The Student Room Group

Would I be stupid for firming Bristol Law over KCL Law?

I've been debating which to university to firm and despite KCL having a better location for law and being a couple places higher on the league tables for law. (5th on CUG vs Bristol who are 8th at the moment) I find myself doubting whether or not to firm Kings for many reasons which I'll list.

1) KCL seems to have been degrading in general reputation for the past 4-5 years. With a sharp drop off in both QS and CUG rankings, I find myself wondering whether the prestige of KCL will carry on such a decline during my degree.

2) There seems to be a general consensus that KCL's staff and admin DO NOT CARE for their students in any capacity. Of course, they are a research based institution and most lecturers are there to research, not to teach. But it must be taken into consideration if I am going to be taught by lecturers who do not seem to care. Furthermore, I am hearing that their admin is notoriously bad, with medicine students being given their timetables super late and emails of requests by students taking months to get back.

3) KCL have one of the worst student satisfaction rates of any uni. Of course, many people are quick to argue this statistic does not matter but this does not make sense to me. A good uni, to me at least, prioritizes the happiness and wellbeing of their students who are paying high amounts of money to live/study there.

4) I have heard that it is quite an isolating uni due to the campuses being spread apart so much, making it hard to make friends without going to many different societies. (Though, I appreciate that this is not the biggest factor)

I was wondering whether such points are enough to warrant firming Bristol Law instead, as it seems as though their student satisfaction rates are higher, and their course is still highly respected, and much less people who go there seem to hate their experience.
(edited 4 weeks ago)
Original post by JohnLavadia
I've been debating which to university to firm and despite KCL having a better location for law and being a couple places higher on the league tables for law. (5th on CUG vs Bristol who are 9th at the moment) I find myself doubting whether or not to firm Kings for many reasons which I'll list.
1) KCL seems to have been degrading in general reputation for the past 4-5 years. With a sharp drop off in both QS and CUG rankings, I find myself wondering whether the prestige of KCL will carry on such a decline during my degree.
2) There seems to be a general consensus that KCL's staff and admin DO NOT CARE for their students in any capacity. Of course, they are a research based institution and most lecturers are there to research, not to teach. But it must be taken into consideration if I am going to be taught by lecturers who do not seem to care. Furthermore, I am hearing that their admin is notoriously bad, with medicine students being given their timetables super late and emails of requests by students taking months to get back.
3) KCL have one of the worst student satisfaction rates of any uni. Of course, many people are quick to argue this statistic does not matter but this does not make sense to me. A good uni, to me at least, prioritizes the happiness and wellbeing of their students who are paying high amounts of money to live/study there.
4) I have heard that it is quite an isolating uni due to the campuses being spread apart so much, making it hard to make friends without going to many different societies. (Though, I appreciate that this is not the biggest factor)
I was wondering whether such points are enough to warrant firming Bristol Law instead, as it seems as though their student satisfaction rates are higher, and their course is still highly respected, and much less people who go there seem to hate their experience.

Congratulations to your offers.

First, rejecting KCL for Bristol is not stupid and vice versa, provided you have thought it over seriously.

(1) Don't overly rely on prestige and rankings. But if you insist, look into the details and some of the ranking criteria may not be objective, e.g. student satisfaction and employer's reputation.

(2) It is a very important factor. Also check the quality and time of academic staff feedback on students' work, for Bristol and KCL. Just be fair to KCL, or more important, fair to yourself in making the life-changing decision.

(3) Student satisfaction is tricky. Would students be more satisfied with an academically very demanding, pushy uni or an easy-going one?

(4) This is valid. A city uni will never beat a campus uni in this aspect.

Apart from the above, had you looked into the course structures or modules?

Reply 2

Original post by cksiu
Congratulations to your offers.
First, rejecting KCL for Bristol is not stupid and vice versa, provided you have thought it over seriously.
(1) Don't overly rely on prestige and rankings. But if you insist, look into the details and some of the ranking criteria may not be objective, e.g. student satisfaction and employer's reputation.
(2) It is a very important factor. Also check the quality and time of academic staff feedback on students' work, for Bristol and KCL. Just be fair to KCL, or more important, fair to yourself in making the life-changing decision.
(3) Student satisfaction is tricky. Would students be more satisfied with an academically very demanding, pushy uni or an easy-going one?
(4) This is valid. A city uni will never beat a campus uni in this aspect.
Apart from the above, had you looked into the course structures or modules?

Thank you for all of the advice its much appreciated! I will definitely have to make my decision in the next week to focus on revision.

