LCF or Westminster

At Westminster I've looked a lot of at the fashion merchandising management course, I know if I was to definitely choose a business related course, such as this one that I wouldn't want to go to LCF!

Problem is, I'm starting to consider Fashion Journalism at LCF. The only thing that puts me off is the fact that the university wouldn't provide a real university experience as such, as everyone would be taking fashion related courses and I'd love to meet people with other interests besides fashion, and males of course haha. As I'm from NI and don't exactly live in a large town, everyone is the same and it kills me! The prospect of university is incredibly exciting as it means I can meet people from different backgrounds etc. I know I want to study in London, but anyway can anyone give me a few pointers or experiences related to the LCF Journalism courses? I looked a the Mass Media related one, seems pretty good!

However, I have no journalism experience, only fashion buying as I go with my father to buy for his company! So yeah, I'm thinking of getting work experience in that field soon. It shouldn't be a problem hopefully and it would be good to have it anyway! I'm only 16/turning 17, next years my last year of grammar school then that's me away to university. So I'm asking these questions by the heap due to the fact my school puts the pressure on courses pretty soon, meaning they want you to have a fair idea as soon as possible, which for me is not so good at all as I'm absolutely lost! So yes, fire away with general help, please none of the petty comments as I've realised when you ask for help on this forum all you seem to receive are the obnoxious 'my university is better than yours' replies. Thanks!

Reply 1

star888

StotheL

please none of the petty comments as I've realised when you ask for help on this forum all you seem to receive are the obnoxious 'my university is better than yours' replies. Thanks!

LOL! So it wasnt only me that noticed then ? Although I dont know much about the fashion journalism course at LCF...i was once in the exact situation as you. I was first attracted to the fashion management course at LCF but after visiting the university...i was slightly put off. Then i came across the fashion journalism course which i had never even considered before. Perhaps you should visit both westminster and LCF and get more info about the fashion journalism course and the employability after the course. Would the degree include a year in industry? LCF has great industry links but not all the students are guaranteed a job in their sandich year which i think is a major disadvantage. You also have to pay over half your course fees in your sandwich year which makes no sense at all.......i personally think LCF is abit over-rated. Lol.......have I done well at putting you off?

The choice is yours at the end of the day but if you want boys...you're not going to find them at LCF :p:

Reply 2

fashiongirly

well i have just finished my first year at LCF and my boyfriend at Westminster (not doing fashion lol) .
Anyway I thought the same about LCF and not having the typical uni experience. However I also applied for halls with students from unis all around london so my friends & uni life is with students (and boys!) which arent fashion or art obsessed, but I go to uni and get the taste of fashion that I want.
Personally I think this gives me the best of both worlds, as I get to do the course I wanted to do at a high reputation uni with lots of contacts, whilst having my main uni life just as many other students from london do (my next door neighbour was from westminster too doing buisness).
I still do think Westminster is a nice uni, and does have a good fashion department at their arts, fashion and media campus in harrow.
However if a foreign fashion employer was looking at 2 CVs, one from LCF, the other westminster, he is likely to go for the one he knows in the fashion world better.
This situation suited me very well, but I guess it depends on the kind of person you are. Westminster would definatly give you the uni life 'on a plate'. But if you find a course at LCF which you prefer, there are ways to work round it.
Feel free to PM me x

Reply 3

lazza

I'm a fashion student at westminster (and think this should have gone into the london unis page so that us westminster students can get a chance to read it if you want a non biased view :P)

my friend was on the fashion merch course at LCF. Her opinion is very very low and she was on the verge of dropping out. Whereas people I know that the buisiness school at my uni (which is where the fashion merch department is based) seem to enjoy it. I will get shot for saying this on here but LCF's reputation is dropping, especially since they don't do GFW anymore. A friend of mine just graduated from fashion design and she says they've screwed her over considering how much she paid them. In her last year she got 5 minutes a week with a tutor and upon graduating they each had one buisiness card up in a room of thousands. Yeah the buisiness cards link up to the computer system to see a (limited) portfolio, but unless your card was truely amazing, how can you stand out?

The advantage of westminster now is our recent alumni and current placements within industry. When I visited LCF they talked about placements at tesco and burtons, which they pick for you. This year I'm looking at marios schwab.

Sorry but I think that so many people hold stuff against the old polys. LCF is good if that's the place you want to be at. I have friends on cordwainers who love it and it's the only place you can study it. But from my friend's experiences on the merch and design courses you should certainly be looking indepth elsewhere. There are so many places all over the country, and yes including westminster, but you need to look at them all.

OK. if you want to be doing fashion journalism DON'T do a degree in it. You need to be doing english or fashion design to be taken seriously. Check out Hadley Freeman. She was at oxford doing english lit and was the editor of their newspaper, now she's one of the best fashion journalists in the country. A friend of mine is doing her MA in fashion journalism AFTER her english degree. If it's seriously what you want to do then you'll take that advice. It's like taking a media studies degree to work in the media. You just don't do it because the competition from people with other degrees is too fierce

Reply 4

twilight fingertips

I know I'm bringing this up from the depth but I just joined and I read this and had to comment... a couple of weeks ago, Colin McDowell came in to chat to us, he's just started a magazine with graduates from the LCF Fashion Journalism. And we also spoke to two girls working at Vogue.com who are also graduates, from Fashion Promotion which is closely linked to Fashion Journalism. There are different routes into the industry, undoubtedly, but studying a fashion degree doesn't mean that businesses won't take you seriously. Ian Webb, who is one of my lecturers, said if anything LCF is a huge tick on your CV when you apply for a job, it immediately makes people sit up and pay attention. Just thought I'd have my input...

Reply 5

star888

Im at Westminster on the fashion buying course....i dont particularly enjoy it which is why im leaving but i think thats for very different reasons. I think its definately good for someone who really wants that kind of degree but I guess i was expecting abit more academia or at least more theory...it was way too industry based and eventually i got sick of it.

Anyway, thats beside the point of me replying to this...

Through this course, i have met lots of ppl who came from LCF and have all commented on how poor their facilities were compared to Westminster....they also said the teaching quality was very poor....but apparently the mix of people was better ?

During our first semester we had lots of trips to galleries in east london, visited Wallis's design studio near Tottenham Court Road, visited the V&A, went to The Clothes Show (tickets paid by the uni) had guest speakers ...one was a trend forecaster from PromoStyl, a fashion journalist, a buyer from Tescos and soo many more I just cant remember.... lol.

So I guess that proves that they definately do have the industry links...its just not what I wanted as a degree...!

Reply 6

toxi

I'm in a similar position.

applied to both unis for Fashion management and keep thinking about it [no responses yet].

However, what I think of, is that LCF is better regarding its fame. I mean come on its UAL, you can't compare that with westminster.

Course-wise though, I kinda thought Westminster's course is more broad and extensive. I will be visiting both unis but in the case that I get accepted in both, I don't know if I'll be risking giving up LCF for westminster, the only reason being fame and future work prospects.

Reply 7

Aiko

I have only briefly read the thread, so I may reiterate what's already been addressed. Just to clarify that, contrary to popular belief, you will meet plenty of male students at LCF, and that you will have the opportunity to meet students from all over the world, quite literally. You won't experience a broad range of students studying completely different subjects, though, that's something you have to compromise if you're seeking that type of diversity.