University College London - UCL (reviews)

The majority of professors I’ve encountered have been helpful and supportive. Go talk to them, they will be of great help during exam revision or even to write an essay. It might be daunting but they are very welcoming.

Very good level of education, with a lot of freedom to pursue activities on the side, and hundreds of societies to choose from. Located in the heart of London, therefore really close to many restaurants, clubs, sports centers, museums…

What is probably UCL’s biggest selling point is the fact that the student population here is extremely international – it certainly upholds its name as London’s Global University. Furthermore, there is a plethora of clubs and societies for students to join and participate in, further expanding one’s areas for growth in terms of extra-curricular interests and just as a person in general. The professors here are generally good too – I have heard of some bad stories with teaching assistants but my personal experience has been pretty good thus far, and I highly doubt that one will find a university anywhere with a hundred percent-perfect teaching staff.

UCL is a space where a lot brilliant minds meet, clash, argue, innovate, research and thereby create. And that is beyond amazing. The intellectual quality is undeniable. Every now and then the intellectual rigour and the excellence of the research comes at the expense of the student, especially the younger ones. Their mental health is not a priority, neither is their experience. The MA was therefore more enjoyable than the BA. I imagine the PHD program to be fantastic.

UCL was my first choice and I am extremely glad to be attending it. It’s very well located, making it easily accessible from all over London. I really love the fact that you have a proper campus feeling: sometimes I forget that it’s in London. In that sense, UCL makes an effort to create a comfortable and nice environment. In addition, there is much support for career advise: we have our own advisor in the department, which is incredibly helpful for finding internships in the summer or even just discovering what direction you want to go; but you can also get weekly e-mails for part-time jobs to earn some money on the side. I would probably prefer some smaller classes where participation is more emphasised; but this is mainly because my psychology classes can be attended by many different departments, making seminar classes impossible. But it would definitely be better to emphasise the student-professor relationship. We do have tutors that you can meet as often as you would like and that insist on meetings every term, though. Lastly I really enjoy that there are so many different societies, showing that although the academic is important, a balance between extracurricular activities and academia is even better.

UCL is first and foremost an extremely large university made up of diversity of intellect, culture and knowledge which crash together in the heart of London. I believe my university is best suited to a dynamic and curious personality, however it does have its obstacles, such as living in the chaotic city that London is. Nevertheless being in UCL and living within its campus offers a safe zone a controllable zone within the chaos. Overall the university feels both safe and threatening, dynamic and conflicting.

Good teaching level – friends for life – amazing campus I found my bachelor’s degree years incredibly stimulating, academically speaking but also in terms of relationships and networking. I enrolled in many different modules, and was always satisfied by the teaching method and seminars. I met incredible friends and had the opportunity to be part of an incredible society too. I also had the opportunity to tailor make my degree, which made the course even more attractive.

UCL really gives you the means and the space to discover who you are as a person- wide range of societies, central location, diverse faculty and student body… I’ve grown so much as an individual in my 2 years, and feel especially that studying abroad allows for a unique opportunity for growth.

For me, academic research prospects at university is very important as I would like to pursue a research career after my degree. Even at first year undergraduate level there are opportunities to contribute to research and this is something that I am very pleased with as it is uncommon to have research experience so early on in a degree. What I also like is how willing professors and lecturers are to talk about their own research with you, and there are frequent poster presentations in my department for undergraduate/postgraduate students to show their research. Research done at UCL also often features on the news and in the media alongside other world class institutions, which I think is great.

What I enjoy in this university is how open to the world it is. When looking at universities, I focused on how globalised they were because I was eager to learn as much from interacting with my course mates/friends than from attending lectures.