And to answer the course structure and modules question - yes I have done so, it seems as though King's have a more varied selection in their modules that you can take rather than Bristol which is a plus for King's. I think I have been over-analysing which uni to go to, but my parents are putting a great deal of pressure on me to firm Kings and I feel as though it's affecting my judgement. (I think they want to use the higher international prestige of King's to brag to my cousin's families overseas.... 😕 )
Original post by JohnLavadia
Thank you for all of the advice its much appreciated! I will definitely have to make my decision in the next week to focus on revision.
And to answer the course structure and modules question - yes I have done so, it seems as though King's have a more varied selection in their modules that you can take rather than Bristol which is a plus for King's. I think I have been over-analysing which uni to go to, but my parents are putting a great deal of pressure on me to firm Kings and I feel as though it's affecting my judgement. (I think they want to use the higher international prestige of King's to brag to my cousin's families overseas.... 😕 )

First, you were not over-analysing. My previous post was also mean for other TSR members struggling to choose their uni. Sorry if I bothered you.

Internationally Bristol is equally "prestigous".

In Singapore, Bristol (along with KCL) is one of the 11 (there are around 100s in UK?) recogised law schools. Don't take it too seriously, just for persuading your parents.

https://www.sile.edu.sg/united-kingdom-approved-universities
(edited 4 weeks ago)

Reply 4

I am in the exact same position and am really unsure but for economics. Have you decided yet - I’m trying to decide sooner rather than later as accommodation may sell out if I do choose kcl.

Reply 5

Original post by abc11223344
I am in the exact same position and am really unsure but for economics. Have you decided yet - I’m trying to decide sooner rather than later as accommodation may sell out if I do choose kcl.

I haven’t decided quite yet, but I am leaning KCL after doing more research into the law course specifically. Make sure you check which specific course you would prefer to study as the law courses at KCL and Bristol are different to the econ ones in terms of which may be better for you! If you ever need to talk, you can private message me anytime, I understand the hard decision you’re making rn! And best of luck wherever you choose to go!

Reply 6

Original post by JohnLavadia
I haven’t decided quite yet, but I am leaning KCL after doing more research into the law course specifically. Make sure you check which specific course you would prefer to study as the law courses at KCL and Bristol are different to the econ ones in terms of which may be better for you! If you ever need to talk, you can private message me anytime, I understand the hard decision you’re making rn! And best of luck wherever you choose to go!

Hi! I had offers from both KCL and Bristol and decided to firm KCL in the end. I went to the KCL open day and spoke to multiple law students about similar concerns on student satisfaction rate and making friends.

Have you checked whether the student satisfaction rate was for the whole uni or just the Law department? A student I met said that the Law department is actually very helpful and responsive compared to the rest of the uni. She also said that she had no problems making friends - and even has friends across year groups and courses. You can also book to live in intercollegiate halls, allowing you to make friends from other London unis too.

I'm not sure if you went to the open day or not, but in the Law talk the lecturer seemed very friendly and mentioned how KCL has more contact hours and smaller group seminars than most universities, allowing him to get to know his students better.

Hopefully this was (somewhat) helpful, and good luck deciding! Let me know if you have any other questions

Reply 7

Original post by JohnLavadia
I've been debating which to university to firm and despite KCL having a better location for law and being a couple places higher on the league tables for law. (5th on CUG vs Bristol who are 8th at the moment) I find myself doubting whether or not to firm Kings for many reasons which I'll list.
1) KCL seems to have been degrading in general reputation for the past 4-5 years. With a sharp drop off in both QS and CUG rankings, I find myself wondering whether the prestige of KCL will carry on such a decline during my degree.
2) There seems to be a general consensus that KCL's staff and admin DO NOT CARE for their students in any capacity. Of course, they are a research based institution and most lecturers are there to research, not to teach. But it must be taken into consideration if I am going to be taught by lecturers who do not seem to care. Furthermore, I am hearing that their admin is notoriously bad, with medicine students being given their timetables super late and emails of requests by students taking months to get back.
3) KCL have one of the worst student satisfaction rates of any uni. Of course, many people are quick to argue this statistic does not matter but this does not make sense to me. A good uni, to me at least, prioritizes the happiness and wellbeing of their students who are paying high amounts of money to live/study there.
4) I have heard that it is quite an isolating uni due to the campuses being spread apart so much, making it hard to make friends without going to many different societies. (Though, I appreciate that this is not the biggest factor)
I was wondering whether such points are enough to warrant firming Bristol Law instead, as it seems as though their student satisfaction rates are higher, and their course is still highly respected, and much less people who go there seem to hate their experience.

I'm at Bristol (not for law) and it's great, particularly for law. Student experience is great, city is exciting and fun, and being somewhere non-London for undergrad I think is good especially if you're going to spend your whole life in London as a lawyer.

And law is probably Bristol's best subject, the law people are recuited a ton (Clifford Chance comes to campus etc.) and the law department is amazing (search wills memorial building - that's the law department!)

Dm for any questions

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