The Student Room Group

University of Wesminster vs. Birkbeck University of London?

Hi everyone,

Im currently doing my A2 levels and I'm planning to do a law degree at the university. I have received all my offers, but I'm having a major dillema with what uni I should go to so I thought I'll ask you guys about your experiences. My main dillema is between the University of Westminster and Brikbeck University of London. I went to an open day to the university of Wesminster yesterday and it was was quite good, I really liked the staff there and everything seemed really nice but I'm a little bit worried about the recent events and the fact that someone like Jihadi John went there, I know it could happen in any institutions however I came across a comment on uni of wesmintser's facebook page from a former student saying that she was bullied by 'radicals' during her time at Westminster which scared me a little bit. Does anyone have any actual unbiased experiences with that university? What is the student community like? And what is it like when it comes to teaching and learning law? And my second dillema is Birkbeck University of London which is an evening university and I have noticed that it consists of very mature students. I'm currently 18 and I'm a little bit worried that I'm not gonna fit in with all those mature students and I don't want to completely stand out. Also, the teaching staff seemed to be less experienced than the teaching staff in Westminster and I'm not sure if I'm that keen on having my lectures during the evening. So does anyone have any experiences with Birkbeck and can tell me whether it is a good university or not? Is the student community nice? And is the teaching staff good?

To summarise this I would really appreciate honest and unbiased opinions about those two universities previously mentioned as I'm having a hard time choosing which one I want to go to.

Thank you,
There is absolutely no reason to not go to Westminster because some guy who later went on to what he did went there. Nor should some random claim about being bullied by radicals that you have no idea of the veracity of stop you either.

I'm going to Birkbeck and I think it's unfair to say the teaching staff are inexperienced. It is in the top 1% of research universities worldwide.

it does have a lot of mature students but I was at an offer day there yesterday and you wouldn't how old anyone was. Only really mature people stood out. I wouldn't worry about that.

Evening study might not be for you. At your age you might want to study in a more traditional way. Evening study is great for me and many others as it allows us to get meaningful, degree related work experience during the day.

Sounds to to me like you'd prefer Westminster and are only hesitant because of recent news. My advice would be to ignore that and go there if you want to.
Reply 2
Thanks for your reply kingofttheting. Yeah I know that it would be stupid to not go there because of that one guy but I just wanted to know how the student community really is.

I obviously didn't mean to say that lefturers at Birkbeck are inexperienced because I know that they must have sufficient experience to be a lecturer, however I just had a feeling that at Westminster the law professor was a little bit more passionate about his subject. And the fact that Birkbeck is in top 1% of research universities worldwide is very encouraging.

I actually went to that open day yesterday too! I went to the law talk and most of the audience there were quiet mature and there was only few people my age.

And yes I'm actually thinking if evening study would be right for me because it is something very different to what I've always imagined.

Thanks, and yeah I'm feeling a little bit more interested in Westminster but Birkbeck is still appealing to me so I will have to think about it.

Thanks for your answer anyway
No worries. At was at the Film, Media and Cultural studies part so it may have skewed a bit younger than law.
Hi! I'm currently at Westminster studying Journalism at Harrow, but I'm hoping to start the law course instead in September :smile:. Personally, even though I don't like my course at UoW because I feel that it's too practical-based for me, the uni itself is great! I think some lecturers are a little bit stuck up, but in my course, everyone's really friendly and the students are like a big family. I've also applied for Birkbeck, but I don't want to attend evening lectures because that doesn't really feel like university to me. UoW is a great university, and you really shouldn't be put off by recent news. Trust me, there's less chance of radicals being at UoW than at one of the other unis I've applied for, that's just london for you!

Plus, the law course itself looks really interesting - there are so many module options compared to other universities that I've researched into!

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