<p>Hi, So Yayy i got into Kings College London in two courses. 1) BS Computer Sciences 2) Bs Computer Sciences with an Year in Industry.</p>
<p>So there are few things i would like to take your opinion on.
1) Student life at kings college.
2) Life in London
3) Computer Sciences at Kings College
4) Internship Opportunities in London for Computer Science Students and finally
Florida Tech, University of Bristol or Kings College.</p>
<p>Thank You</p>
<p>I’d personally take Bristol over King’s for computer science any day. Bristol has a well-established, highly respected, top-rated CS program that gets a lot of mentions by people in the industry. It is generally considered a top 5 program for CS in the UK, even outranking UCL most of the time. </p>
<p>Bristol is a beautiful city only about 25-minute ride away by train to the east of London. It is vibrant, full of shops, bars, and young and energetic people that come from almost all parts of the globe. The University of Bristol is situated in the heart of the city, and, so therefore, a lot of student activities are intertwined with that of the city’s, making the place even more rambunctious and entertaining. The university has also got some really old, but well-maintained Gothic structures, replicating a Cambridge-like atmosphere. </p>
<p>King’s, on the other hand, is often overshadowed by the more prominent U of London colleges, such as UCL, Imperial and LSE (I think Imperial has removed itself from the federation), but still, it is often overshadowed by those three in terms of prestige, employment prospects, and maybe even, funding, etc… It’s CS program, though decent, isn’t considered to be in Bristol’s league. King’s CS grads appear to not have an edge over Bristol grads in terms of employment prospects, too, because generally, the top companies and firms visit campuses, giving grads of universities not located in London, access to their respective companies and firms. So, it is not true that universities located in London have got the edge in employment success due to their location. For instance, Cambridge and Oxford are miles and miles away from London, yet they both appear to score better than King’s in employment success statistics. </p>
<p>Life in London is great if you have plenty of money. But I wouldn’t recommend it a place to live in for students. All major cities in the UK have easy access to London, so go there when you need to, as you can always go there if you want to. </p>
<p>Thank you RML but there is one thing that keeps me tied up to Kings. I know its lame and has nothing to do with my studies but I’m a big football enthusiast and the fact that Stamford Bridge is close to Kings College kind of counts alot for me but its not a big issue and i might select Bristol over Kings as i have received a conditional offer from Bristol too.
Will i get same internship opportunities in Bristol as in London and what about the campus and over all feeling of enitre architecture at Bristol. One more thing my friend who has been kind of a Co-Programmer with me in all my Computing projects is going to Brunell so in order to keep in touch i decided to go for Kings.
Just help me select the best.</p>
<p>I understand this is hard for you because you would have to sacrifice some things in order to attend the best CS program that has accepted you. (What’s your conditional offer from Bristol, btw?) But if I may have a say on this, I would rather that you put more premium on your academics and your future career opportunities. In such case, I would rather that you go for Bristol. You could never be wrong in choosing Bristol for CS. It is a top program, and very well-respected in the UK. The top employers in the industry in the UK have definitely heard of it, and have high respect for the university, the program, the faculty and their graduates.</p>
<p>. .
I believe the bulk of Bristol CS grads have been absorbed by employers with offices in London. I’m not sure what the law is for international students attending a British university. But in my time, international students are allowed to work for 2 years automatically. If you want to remain in the UK, it is only then that you ask your employer to secure you a working visa. </p>
<p>
I have not been to Bristol long enough to visit all the academic buildings. But from what I’ve seen, there’s a mix of ancient (similar to the ones found in Cambridge and Oxford) and modern buildings. Bristol doesn’t really have a campus as it is in the center of a bustling city, so the university facilities (buildings where classrooms are held, labs and sports complex) are scattered throughout the city. It has quadrangles that separate in-between buildings, and they’re mostly clean, tidy and well-maintained. </p>
<p>If you’re in Bristol, you should have easy access to London. A train would bring you there in less than half an hour, so it shouldn’t be a big deal and shouldn’t be hard if you’ll be visiting a friend. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Computer%20Science”>http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Computer%20Science</a>
<a href=“University guide 2014: league table for computer sciences and it | Education | theguardian.com”>http://www.theguardian.com/education/table/2013/jun/04/university-guide-computer-sciences-it</a></p>
<p>There are other rankings, of course, but I would second RML. Bristol is a great college town and significantly more affordable than London. You can get from Bristol to Stamford Bridge easily enough by train or bus. That said, it is a bit more than a 25 minute train ride- more like 1 hour 45 min.</p>
<p>Go to the UK website called the student room and do some rooting around- you will find lots of fellow travellers and all the opinions & info you could hope for!</p>
<p>My condition from Bristol is A* A and B in 3 A level subjects.
