<p>My D is considering a Junior Year Abroad at UCL. As an American, I have little understanding or knowledge of UCL and its overall reputation, its academics, students, professors, what makes it unique, etc., etc. To which American universities might it be compared with? I've also heard the idea expressed that Oxford and Cambridge are the only places "worth" sending your kid for a Study Abroad program in an English-speaking country (providing English is their native language, of course). Thoughts on UCL?</p>
<p>There are many âworth whileâ English/Scottish universities for Study Abroad; some would argue that British universities are more rigorous than American universities. If your standard is Oxford/Cambridge, consider the following: law is an undergraduate study in England. Some years back, to practice in NY, lawyers educated abroad had to prove educational equivalence to a US law school. The only English universities exempt from that requirement were UCL, Cambridge and Oxford.</p>
<p>UCL is ranked as one of the highest universities in the world according to US News Week. I think it ranked around 3 or 4, and if I remember correctly the only US university that ranked higher was Harvard. Itâs also consistantly ranked as one of the highest universities in the UK as well.</p>
<p>That ranking puts UCL above Oxford? And LSE as number 60?
I would take each ranking with a grain of salt, though the Times has a ranking where itâs Oxford and Cambridge, then LSE, UCL, Imperial,etc.</p>
<p>No doubt UCL is a great institution, and from what I understand it is second best after Oxbridge. In UK, it would be Oxbridge then London unis (UCL, Kings, LSE, and Imperial, depending on what you study). Please correct me if I am mistaken though.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, I am absolutely looking for reasons to send my D to UCL. Being an American, Iâm just not familiar with it. So any insight on any aspect would be helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks to those who have already responded.</p>
<p>If you have not already, I recommend that you go to UCLâs website and download their Prospectus. It gives a thorough overview of life and studies at UCL. I am an American high school senior and was accepted for undergraduate study at UCL. Two of the main reasons I applied were 1) the top-notch academics and 2) the exciting life of being a student in London.</p>
<p>Academically, UCL is very widely respected in Europe and Asia, though predominantly (and unfortunately) it is unknown to the average American. In general UK rankings place UCL just under Oxbridge. According to U.S. News and World Report world university rankings, UCL is 4th, preceded only by Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge. While, I also do not consider rankings a completely viable source for information about a university, I believe they do represent a certain aspect of the truth. In all the world rankings I have seen, UCL is in the top 20. Also, take a look at some of UCLâs alumni to gather a perspective of the academic caliber. UCL prides itself on being a global university. Approximately 1/3 of the students are international. While teaching methods may vary depending on your daughterâs course, she will be pursuing her studies through lectures and tutorials with her professors. The tutorial system is another aspect of UCL that I am very excited about because it will force me to really immerse myself in the analysis of documents and ideas.</p>
<p>While I have not visited the school yet, when my family and I travelled to London a year ago, we stayed in the Euston area. Euston and Bloomsbury (where UCL is located) are two very lovely parts of London. The nearest tube station is Euston Square, which is a short walking distance from the university and will provide for your daughter access to the entire city of London. The London transportation system is fantastic, easy to navigate, and very clean. London is such a vibrant and beautiful city. There is an abundance of parks, shopping, and opportunities to experience history. The British Museum, one of my favorite attractions in London, is just a short walk away from UCL! I realize that prices may be a concern, but there are plenty of ways to make money go a long way in London. For example, The Globe Theatre offers tickets to Shakespeare shows for 1-5 pounds. And many theatres in the West End offer discount tickets to those willing to sit in the front of the theatre. Donât be discouraged by the rain either. According to gathered data, it rains in New York almost as much as it rains in London. Recently, Foreign Policy magazine ranked London as one of the most international cities. </p>
<p>I believe that University College London will truly offer your daughter an unparalleled international experience in one of the most exciting city in the world. If you would like to see more images of the school and hear some real studentsâ thoughts on academics and life in London, I suggest w w w . unionview . com (remove the spaces). You could also browse the forums at w w w . the student room . co . uk (once again, remove the spaces). I hope this helped!</p>
<p>If âknown to the avergae Americanâ is going to be anyoneâs criteria for studying abroad, they wonât be able to study abroad anywhere, as the average American in my experience has a geographical knowledge of absolute zero outside the USA. </p>
<p>I canât really add to Finalcuts post as they blatently known very much more than me about UCL specifically. Try google or any search engine and you will see UCL is a very well known institution.</p>
<p>There is an extremely good post by IBClass06 in the thread linked below about how to choose a study abroad course.</p>
<p>Bear in mind the experience will be very different depending on whether the student is
a)part of a group of US students in a controlled programme specific for them
b)attends a UCL course in the same way as any UCL enrolled student.</p>
<p>Students in the UK get far, far less supervision from anyone (parents, professors, university staff in general) than students in the US. Especially if studying an arts subjects, there is likely to be little contact time (say 10-12 hours a week maybe). Much more study is independent. None of this is specific to UCL.</p>
<p>Which course are you looking at? The Law faculty was rated the best in the country and the university has itâs own teaching hospital. Itâs also worth saying that it has shot up in the rankings from about 25th to 4th in the past few years so it will become much more well known in US in the next decade probably. </p>
<p>Try âwww . ************** . co . uk /wiki/University<em>College</em>Londonâ (take all the spaces out.) Itâs a guide to the university written by past students with information on societies and so on as well.</p>
<p>From my understanding UCL is an excellent institution. I have several friends from Tufts who went on the Tufts in London program, all of whom really enjoyed the program both academically and socially (I visited one of my friends there and the location was amazing!)</p>
<p>You can also tell your daughter to check out â â â â â â â â â â â â â , which has program reviews from other students throughout the country. I co-founded this website and our goal is to allow students to make the most informed decision possible!</p>
<p>UCL is a great university. My sister just graduated from there.
I just declined their offer for starting this September.
Its great. I think your D will love it. Being in London, it has a vibe of its own- very different from any American college in my opinion. The student body is as diverse as you can possibly get! There are people from EVERYWHERE and iâm not kidding in that regard! Its also incredibly easy to meet people in the other london universities such as LSE (London School of Economics) and Imperial.
The students there are lovely. Theyâre really friendly and willing to help. There are a lot of American exchange students there too. There seems to be quite a few Cornell and Columbia students walking around. So overall, I doubt your D will feel homesick.
Academic reputation- please, please, please do not base it solely on rankings. Every UK university has its forte. LSE is sometimes ranked lower just because it focuses on the human sciences.
If she is seriously considering UCL, I hope your D is prepared to be stretched academically. From what I hear, the courses are tough and sometimes, the professors are not very approachable. But the student body is very capable and I am sure she can get help from her peers.</p>