Whats the worst thing about KCL?

11

...any current students care to help me out with this question? as i have posted before, im having a hard time choosing between kcl, warwick, nottingham and bristol, so im just trying to build up a picture the relative merits/demerits of each place.

also, anyone going on the law open day on 16th Feb?

Reply 1

Dreama

13

I'm in a similar situation. Kings vs Warwick.

I'm going to the KCL Open day on the 23rd. :smile:

Reply 2

gringalet

12

I'm not a current student, but I should be going there in September (yay!). I think probably the worst thing is that it's in London, and so living will be quite expensive; but then being in London is really rather ace, and you would get discounts on loads of things, so...!

For Law, I believe King's is one of the best around, yet the entry requirements aren't as bad as for other places.

Another "disadvantage" could be that maybe King's isn't so prestigious as other places, if that sort of thing bothers you.

Reply 3

Lissy

8

I'm a first year at Kings and I find the worst thing is that if you don't live in Stamford Street Apartments getting in for 9am three days a week can be quite tiring. Walking, getting the tube and buses seems to wear me out. Then again when i visited Warwick i found the campus environment very claustrophobic.

Reply 4

dazmanultra

1

Worst thing about KCL? Possibly the choice of halls and the cost of living in London in general.

Reply 5

kingslaw

14

Lissy

I'm a first year at Kings and I find the worst thing is that if you don't live in Stamford Street Apartments getting in for 9am three days a week can be quite tiring. Walking, getting the tube and buses seems to wear me out. Then again when i visited Warwick i found the campus environment very claustrophobic.

Three? I have 4 nine-o-clock starts :frown:

.

Errmmm...worst thing about KCL. Well, I'd say that the accommodation is pretty shocking in places. Depending on where you're based, apart from Stamford St, Great Dover St and Brian Creamer House, you're gonna be quite a distance away from campus. Furthermore, places like Kings College Hall and Hampstead are notoriously shabby and falling apart - pretty dire considering the price.

Edit: Oh, and add to that, depending on the individual, some people may find the fact that it is more of a city than a campus university not to their taste. Unlike these universities that are built on fields in the middle of nowhere (or Oxbridge), going to Kings isn't like entering Studentworld for three years. There is perhaps less of a community spirit at Kings. Given how huge London is, people have the opportunity to branch their lives much further out and thus there is less focus on the university as the social centre of everyones lives. This is a world away from other universities where, given the lack of amenities, everyone's lives are focussed on the university. Personally I prefer city university set ups as I think it gives people a slightly firmer grasp on reality. I'd just find a campus university incredibly claustraphobic.

Reply 6

tash087

2

kidney thief

...

also, anyone going on the law open day on 16th Feb?

I went yesterday to the Law Open Day as well... how did you find Kings?

I found the day quite interesting ...

Reply 7

kidney thief

OP

11

tash087

I went yesterday to the Law Open Day as well... how did you find Kings?

I found the day quite interesting ...

it confirmed a lot of things for me and told me a lot of stuff i didnt know before.

but im still confused as to whether or not the first year is actually important- Jane Henderson said that the first year does not count towards your final degree classification, but then again the first year modules are all necessary for CPE exemption.
so does that mean you could fail in your first year then a 1st in your second and third year and come out with a 1st and be exempt from professional exams, even though you've failed 4 out of the 7 core modules???

Reply 8

kingslaw

14

kidney thief

it confirmed a lot of things for me and told me a lot of stuff i didnt know before.

but im still confused as to whether or not the first year is actually important- Jane Henderson said that the first year does not count towards your final degree classification, but then again the first year modules are all necessary for CPE exemption.
so does that mean you could fail in your first year then a 1st in your second and third year and come out with a 1st and be exempt from professional exams, even though you've failed 4 out of the 7 core modules???

If you fail your first year you'll be thrown out :smile:

Basically, to be exempt from the CPE you'll have to pass all the core subject, so in that sense the first year is important. However, the classification of your degree lends no weighting to the core subjects and only takes into consideration you second two years.

But you have to be a bit of a moron to actually fail an exam.

Reply 9

kingslaw

14

tash087

I found the day quite interesting ...

Not as interesting as mine was I'm sure. We had power cuts and failing audio-visuals all day :rolleyes:

. Typical Kings :biggrin:

Were you based in Waterloo or Strand for the day.

Reply 10

kidney thief

OP

11

kingslaw

Not as interesting as mine was I'm sure. We had power cuts and failing audio-visuals all day :rolleyes:

. Typical Kings :biggrin:

Were you based in Waterloo or Strand for the day.

