

ikz94

Original post by chazbc4

Yh goldsmiths got one of the best facuties for psychology hoping to apply there next year for BsC Psychology :biggrin:

Reply 11

kan777

Someone doing Design at Goldsmiths?

Reply 12

Welfare&Diversity

Goldsmiths is a very well respected university in the subjects it does. Although obviously as a recent graduate I'm a bit biased, but I would really urge people to look beyond the rankings, Goldsmiths has some really amazing courses and lecturers - some of the best in their fields. Its really important to look at the types of courses, the ways courses are examined, the facilities available etc, not just figures in papers. If you are in a job interview as a graduate they may "judge" the institution, but if you have had an amazing time at uni and enjoyed and taken a lot from your course you will come across a lot better than someone who went to a highly ranked institution but found their course boring and didn't really like the location.

Reply 13

brightontine

I studied at Design at Goldsmiths and graduated in 2004.
My first hand experience is that Goldsmiths does have a good reputation. The Design course is very well respected and when I've mentioned over the years to colleagues and potential employers that I studied design there, the overall impression is very good.

Which brings me to my point - you should be looking into the reputation of the particular course you intend to apply for. People in your industry will know which are the good courses in their field. Goldsmiths is a creative uni so for instance, Design and Art have very good reputations but Maths probably doesn't so much.

Goldsmiths was amazing - i'd do it all again if I could :0)

Reply 14

ppapanastasiou

Original post by mc1000

The 1994 Group completely dissolved in November 2013. See link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Group

Nevertheless, I would say that Goldsmiths has a solid reputation especially in the subjects which it specializes, like arts, drama, anthropology, sociology etc. Also it is part of the university of London (UoL) which means it is a research intensive university unlike most ex-polytechnics. Members of the UoL are Queen Mary, LSE, SOAS and recently City university also joined the University of London. See Link: http://www.london.ac.uk/5719.html?&no_cache=1&sword_list%5B%5D=university

Reply 15

marilenaZep

@brightontine hiya! Ive just applied to BA Design at Goldsmiths but I am not sure if Fine Art is better for me, as I enjoy painting the most. Could you tell me a little bit about the course? is there self directed studio time as well? and are there people that teach you paintings skills and techniques or is that only relevant in Fine art courses?thank you !

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 16

PsychoD

Original post by ikz94

Yh goldsmiths got one of the best facuties for psychology hoping to apply there next year for BsC Psychology :biggrin:

Can pigs fly yet?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 17

Feange

anthropology at goldsmith?

Reply 18

Krzysz

I rejected an offer from King's London to do a post-graduate research degree in Music, in favour of Goldsmiths two years ago. Haven't regretted it at all.

Reply 19

droppingin

Goldsmiths' is renowned and respected globally because of its unique character and famous alumni who include Lucian Freud, Oscar-winning film director Steve McQueen, Mary Quant, Damien Hirst, and most former Turner Prize winners or nominees. I can say that as someone who has travelled around the world and has yet to speak to anyone who has not heard of the college.

There are also dozens of successful former students in creative industries (and particularly journalism and the television - recent examples might include someone like ITV/ITN/NBC news correspondent, Keir Simmons).

Goldsmiths' graduates aren't known for caring about university rankings but are known for having a social conscience and contributing to a fairer world.

Indeed, the college's success arguably even exposes the flaws of university rankings - The Times ranking, for example, doesn't compensate for Goldsmiths' open door entry policy for mature students from the local South-East London community, which will always reduce the number of graduates receiving the highest grades and have an impact on the ranking.

Who cares? Aren't universities supposed to engage with their local community and offer access to education?

My advice to anyone considering Goldsmiths' would be to go for it (assuming you can get in - it was competitive even in my time and I'd be surprised if it's any easier now!) After 3 lovely years there, I ended up having the career of my dreams (which was unconventional but still resulted in me becoming the CEO of a major multinational company), so it's probably fair to say going there's looks good on any CV...

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