So I know I'm on and off here a lot but I really do value your opinions! Besides, name a better place to go to get an opinion on London Universities!

So here's the deal, I'm in my last year of college at Boston University in the states and I'm looking for a masters program to complete in London when I'm through. I've looked at a couple one year masters programs at the University of London that I may give a go but I would really appreciate anyone's opinion on where to apply! The main thing I'm looking for is a program in medical sciences, I'm not positive about the concentration yet but I'm flexible!

My main hope is to eventually become a doctor specializing in prenatal genetics -- not baby modification but helping detect/treat genetic conditions/syndromes. If not that, then I'd like to work for doctors without borders in Morocco one day. So whatever degree program I choose should be geared towards the medical field.

Anyways -- has anyone heard anything particularly good/bad from a students standpoint? There's only so much information I can gather from a website!

Thanks for your help guys!

Oh hello,


Well this is the only place I can think of, but I work there in a department not much to do with graduate study, not as a student. Not sure if that link is the exact place for Masters you wanna do, or if it is, it lists the masters you want to do. (Yeah, I know under Medicine, it doesn't have Medical Sciences, but I thought I would link it anyways.)

How about St Barts? http://www.smd.qmul.ac.uk/

Thanks guys -- that helps.

I'm looking for personal opinions too though, or any good things/dirt you've heard. Things they don't tell you on the website.

Just out of curiosity... why London?

London is dirty, polluted, overpopulated, overpriced and full of tourists. All the local residents appear to be mute. I lived in London for three months; my health deteriorated quite badly, I was unable to make friends with anyone outside of the office because people just looked at me funny if I spoke to them, and the only place I could find that was affordable was a room in a crap house in Wimbledon. And I was on a salary at the time; I can't begin to imagine the horrors of the student end of the market!

Don't get me wrong, London is fine. For visiting. Just not a big fan of living there.

Have you considered anywhere else? There are medical colleges with equal (if not better) reputation elsewhere in the UK, and the housing is a bit more reasonably priced.

Because I stayed there for two and a half months this summer and fell in love. I was living with my boyfriend for one month and rowing for the Henley Regatta for another. I understand London has its downsides, but Boston and NYC do as well.
Originally I had considered Oxford/Cambridge, but my grades slipped a bit last semester and I don't think that I could get in anymore. I've also found a year medical internship in Paris that I would consider but I have more friends located in the London area.

There is something about London, I couldn't tell you what it is. I love the place. I just feel happier when I'm there. Maybe it's because I grew up on the outskirts, but despite all the pollution, the tourists (who have been everywhere I've lived), and everything else, you always know that you're two roads away from somewhere private. Somehow the city always feels secret, like when you take a step off Carnaby Street you're folllowing the feet of a minority, even if it's not true.

I really like East London, for that reason, Mata. Once when walking along the loud, noisy and smelly Mile End road, we found this little cul-de-sac of houses called Mile End Place. The entrance to it just looks like a delivery entrance to a warehouse or something- there are buildings either side and over the entryway. As you go in, it suddenly gets quieter- those buildings block out the roar of the traffic and you find yourself in this weird close of houses with palm trees in their gardens, white picket fences and wysteria growing everywhere. At the end is a big wall, behind which is a Jewish Cemetery (not uncommon in the area). It's as though you've stepped out of the city, and into some little village somewhere.

I could go on and on about East London- the buildings, the history, the fact that it really isn't as bad as it's made out to be. I never thought I would say this, two years ago but... I love London.

I know exactly what you two mean. There are spots like that in NYC and Boston. I get this personal satisfaction from knowing that little part of the city is unknown to so many other people. The place just sortof becomes a part of you -- like certain areas in central park for me or hidden places in Boston's North end. =)

Don't get me wrong, I do like London as a place to visit, in the same way I like NYC or Paris to visit. However, I do find city life generally to be very grating on the side of my soul that desires peace: I hate all the crowds, the melee of people bustling about and doing their thing, the stench of the buses, the constant cacophany of vehicles, shops and street traders. I end up feeling quite stressed out and just want to go home.

I'm just not cut out for city life, I think. And the bigger the city, the worse it gets. Which is really odd because, before I lived in London, I used to love going to Manchester, and I lived in Sheffield for years.

Gimme a city, any city and I'm 100% it can't beat London, but then I'm a Londoner at heart and always will be, even if there are certain parts that I just cant stand. And don't get me started on the North vs. South thing

Anyway, London Uni to recommend? I'd be a bit negligent if I didn't plug my own - Roehampton.
It's very very nice. Far enough out that you can relax (Richmond Park is wonderful and at the end of the street) and have a chill time on the London fringe but close enough to the centre of town for nights out, shopping blah blah blah. Also, my sister and my Mum both work there (althoug I'm the only one who graduated there )

It's a lovely green campus and has a collegiate system of four smaller colleges that although they're are coming together adminstratively they still retain a strong individual nature and the student rivalries are great... oh yeah and Putney is about a 10 minute walk (Putney being start point of the Oxford-Cambridge boat race) and there are plenty of

It really depends on what you want to study though as to choice of Uni. Certain ones have better reputations for more specialist subjects (Roehampton for teaching, Kingston for Engineering, Goldsmiths for media etc) although I recon for more generic courses it doesn't really matter.

Thanks =)

I had my first organic chemistry lecture on Wednesday and my professor is a graduate of the University of London, Kings College. I'm going to speak to him and see if I can get details on the programs there as it was one of the places I was considering.