From Kings it is AAB.
I already have an A* in Computing.
I have decided to choose Bristol but then one thing LONDON.
I mean my guidance counselor keeps saying go to Kings and this and that bla bla bla. I know Bristol is better (4th in rankings)</p>
<p>Oh and one last thing. Is there any way i can get some kind of Scholarship or Financial Aid.</p>
<p>Where are you from? If you are from the US you can get US student loans for UK unis. Otherwise, probably not any meaningful amount- some UK unis have (limited) scholarships, but it’s uni by uni and vastly less than the US system. And if you haven’t done your homework on finances for goodness sake do it NOW before committing! Start here: <a href=“http://studentcalculator.org”>http://studentcalculator.org</a></p>
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<p>Huh?! Bristol is a good 2-hour train journey from London. Bristol doesn’t have any Cambridge-esque Gothic structures. It’s a Victorian city and a Victorian-age university, it has a few Gothic churches and a number of fake Gothic structures but thats hardly comparable Cambridge.</p>
<p>Bristol is over 100 miles away from London. You are not going to get there is 25 minutes unless you have a helicopter. It is also nothing like Cambridge (for a start, Cambridge is below sea level whereas Bristol is very hilly) as nordicblue rightly points out above.</p>
<p>If you intend to work in the US I really wouldn’t choose Bristol. No matter how good the course, no-one will have heard of it (Bristol is the name of Sarah Palin’s daughter as far as America is concerned). No-one is going to reject you at a job interview for going a 4th ranked unknown foreign university over the 3rd ranked unknown foreign university. Rankings change. They are only broadly applicable (eg a to 20 uni is definitely better than one ranked 50, but the difference between 4 and 5 will be minimal and likely to change year on year). </p>
<p>You will also find living in Bristol completely different from London. I have just googled it and London has a population of 8 million (largest city in the EU and twice as large as the second largest city, which is Berlin. 30% minority. 2 million born outside the UK) whereas Bristol has 430,000 people (7/8th largest city in England. 16% minority). So your experience is going to be VASTLY DIFFERENT in Bristol compared to London. Do you want to live in a smaller place? A cheaper place? A more relaxed place? A place with fewer foreign students? I don’t think Bristol is a bad choice, but it is unusual for a foreign student to choose it over London. In my experience it is very unusual for foreign students or study abroad students to have any interest (or any knowledge of) in the UK outside of London. Most want to spend their spare time travelling to other European countries. Of course Bristol has an airport, but it is still less convenient than London’s 6 airports. But maybe you want to spend your weekends climbing mountains in Wales or surfing in Cornwall, which are reasons students will choose Bristol I bet. I just don’t really know why RML is selling it (and incorrectly at that).</p>
<p>Good luck on getting Chelsea tickets. Bristol has two football teams, both of which you could get tickets for just by walking up on the day. They won’t cost as much as a weekend in Spain either. Since you are unlikely to get into the ground for a game, I wouldn’t base my uni choice on proximity to Chelsea.</p>
<p>@cupcake,
How easy it is to get a temp job in London if one holds the UK passport? Mine is going to Kings College for the summer but want to stay around for 6 weeks afterwards.
OP, I’ve also visited Bristol, it’s different from London, not as busy.</p>
<p>I haven’t got a clue really. It probably depends on what kind of job. But 6 weeks is VERY temporary. I would try working in tourism or some event that is itself very temporary. One of my friends worked in the gift shop at Wimbledon. Try something like that. You will also need a UK national insurance number. A passport is not enough. £10,000 fine for employing someone illegally makes this process hard to avoid. A passport is not enough.</p>
<p><a href=“Apply for a National Insurance number: Who can apply for a National Insurance number - GOV.UK”>https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number</a></p>
<p>@cupcake, thank you. I’ll ask her to look into getting a National Insurance.</p>