University College London

London

Making friends at UCL (plus a myriad of other little questions too!)

Hello thar :biggrin:

I'm really interested in going to UCL as an international student. But seeing as UCL doesn't have the same 'traditional' colleges as Oxbridge, would there still be a welcoming, homey feeling in UCL? How easy is it to socialise and make friends there, assuming that you're quite outgoing? I am quite eager to go out and talk to people, but would it be easy to make "local" British friends as an international?

What is it like living in London? I come from two huge and admittedly very different cities myself (Hong Kong and Jakarta), but would living in London differ a lot? Is it a walkable city? Can you breathe in the Tube? Are the people in London friendly, or are they they generally less so? Is the general atmosphere very fast-paced and bustling like Hong Kong, or is it more languorous and easy-going, like Jakarta? Also, is it the sort of city where you can be a little more lax about crime, or do you have to keep watch at all times?

Lastly, although reputation does not really concern me, it seems like many people abroad have never heard of UCL. This is very surprising, since the quality of education in UCL is quite reputed in the UK. Would getting a good degree from UCL actually help me get jobs abroad?

Tl; dr: Do try to tell me everything you can about the uni social life, the city, and the employability of a person going to UCL! Thanks! :wink:

Reply 1

Noodlzzz

Csn't answer much, but each tube line is very different (above ground, new etc. etc.) but generally they're quite breathable. The only real issue with them is having your face squashed into someones armpit during peak times. Secondly, UCL is meant to be one of the best known internationally recognised unis about, I'd say it would indeed help employability abroad :smile:

University College London

London

Reply 2

gumball

They may have heard of the University of London, which is what (from I've read) a lot of international students have found.

Reply 3

Scabo0o

Well where do I start! I would absolutely reccoment coming to UCL. I'll try and answer your questions as best I can.

1.) Welcomey/homey feeling? Absolutely, even though UCL is not a collegiate uni, the campus is not very big and is concentrated in one main area. I see my friends walking around the campus and surrounding roads all the time. Always a friendly face to be seen.

2.) Making friends? I never played a sport before I came to uni but the best advice I was given and will give you to is to join a sports team. It is a great way to make a huge group of friends! You're also bound to make friends from your course and your student halls and any other socs. you join.

3.) LAHHNNDAAAN! An absolutely amazing city. UCL campus is pretty much in the centre which means walking distance to hundreds of amazing places - Covent carden, soho, camden, oxford street (which will lose it's novelty, trust me). So yes very walkable. Like any huge city it is very fast paced, most people will be in a rush, but you will get caught up in and it will be exciting. The tubes are fine as long as you aren't trying to go to Bank at 8 in the morning. Crime...you should be fine around UCL but ofcourse there is crime, jut make sure to keep hold of your bag etc, don't get paranoid though.

Lastly 4.) Reputation. WHAT YOU TALKING 'BOUT FOOOOO' everyone knows University College London, you honestly don't need to be worrying that UCL is not an employable uni. Pshh honestly :P

Hope this is enough?

Reply 4

username113840

We are people too? We aren't massive racists? It shouldn't be any different from how you usually make friends?

Central London (inc. the West End/most of the area around UCL) are very walk able. Leaving central it becomes less walk able. You'll have the tube and bus for those times. Note that the tube map isn't an accurate representation of London, and you'll probably learn how walkable things are very quickly.

The tubes, outside of rush hour, are breathable and you'll usually have space. It will be in a worse state compared to the HK MTR - though we have a similar system to the Octopus card (Oyster card in London).

London, like any major city, will have crime. Generally it's fine, but common sense and the usual advice should be noted.

It's more likely to be closer to HK in your expectations, but still probably unlike anywhere you've lived before.

Reply 5

The Blind Monk

The are around UCL is walkable but don't expect public transport to run on time like in HK. It's less packed in the rush hour than the MTR though. No clue about Jakarta.

Uni life is as fast or slow as you make it. Students tend to be pretty friendly types (the ones you see anyway, not the ones locked in their rooms with agoraphobia and an excess of studying.) As long as you don't segregate yourself it's reasonably easy to make british and/or international friends, though most of my friends happen to be British. It's definitely not a college atmosphere though, that Oxbridge atmosphere doesn't really exist everywhere else. You should get to know your flatmates really well though. :smile:

Hard to be more specific than that really.