Stamford Street lecture rooms at the waterloo campus
then given a tour of strand campus and maughn libary. the tour guide was a third year student called joe i think

Reply 11

kingslaw

14

kidney thief

Stamford Street lecture rooms at the waterloo campus
then given a tour of strand campus and maughn libary. the tour guide was a third year student called joe i think

Oh right. They avoided the Strand after last years catastrophy. Its a shame because the Strand is actually quite impressive given its location, and the Great Hall is quite impressive. However, its going under huge reconstruction, so it probably wasn't convenient for you to be shown round there.

What did you think? I wasn't too impressed at first (like I said, not everything went to plan)...then I saw the library :smile:

. Best legal library in the country. Bar none.

Reply 12

kidney thief

OP

11

is it really the best legal library? better than say Oxford's law bodleian?

yep i was impressed, the chapel was quite nice but we were only allowed a quick peek as the choir was practising
but the red lions were rubbish! why are they red?

Reply 13

kingslaw

14

kidney thief

is it really the best legal library? better than say Oxford's law bodleian?

yep i was impressed, the chapel was quite nice but we were only allowed a quick peek as the choir was practising
but the red lions were rubbish! why are they red?

Oh well, best legal library bar Oxford. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but we were told it was the biggest in some sort of category (may've been biggest outside of Oxbridge, or in terms of articles (which is by far the most important resource imo).

Yes, the lions are rubbish. I don't know if you saw the one on the shop floor of the SU. It looks like it was made of papier mache (sp). The two statues in the entrace to the Great Hall are slightly more impressive. Nice Georgian architecutre.

We never got to look at the Chapel. B*stards.

Reply 14

Font

kingslaw

Oh well, best legal library bar Oxford. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but we were told it was the biggest in some sort of category (may've been biggest outside of Oxbridge, or in terms of articles (which is by far the most important resource imo).

Yes, the lions are rubbish. I don't know if you saw the one on the shop floor of the SU. It looks like it was made of papier mache (sp). The two statues in the entrace to the Great Hall are slightly more impressive. Nice Georgian architecutre.

We never got to look at the Chapel. B*stards.

chapel, lol; is it good? I left the tour as they were about to go up to the chpel...had more important stuff on my mind :smile:

...like climbing. i skipped the tour, and went across london...much funner :biggrin:

Reply 15

kidney thief

OP

11

yea i saw the one in the glass case on the SU shop floor. both that one and the one on the stairs looked odd- maybe cos they are red. why is this?

im still in a muddle between campus or non-campus uni :frown:

Reply 16

kingslaw

14

kidney thief

yea i saw the one in the glass case on the SU shop floor. both that one and the one on the stairs looked odd- maybe cos they are red. why is this?

im still in a muddle between campus or non-campus uni :frown:

What's your other offer(s)?

*I have no idea about the lions*

Reply 17

tash087

2

kidney thief

Stamford Street lecture rooms at the waterloo campus
then given a tour of strand campus and maughn libary. the tour guide was a third year student called joe i think

Oh i was in a group with one of the female tour guides... we were the group that arrived back at Waterloo about half an hour before the other tour groups... I think people on our tour were getting seriously bored! Was your tour any good?

Reply 18

kingslaw

14

tash087

Oh i was in a group with one of the female tour guides... we were the group that arrived back at Waterloo about half an hour before the other tour groups... I think people on our tour were getting seriously bored! Was your tour any good?

Bored

. If you go to a university open day, then you should really expect to be shown the university!!

I remember being tired on my open day, given the relatively long trek from Maughan Library to the Waterloo campus - and being soaking wet as it was throwing it down - but I wasn't bored!

Saying that I got bored at the Oxford open day. But I didn't have an offer, so I was convinced I had no chance and lost interest.

Reply 19

tash087

2

kingslaw

Bored

. If you go to a university open day, then you should really expect to be shown the university!!

I remember being tired on my open day, given the relatively long trek from Maughan Library to the Waterloo campus - and being soaking wet as it was throwing it down - but I wasn't bored!

Saying that I got bored at the Oxford open day. But I didn't have an offer, so I was convinced I had no chance and lost interest.

No i wasn't bored at the open day... some people were complaining though about being tired. I just found it quite amusing that the tour guide actually sounded like she was complaining when she told me and my friend that we were always grinning and smiling. Apparently compared to the rest of the group who looked tired we stood out.

Whats the worst thing about KCL?

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