The Student Room Group

How prestigious is the University of London?

And its constituent colleges by the likes of:

LSE, UCL, SOAS, QMUL, RHUL, KCL

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
Avatar for Hanover
Hanover
6
Original post by adamsmithqm
And its constituent colleges by the likes of:

LSE, UCL, SOAS, QMUL, RHUL, KCL


1st Top+++: LSE/UCL/KCL

2nd QMUL



3rd RHUL
Original post by Hanover
1st Top+++: LSE/UCL/KCL

2nd QMUL





3rd RHUL


cool
(edited 9 years ago)
just go HEC paris after for a masters and your fine
Reply 4
Avatar for jelly1000
jelly1000
21
Original post by adamsmithqm
And its constituent colleges by the likes of:

LSE, UCL, SOAS, QMUL, RHUL, KCL


Certainly in the UK the constituent colleges you have listed are more well known than the University of London itself, I think because of the amount of autonomy they have and also the fact that here in the UK we don't call universities colleges so people often forget that the colleges aren't universities in their own right.
So basically people go by the college not the university
In order therefore LSE & UCL are seen as very prestigious, the best after Oxbridge. Kings fairly prestigious, then QMUL and SOAS- good universities still and SOAS the place to go if you want to study on the Middle East/Africa and don't mind the left wing atmosphere
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 5
Avatar for Hanover
Hanover
6
Original post by adamsmithqm
what about SOAS? It's better ranked than QMUL every year.


Sorr, forgot that. SOAS is ranked higher than QMUL, but I still believe that QMUL is better in general, SOAS is more focussed on Oriental/African Studies etc.
Reply 6
Avatar for StarkRob
StarkRob
Original post by Hanover
Sorr, forgot that. SOAS is ranked higher than QMUL, but I still believe that QMUL is better in general, SOAS is more focussed on Oriental/African Studies etc.



I personally think SOAS is better. QMUL is really only now starting to pick up a bit of a reputation since joining the Russell Group and it is only really very good for Law, Medicine and a couple of other courses. SOAS on the other hand has an established reputation of being a Top 25. Either way the difference is negligible though. They are both great Universities.
Reply 7
Avatar for Hanover
Hanover
6
Original post by StarkRob
I personally think SOAS is better. QMUL is really only now starting to pick up a bit of a reputation since joining the Russell Group and it is only really very good for Law, Medicine and a couple of other courses. SOAS on the other hand has an established reputation of being a Top 25. Either way the difference is negligible though. They are both great Universities.


Yeah I know, but it's kinda difficult to compare both unversities since SOAS merely offers a handful of degrees/courses, while QMUL has significantly more. It's also good in Finance/Economics. For some Geography/Law/Medicine courses, QMUL is even on the same level as Oxford. So as a university with a more comprehensive offer of courses, QMUL has a better reputation in my opinion
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 8
Avatar for Jamerson
Jamerson
9
Imperial, UCL > KCL, SOAS

by far. Unless of course we look at it on a subject-specific basis. Eg. KCL is in the top 5 for religious studies, whilst Imperial and UCL offer no comparable course.
Original post by StarkRob
I personally think SOAS is better. QMUL is really only now starting to pick up a bit of a reputation since joining the Russell Group and it is only really very good for Law, Medicine and a couple of other courses. SOAS on the other hand has an established reputation of being a Top 25. Either way the difference is negligible though. They are both great Universities.


SOAS is awful. It used to be good.
Reply 10
Avatar for Clip
Clip
19
Original post by chocomalbom
SOAS is awful. It used to be good.


It's the profile of the students going there in the past few years. The union just went into meltdown. It's just not a pleasant place to be, and people visiting it sense that - those with an option will go elsewhere. Those who want to immerse themselves in that atmosphere go there - but that doesn't make them good students.
Reply 11
Avatar for StarkRob
StarkRob
Original post by Clip
It's the profile of the students going there in the past few years. The union just went into meltdown. It's just not a pleasant place to be, and people visiting it sense that - those with an option will go elsewhere. Those who want to immerse themselves in that atmosphere go there - but that doesn't make them good students.


Original post by chocomalbom
SOAS is awful. It used to be good.



Really? As far as I'm aware its definitely lower ranked than it was previously but that's due to funding cuts and they are rising again.

