Studying in London

[gruffydesigner]

My DS is interested in LSE, Durham, Oxford, Edinburgh and possibly St Andrews, most likely for a social sciences.

Having lived in London myself and still commuting there once a week, I'm not especially keen on it for him. I find it a bit soulless, and it seems to lack the sense of community that you get at more campus-based universities. However, DS is very keen on London.

I'm also concerned about the cost of accommodation, particularly from second year onwards when I assume he'll need to move out of halls. Are the halls generally a long tube journey from campus?

If your YP has studied in London recently, I'd be really interested to hear about their experience. Was it easy to make friends? Did they live close to campus? Did they have a part-time job (which I imagine is easier to find in London than somewhere like Durham)? Is most socialising just the usual London pubs, bars and clubs, or is there a strong campus or university-based social scene?

Hiya -DS just finished first year at Imperial, so will be different experience to LSE, but here are a few things from me:

Y1 lived in Imperial Halls in N Acton, 45 min commute to Imperial - he hates the Central Line now, but really active social life at halls, loads of events. On campus he did a lot with his subject societies, a lot of events were organised at venues around London so he got to know his way around. Wetherspoons features a lot as well! His course is 25 to 30 contact hours per week plus self study so no time to get a job. He has made great friends ( mainly from his course), had insane exposure to industry and business - so much networking goes on on campus. He was really shy, really quiet but has absolutely thrived. Wonderful International students - he says the Chinese students tent keep themselves to themselves but the rest of the community mixes.

Y2 they are living in Hammersmith /Earls Court border - a lot of Imperial students live there, so socialising will be mainly there and the Imperial Bar in South Ken. Rent is eye watering - £1100 plus bills in a pretty decent 3 bed flat but he gets 7k min loans, so an extra 2k. We will probably have to top up his rent by around £7k - although to be fair if he was Edinburgh or Bath with min loan of 5k we would probably have to top up at least 3 to 4k. He'll be able to cycle to Imperial on about 12 mins or a 40 min walk

He says he cannot imagine leaving London after graduation now.

In summary - it is expensive but if you can afford it don't discount London. It will be a different experience to Durham or Oxford but the opportunities especially for networking are incredible, and if you can live there I think you would find it easy to move to most cities. His I was really reticent about him going but for him it has been the best experience. It's not easy but the rewards are high.

My young relative is looking at London for a highly specialised arts based course because the professional contacts and performance opportunities are second to none and the chance to get into the scene of their choice.
My slight worry is that having been born and brought up in a very rural situation they might be insufficiently streetwise! But very intelligent indeed so have to hope they will survive!
Travel to Central London for them would be water taxi.

Just looked at water travel costs! I think they might go by tube!!

I went to university in London (UCL) for a niche course, even though I would have much preferred a campus location. I really enjoyed it and still love London but expense meant that our lives revolved around university, even 30 years ago. Many of my DC’s peers have gone to London (mostly UCL and LSE) and seem to have had quite varied experiences, largely depending on the luck of the draw in their accommodation and course mates. Some have found it very hard to make friends, with huge numbers of international students who often don’t tend to mix. Others have had a ball. Halls are quite spread out, some close, some not, and you don’t always get a free choice. Realistically, London is massively more expensive than other universities and my DC were told they could only apply there if it was for something they couldn’t do elsewhere. We live in the Home Counties and quite a few of DC’s friends have ended up commuting after the first year. LSE would be a hugely different experience to the others you have listed. My DC are graduating this year and many of their friends either will be or are hoping to work in London (they have chosen different paths for the moment but plan to end up there eventually). London will always be there for them later on.

I think LSE is more niche than many other London unis. It is intense and doesn’t suit everyone. I cannot see a huge advantage in Scotland unis either. St Andrews and London are chalk and cheese.

My DDs have both studied in London and it’s expensive but LSE will give you great job prospects so you weigh up the advantage vs the costs.

My DS went to kings. The halls were quite close. He did make a lot of friends and was heavily involved in the music scene.

he got a bike to start with but it got nicked a lot so he mostly walked or got the tube.

shared a flat in years 2 and 3.

he’s stayed in London. Loves it.

