Current UCL students&#x27; chat thread!

Guys, you are making me scared. I'm getting worried about my year abroad :frown:

Reply 1981

OP

Original post by Ivanka

Guys, you are making me scared. I'm getting worried about my year abroad :frown:

Worry about SELCS more ffs. Shambles ever since it started.

Reply 1982

ily_em

17

Original post by rockrunride

Worry about SELCS more ffs. Shambles ever since it started.

I experienced that this year trying to sign up for a module with them :frown:

Reply 1983

Original post by Ivanka

Guys, you are making me scared. I'm getting worried about my year abroad :frown:

Are you in SELCS? If you are, you're probably used to it already. To be honest, the disorganisation this year is nothing out of the usual compared to the norm. It's just more frustrating because I'm kind of alone at my foreign uni (there are other UCL students there but I don't know them too well) so I have to get all my info from people via facebook haha.

The Year Abroad itself is great. If SELCS would just write a line on the website clarifying the policy on failing exams, there would be no issue at all. :angry:

Original post by rockrunride

They're under the assumption that I didn't turn up to various exams in Avignon.

I've said I have. What more is there to discuss?

You'd think nothing, but this is SELCS. I know here in Milan I get a 'certificate' showing what courses I took and whether I passed or not. Does Avignon not have something similar?

Reply 1984

Original post by Lizia

Are you in SELCS? If you are, you're probably used to it already. To be honest, the disorganisation this year is nothing out of the usual compared to the norm. It's just more frustrating because I'm kind of alone at my foreign uni (there are other UCL students there but I don't know them too well) so I have to get all my info from people via facebook haha.

The Year Abroad itself is great. If SELCS would just write a line on the website clarifying the policy on failing exams, there would be no issue at all. :angry:

You'd think nothing, but this is SELCS. I know here in Milan I get a 'certificate' showing what courses I took and whether I passed or not. Does Avignon not have something similar?

I'm considering something else, but I guess my options are restricted. Those doing Language and Culture are not eligible for internships and to qualify for a language assistantship, you need to have a native-speaker level of English (not sure how to interpret this... Do I need to be a native speaker or may I just speak flawless English?). I'm actually contemplating doing Czech language assistantship (there are Czech ex-pats in Madrid and the language tuition is supported by our government), but negotitating this would take loads of time and I even have noc lue whether I'd be successful with that...

I got from a line on the SELCS page you can fail a module (or more?), you just need to consistenly demonstrate good work (or something along those lines), but neither do I have an idea what that exactly means.

Reply 1985

OP

Original post by Lizia

You'd think nothing, but this is SELCS. I know here in Milan I get a 'certificate' showing what courses I took and whether I passed or not. Does Avignon not have something similar?

Yeah, there's 9 units missing from the transcript and they want to know where they are. It's a valid question to ask of me, but the whole guilty until proven innocent tone really got to me, especially as I've got a lot else on my plate at the moment.

Reply 1986

Original post by Ivanka

I'm considering something else, but I guess my options are restricted. Those doing Language and Culture are not eligible for internships and to qualify for a language assistantship, you need to have a native-speaker level of English (not sure how to interpret this... Do I need to be a native speaker or may I just speak flawless English?). I'm actually contemplating doing Czech language assistantship (there are Czech ex-pats in Madrid and the language tuition is supported by our government), but negotitating this would take loads of time and I even have noc lue whether I'd be successful with that...

I got from a line on the SELCS page you can fail a module (or more?), you just need to consistenly demonstrate good work (or something along those lines), but neither do I have an idea what that exactly means.

I don't know for sure, but I think you just need flawless English, you don't actually need to technically be a native speaker. Were you educated in the UK though, I thought that was a key requisite because you're kind of an ambassador for British culture too?

Could you link to the page/quote where you read that please? It seems like simply attending the lectures and trying your best in the exams is enough, since people are failing and nothing seems to be happening!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1987

Original post by Lizia

I don't know for sure, but I think you just need flawless English, you don't actually need to technically be a native speaker. Were you educated in the UK though, I thought that was a key requisite because you're kind of an ambassador for British culture too?

Could you link to the page/quote where you read that please? It seems like simply attending the lectures and trying your best in the exams is enough, since people are failing and nothing seems to be happening!

Yeah. Certain people in the department are just unnecessarily rude. Hope you get it sorted, not sure what they can even do if you say you were there and they can't prove otherwise!

No, unfortunately, I've been educated (and lived) in the Czech Republic until recently... So maybe this option is ruled out.

I had a look at this link: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/selcs/undergraduate/info-for-second-years/ya-assessment/assessment-and-requirements, but it seems that either I misread it (well, depends how you interpret the word "satisfactorily"), or someone's modified the page. Whatever's happened, it seems even unclear to me.

