Pros and Cons of going to uni in London

I've always wanted to go to a uni in London, and I'd be interested to hear from those who study in London of what the pros and cons are in their opinion. Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

bottomness

Pro: its a city (lots to do)
Con: its damn expensive!
Not that i go, but those are pretty obvious ones

Reply 2

dismal_laundry

15

Pros: It's a fantastic city, the political and cultural center of the country, there is a big concentration of libraries, museums, and research institutions in the part of London where I study, it's very diverse, has an impressive amount of visible history, offers many social and employment opportunities, etc.

Cons: Even if you are in halls for your first year, you'll have to travel in subsequent years. Commuting can be a pain at times, there can be unforseen hold ups and delays, and public transportation isn't cheap, although a student Oyster Card helps. Overall it's quite expensive. Secondly, big cities can be tiring and a bit depressing at times. Thirdly, London is quite far flung, and its size can eat up your time if you are going somewhere far from your hall/flat.

Reply 3

gas_panic!

12

Pros: Big place to walk around, lots of stuff to see.

Cons: 80% of londoners are wa nkers.

Reply 4

Kinematics

Pro: World class city.

Con: Nobody cares about you. You see, they go. You don't feel special at all.

Reply 5

bananamoonbeam

1

IMO from what I've heard from friends:
pro's: generally good universities, city contacts etc
cons: not a student city (uni's spread out, not a studenty feel and lack of student deals anywhere), expensive (travel, accomodation, alcohol, food etc), accomodation is spread out around the city and a lot of it is shared, hard to make lots of friends due to everyone being so spread out.

Reply 6

city_chic

OP

13

Thanks everyone.

That's the thing I'm worried about; uni being being more spread out etc, I guess KCL is like that..

Reply 7

cutcopy

Blunt fact: I went to London Met last year and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my life.

NOT because I was at London met, because I hardly spent any time there. The city just isn't kind on students. No solid community. Too diverse. I'm at Leeds now and it's FAR better. The city/experience that is.

Reply 8

Clarence

14

I live in London and i'd absolutley HATE to be a student here.

Reply 9

kellywood_5

17

It just depends what you're looking for really. Personally I'd hate to live in London because I hate the hustle, bustle and high crime rates of big cities, not to mention all the travelling you'd have to do on expensive and inefficient public transport because everything's so spread out and how expensive everything is generally. I love being at a campus uni with everything I need in a small city where I can walk everywhere. But some people would hate that, so if you want to be in a 'real' city as opposed to a student one and you don't mind the travelling or the expense, you might love it. You'd certainly never get bored!

Reply 10

Hev456

11

Well i've lived in London all my life and for uni i can't wait to get out. Actually, i want to live somewhere else AFTER uni as well, i personally hate London.

Here's a few reasons why:
-Every thing (accommodation especially) is mega expensive.
-I agree with the guy above who said that 80% of Londoners are absolutely wa nkers, because they are. The rule on any type of bus/tube/train is look anywhere but at another person, otherwise they'll think you're a weirdo or fancy them.
-It's getting a lot more crowded than it was a few years ago, to me when i go up into central London i feel very claustrophobic.
-There's a distinct lack of open space, even our parks have buildings in them or surrounding them.
-We're very much separated by race and social class.
-Every second person is a foreigner - it's not that i have a problem with foreigners, its the fact that i can't understand them and they can't understand me.

Reply 11

crema

9

Cons:
- Living and transportation is expensive and most often akward
- It is easy to feel lonely in big cities

Pros:
+ Countless opportunities to develop yourself (societies, volunteering, languages)
+ Loads of jobs
+ Museums, Sight seeing, seminars/film night etc organized byt the universities mean you never have to feel bored
+ Culturally diverse, you meet so many new people all over the world and get different perspective (unlike the previous poster I actually think this is a wonderful thing)

I like living in London. There is so much to do and explore you will never have feel bored. Granted, accomodation is silly expensive for the quality you are getting but you can find plenty of things to do that are totally free of charge. And it's a city filled with opportunities, it's a place where you can really make your own luck if you just have the determination.

Reply 12

andy_1989

Personally can't see myself anywhere else

Reply 13

ohsometro

4

it's just as easy to make your own close knit community in london as it is anywhere else ;]
nowhere else has the same energy . . . noone i know in london is bored of it yet ;]
friends in their second yrs at leeds/manc etc. all mention how they're getting bored of the city now . . . take from that what you want . .
i think you either love it or you hate it really. like marmite.

Reply 14

I_luv_stewie_xxx

I study in lond, i really hate it, i would have loved to move away to uni...London has no community feel whatsoever, too many foreigners (not in a racist way- its just hard to make good friends with ppl who dnt understand the culture), things expensive, london is just a very unfriendly place ;-(

Reply 15

Vincente

14

Con: Its a nightmare trying to move around London especially during the morning! Its really expensive despite what universities in London tell you (although wages are very high as well for p/t jobs) and its the main target for terror attacks (I was in central London on that day as well, and cetainly dettred me going to London for a while)

Reply 16

simdam

Vincente

Con: Its a nightmare trying to move around London especially during the morning! Its really expensive despite what universities in London tell you (although wages are very high as well for p/t jobs) and its the main target for terror attacks (I was in central London on that day as well, and cetainly dettred me going to London for a while)

but u still be attending UCL?

Reply 17

Vincente

14

Yeah, the attacks were in 2005 and I purposesly made southampton my insurance instead of KCL for UCAS 2006 (with Oxford my firm). But the fear is gone now and the pros of london (incredible night life and diversity) outweigh the cons.

Reply 18

fidgetface

ahem. this is not a comforting thread for people like me who spent ages deciding between London and more "studenty" cosy univerities... and still have doubts :frown:

. so any more positive accounts ?????
personally- London is where everything is happening- every brit should live there once in their life- why not student years?

Reply 19

username68316

3

pro: Biggest variety of clubs and possibilities for nights out, whether it be bar/theatre(not me personally)/restaurant/club etc

Pros and Cons of going to uni in London

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Trending

Latest