Hi OP,
My youngest daughter just finish her degree at UCL. She lived in a Intercollegiate halls the first year, where she met a very nice group of friends from her university and others, as these halls are open to any student studying in a London university. Her halls were very close to UCL,
I know one of her friends, she lived in UCL student hall in the first year, lived back in the UCL student halls for the 3rd year. She worked there as a student "helper" (sorry, I can't remember the correct job tittle) so her accommodation costs were massively reduced. I think another of her friends, did the same for the second year. This could be something that he could ask about.
My daughter loved her life at UCL and London. We live just outside London, so she lived back at home during her second year, to saved money for her last year, as she wanted to live back in London. She rented a flat very central, she could walk to anywhere from there, so no commuting costs for her.

St Andrews would be a very different experience from the others in terms of location.
What sort of environment is he used to ? (eg do you live in a small town or village).
Dc is going to London in September, and I am concerned about it for all the same reasons, in her case there are no halls so she is having to find accommodation, that’s probably my biggest worry. Dd1 has been in College halls for her entire degree and masters (Oxford), private rentals are a lot more stressful !
LSE is a good choice though. I don’t think it will be any harder making friends ,going by friends’ experiences, but obviously it is different to the college system at Oxford etc. Is he going to Oxford open days ? I would be thinking about what he is hoping for in terms of the overall experience. Oxford is amazing in many ways but also has difficulties, it’s very intense , you can’t get a job while studying. It’s a high stress environment. Some colleges are richer than others, I wish I’d known this ! So the very wealthy colleges have cheaper accommodation. All Oxford colleges offer halls for two out of three years for undergrad, most people have them for the first year and the third. Some colleges offer rooms for the entire degree which is what my dd chose.
The drawback of a London university is that you can have lengthy commuting distances and this can add to stress and obviously is expensive.
One advantage for him is that you live a fairly easy distance away from London by the sound of it ? Many students have a bit of a wobble at some point, in my experience often in the second year, and being able to get home for a couple of nights over a weekend, or have a parent visit, can be really helpful. So somewhere like Edinburgh could be too far to have a weekend at home getting spoilt and given some tlc, should he be having a tough time.

Check out whether the university offers bursaries for those with a lower parental income (if that applies). Imperial College for example offer a £5K bursary each year which can help towards accommodation or maintenance. Also they have relatively cheap halls in N Acton (around £6.8K en-suite) which was cheaper than some comparable places like Bath or Edinburgh. Your dc really needs to decide whether they want a campus uni or non campus. London is an amazing ing place to study and there are lots of opportunities for part time working and summer jobs if needed.

Very useful to know, thanks to all the messages. @MabelAnderson out of interest is camdige know to be as highly pressured as Oxford? I know it's all referred to 'Oxbridge' but I have heard that Oxford can be tough on people's mental health (another worry). Ds has visited Oxford with school a couple of times and loved it. He hasn't so far been to Cambridge.

Cambridge is not any different in terms of pressure. There’s intense pressure at LSE too because many students are very driven and want the top jobs. There’s little difference between them in my view in terms of workload and peer pressure. If he’s not able to buy into that, I’d look elsewhere in all honesty. Maybe look at lse for a masters? I know someone who did this and because it was a shorter burst of intensity, it was fine.

Masters at LSE is the better option imo.

LSE is more of a post grad institution in my experience. I’m not sure how much of a social life you’d have there with so many Chinese students. But I guess people find their people and the employment opportunities would be good (although I find employers value soft skills and work experience more and more).

@LossOfMarbles A very vocal mn contributor would disagree with you about undergrad but it’s very much about right fit if you go there. Some are not going to socialise much and the ones who want to are not going to find their tribe easily. That’s not to say they cannot, but it’s not easy with vast numbers of other cultures that might not chime with yours.

One of our DC has just graduated from a London university and is about to start a Masters in London. Lived in intercollegiate halls in first year and made friends from several universities and ended up living in a group of four including 2 LSE students. London is far from soulless as a university experience - all of our DCs have studied at London universities (2 for undergrad) and loved it. However, some London universities are extremely full on and competitive so best to be aware of that.