American Doing Post-Grad in London..Some Questions

I am an American student who has been given an offer to the one of the major University of London institutions for a post-graduate program. However I had a couple of pressing questions esp. considering the cost of living in London..

1) Is it cheaper to live in student accommodation with or without catering? Or is it cheaper to find private outside university accommodation instead?

2) Do most postgrad students in the UK live in student accommodation or outside of it? Or do really only international students live there post-grad.

3) With London having such a high cost of living how does one get by as a postgrad with a fixed or no income at all? Then again I'd have the same problem here at home since the city I live in is not cheap as well and most of the grad programs I was admitted to here in the US are full time too.

Reply 1

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

21

Without catering is usually cheaper. Private housing can be cheaper than university-run accommodation if you share with other people. Look on www.spareroom.co.uk to see the cost of flatshares near your university.

In London most will live in privately rented accommodation. Most London universities (especially those in the centre) do not offer accommodation to second or third year undergraduates, so their dorms (called halls in the UK) are usually full of 18 year olds and postgraduate students who didn't want to rent privately. There are a few postgraduate-only dorms e.g. http://www.goodenough.ac.uk

I imagine they live very cheaply (which is possible if you know where to shop, even in London), and many will work part-time or in the holidays.

Reply 2

jelly1000

21

Original post by Matador23

I am an American student who has been given an offer to the one of the major University of London institutions for a post-graduate program. However I had a couple of pressing questions esp. considering the cost of living in London..

1) Is it cheaper to live in student accommodation with or without catering? Or is it cheaper to find private outside university accommodation instead?

2) Do most postgrad students in the UK live in student accommodation or outside of it? Or do really only international students live there post-grad.

3) With London having such a high cost of living how does one get by as a postgrad with a fixed or no income at all? Then again I'd have the same problem here at home since the city I live in is not cheap as well and most of the grad programs I was admitted to here in the US are full time too.

1) Exact like with like i.e. self catered shared bathroom is cheaper than catered shared bathroom because you aren't paying for the service of having your food prepared and things washed up. Catered with a shared bathroom can be cheaper than an ensuite non catered. Each uni will list pricing for each halls on the accomodation section of their websites. Typically private accomodation e.g. a flatshare is cheaper, however this can be difficult to arrange from abroad- you really need to view a flat before you move in.

2) Most UK postgrads don't live in halls, many unis have limited space for postgrads and so only guarentee a room to international students. Plus with halls you are back to being put with randomers, where as most Brits will know people they want to live with. Tbh on most courses the majority of students are international overall, most Brits either can't afford to do a Masters or have had enough of education. On my course out of 14 I think if you include the part timers there were 5 of us Brits.

3) At least one of the following: working before doing a masters to save up, working part time during the masters course, recieving financial assistance from parents. recieving a bursary/scholarship (very rare though for stand along MA/MSc courses)

American Doing Post-Grad in London..Some Questions

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