Reply 6

JohnnytheFox

Original post by asparkyn

Hello thar :biggrin:

It's easy to make friends at UCL just because there's so many people. UCL is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest, I'm not 100% sure) university in the UK. Combine this with all the other London universities in close proximity that are also 'University of London' institutions and there's more potential friends there than anyone could ever want.

However, there is very little community spirit at UCL, especially when compared to other unis. I think this is because of the sheer size of UCL. It can feel very impersonal at times. What's more, because UCL attracts so many overseas students, foreign students tend to stick with their own - so you often get large groups of Chinese students not mixing with British students, etc.

However, UCL is probably one of the few UK universities where you have the oppurtunity to meet people from all over the world, so swings and roundabouts really.

Original post by asparkyn

What is it like living in London? I come from two huge and admittedly very different cities myself (Hong Kong and Jakarta), but would living in London differ a lot? Is it a walkable city? Can you breathe in the Tube? Are the people in London friendly, or are they they generally less so? Is the general atmosphere very fast-paced and bustling like Hong Kong, or is it more languorous and easy-going, like Jakarta? Also, is it the sort of city where you can be a little more lax about crime, or do you have to keep watch at all times?

UCL is right in the centre of London and everything worth going to is within walking distance to be honest. In my first year I didn't once get on the tube or bus. Camden, Soho, The Thames, Oxford Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, etc are all within about a 30 minute walk max.

I haven't been to Jakarta or Hong Kong so I have no idea which city London is more like, but I would say that London is one of the most diverse cities in the world. You'll meet friendly people, horrible people, stressed people, laid back people, right-wing people, left-wing people.....it's impossible to say an average londoner has X, Y or Z personality traits.
Central London can get very busy. Oxford Street at Christmas time is hell on Earth as far as I'm concerned. I hate big crowds though and the sheer size of the population is one of my main bugbears about London. London would be a beautiful city if there wasn't so many people!

Original post by asparkyn

Lastly, although reputation does not really concern me, it seems like many people abroad have never heard of UCL. This is very surprising, since the quality of education in UCL is quite reputed in the UK. Would getting a good degree from UCL actually help me get jobs abroad?

Tl; dr: Do try to tell me everything you can about the uni social life, the city, and the employability of a person going to UCL! Thanks! :wink:

No idea about prestige overseas, but I do recall a conversation with a chinese lad who's family were ashamed that he was going to UCL. Apparently it's a big no-no in the chinese language to put a word like "College" before a word like "London," so they feared he wasn't going to a proper university or something!
I think it depends on what career you want to go in. For sciences, especially biomedical research, UCL is one of the world leaders and we're well known internationally for our academics and the research they do. While common people out on the streets of Hong Kong may not have heard of UCL in the same way as they have heard of Oxford or Cambridge, i'm sure other academics and universities and financial businesses are well aware of UCL's reputation.

Reply 7

Lil' Flo

Trying to keep it short and sweet.
Essentially, it's in a way harder to be friendless than to have a group of friends.You'd have to put in some effort into avoiding everybody and being a social recluse in my opinion.

As far as reputation is concerened, the people who matter, who count when it comes to your future career WILL know about UCL. You shouldn't worry about some generic person abroad not knowing of UCL.

UCl is one of the best things to ever happen to me in my adult life, so I'd recommend anyone to come.

Reply 8

sadhukar

Original post by Noodlzzz

Secondly, UCL is meant to be one of the best known internationally recognised unis about, I'd say it would indeed help employability abroad :smile:

"UCL? Where is that? You mean UCLA?"

Reply 9

Ivanka

Original post by Lil' Flo

As far as reputation is concerened, the people who matter, who count when it comes to your future career WILL know about UCL. You shouldn't worry about some generic person abroad not knowing of UCL.

It depends on what your definition for "generic person" is.

I think that UCL is unheard of to the majority of Czechs and usually only those that are acquainted with studies abroad know the university. On the other hand, for most of the people here it doesn't make a difference which uni abroad you graduated from - the fact you graduated from a university abroad is, according to them, worth admiration on its own.