Reply 1988

Original post by Ivanka

No, unfortunately, I've been educated (and lived) in the Czech Republic until recently... So maybe this option is ruled out.

I had a look at this link: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/selcs/undergraduate/info-for-second-years/ya-assessment/assessment-and-requirements, but it seems that either I misread it (well, depends how you interpret the word "satisfactorily"), or someone's modified the page. Whatever's happened, it seems even unclear to me.

I'd double check, but I think I did read on the British Council page that the British schooling was a requisite. But university abroad really isn't that bad, everyone else I know is loving it :smile:

And yep, this "complete courses satisfactorily" and "successfully complete 45 credits" is what confuses all of us. 'Satisfactorily' seems to suggest we don't have to pass, but 'successfully' possibly implies we do. It seems harsh to expect us to pass though, when the Italian system allows students to retake an exam up to 10 times (seriously) which would suggest that even Italians fail on a regular basis, nevermind erasmus.

Reply 1989

Anyone know when UCL bursaries come in?

Reply 1990

OP

Soon hopefully. I've pissed too much money away this week!

Reply 1991

Don't have the same feeling like me that kind of a lot of people at UCL drop out? I've personally got to know those that do and also know from others even more... I don't know how it's in higher years, but it's not uncommon among Freshers...

Reply 1992

gumball

13

Original post by Ivanka

Don't have the same feeling like me that kind of a lot of people at UCL drop out? I've personally got to know those that do and also know from others even more... I don't know how it's in higher years, but it's not uncommon among Freshers...

It's like that at any University though. Some people just can't adapt to living on their own, and for others Uni just isn't for them.

Reply 1993

I didn't notice an unreasonably high number of people dropping out. But it's true you get dropouts everywhere, some people just can't hack uni/chose the wrong uni/chose the wrong course.

Reply 1994

littleshambles

14

I wouldn't say anything about it until I got statistics for it. Dropout rates are far higher at other universities lower down on the league tables etc though.

I know quite a few students who dropped out - Russian is pretty intense - but many of them just repeat a year or interrupt. I doubt that will show up in basic stats for any uni.

Reply 1995

OP

Made friends with one fellow that overworked himself in a part-time job. In first year, he texted me the night before an essay was due to see if I was up for some Fifa as a break. When I got up to his room, he told me he hadn't started it!

Reply 1996

kerily

15

Original post by TheAngryMongoose

Should come to Max Rayne. We got two unisex toilets in a corridor, with added features. One will send it's intake back out at you, so you don't have you worry about losing it down the drain, and the other one has collapsed so many times it's using bent pieces of door to bolt it to the wall, and a piece of string tied round a curtain hook in place of a lock.

My best friend already lives in Max Rayne, so I've had the Max Rayne experience more times than I care to mention...

I'm pissed as hell at the moment, because the rich knobs I live with (I live in Frances Gardner, it's £190 a week unless you get DSA, I'm allowed to call them that :tongue:

) have blocked our sink to **** with rice and mushrooms and chicken. We got a company in to clean it out and they didn't charge us, but apparently if it happens again, we ALL have to pay. I'm not paying for someone else's mess. :colonhash:

Reply 1997

Original post by kerily

My best friend already lives in Max Rayne, so I've had the Max Rayne experience more times than I care to mention...

I'm pissed as hell at the moment, because the rich knobs I live with (I live in Frances Gardner, it's £190 a week unless you get DSA, I'm allowed to call them that :tongue:

) have blocked our sink to **** with rice and mushrooms and chicken. We got a company in to clean it out and they didn't charge us, but apparently if it happens again, we ALL have to pay. I'm not paying for someone else's mess. :colonhash:

Poor you

At Nutford House, we had a similar problem with certain showers that were also blocked with something and there used to be mess around. Very disgusting and no one reported it for a few months, so I decided to speak up and now it seems OK. Hopefully. If I find myself in another massive flood again, I'll give up having showers and will go swimming in Thames instead :emo:

Reply 1998

Inner Poise

Original post by kerily

My best friend already lives in Max Rayne, so I've had the Max Rayne experience more times than I care to mention...

I'm pissed as hell at the moment, because the rich knobs I live with (I live in Frances Gardner, it's £190 a week unless you get DSA, I'm allowed to call them that :tongue:

) have blocked our sink to **** with rice and mushrooms and chicken. We got a company in to clean it out and they didn't charge us, but apparently if it happens again, we ALL have to pay. I'm not paying for someone else's mess. :colonhash:

Happened in my flat. Wasn't very happy, but no one seems as concerned as me about the generally messy state of the kitchen ... luckily it got sorted out, nothing mentioned to me about cost though :s-smilie:

Reply 1999