As for the students, well yes they are very politically active from what I hear.

I've spoken to a few SOAS students and from what I know it's still targeted but top firms with quite a few students getting training contracts with magic circle firms. That's for law though so I don't know about other courses.

I'm probably going to apply to SOAS next year. (currently on a gap year)
Reply 12
Avatar for Clip
Clip
19
Original post by StarkRob
Really? As far as I'm aware its definitely lower ranked than it was previously but that's due to funding cuts and they are rising again.

As for the students, well yes they are very politically active from what I hear.

I've spoken to a few SOAS students and from what I know it's still targeted but top firms with quite a few students getting training contracts with magic circle firms. That's for law though so I don't know about other courses.



I'm guessing here - but that could be because SOAS students are often multi-lingual, and LLB + Farsi/Mandarin/Arabic is what is attracting firms rather than the institution itself.

It just seems like a really miserable place. If you can't make some friends at UCL, you're going to have a really poo time. The SOAS union sucks, ULU is kind of filling the gap- but is nothing like what a proper union should be.
Reply 13
Avatar for ActusReus
ActusReus
8
Original post by Clip
I'm guessing here - but that could be because SOAS students are often multi-lingual, and LLB + Farsi/Mandarin/Arabic is what is attracting firms rather than the institution itself.

It just seems like a really miserable place. If you can't make some friends at UCL, you're going to have a really poo time. The SOAS union sucks, ULU is kind of filling the gap- but is nothing like what a proper union should be.



As a student at SOAS I have to disagree. I find it really enjoyable and no I'm not the typical SOAS 'type'. The Union is good (not amazing) but as far as I'm aware just as good as that of other Universities. It's not miserable at all. How can you say it's miserable if you have never studied there.

As someone who already did a year at a 1994/russell group I can tell you SOAS is just as good and the library is amazing.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by ActusReus
As a student at SOAS I have to disagree. I find it really enjoyable and no I'm not the typical SOAS 'type'. The Union is good (not amazing) but as far as I'm aware just as good as that of other Universities. It's not miserable at all. How can you say it's miserable if you have never studied there.

As someone who already did a year at a 1994/russell group I can tell you SOAS is just as good and the library is amazing.


I'm looking at doing Law & Politics at SOAS. Do top law firms target SOAS even if your not bilingual? I'm just a normal UK student lol!
Reply 15
Avatar for ActusReus
ActusReus
8
Original post by i-love-coffee
I'm looking at doing Law & Politics at SOAS. Do top law firms target SOAS even if your not bilingual? I'm just a normal UK student lol!


I know that a lot of SOAS law students go onto do training contracts at Clifford Chance which is the biggest law firm in the country. Seven students got training contracts with them this year.

I don't know much about how much being bilingual helps but undoubtedly it must to at least a small degree with international firms but I doubt it makes a noticeable difference.

Just make sure you get a good set of A-level results and good luck with your application :smile:
Original post by Hanover
Yeah I know, but it's kinda difficult to compare both unversities since SOAS merely offers a handful of degrees/courses, while QMUL has significantly more. It's also good in Finance/Economics. For some ]Geography/Law/Medicine courses], QMUL is even on the same level as Oxford. So as a university with a more comprehensive offer of courses, QMUL has a better reputation in my opinion

Hm...don't think so.
Original post by Clip
It's the profile of the students going there in the past few years. The union just went into meltdown. It's just not a pleasant place to be, and people visiting it sense that - those with an option will go elsewhere. Those who want to immerse themselves in that atmosphere go there - but that doesn't make them good students.


okay
(edited 9 years ago)
Very prestigious.

But it also depends on the university concerned. Some universities affiliated with UoL are more prestigious than others.
Reply 19
Avatar for Clip
Clip
19
Original post by adamsmithqm
It's a 1994 Group, part of the prestigious University of London, consistently ranked amongst the top Universities in the UK and ranked 26th in the world in its field of expertise so I would say its actually very well regarded University with loads of students going onto work for NGO's and top law firms.


That's a derivation of the stats and table rankings. That's completely different from a student experience and the what's happening on the ground. If a college has a rep for having a bunch of astronauts for students year on year, that's going to get across to employers a lot faster than you might think.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you