I have been accepted to the Politics & International Relations program at Queen Mary and am currently in the process of finalizing my uni plans for the upcoming year. I am deciding between QMUL, Glasgow (sociology & politics), and St. Andrews (social anthropology). While I have visited the other two, I will not have the opportunity to visit Queen Mary before having to make a decision. I have heard some mixed reviews about Queen Mary. Though I have visited London a couple of times, I am still not very familiar with it, and I am definitely not familiar with the east end/mile end area. I am very familiar with NYC though, and was wondering if there is at least a somewhat comparable area so I can have a little better idea of what one might expect. I was also wondering about the safety of the area, since I have read a lot of reviews on several websites saying people worried about that. Also, if anyone could tell me more about student life, social life, city life, and living the residence halls at QMUL beyond what I have read on the uni website that would be fantastic! Thanks in advance!
^ Lucy QMUL is on the Mile End Rd in the East End if memory serves. Easy access to central London. Traditionally the patrician area of London is the West end, the more blue collar is the East End. All the other major London schools tend to be up west, Imperial, UCL, SOAS etc.while QMUL is a bit of an outlier. Like any other major city it will be safe as houses if you pay attention to your surroundings, by that I mean no walking around alone at the dead of night, use your common sense. There is a UK version of CC called “The student room”… that site should provide you with all the info you need to know, there will be a forum for QMUL to ask existing students any question you like so you should be all set. Good luck.
The area is sketchy. Not super dangerous like you’ll be knifed in daylight, but not what you think of when you think of London even if the East End can be cool for a day visit. In addition, academically it’s pretty low-ranked (a “safety” in US terms) compared to the two universities you got into (“reaches” in US terms) - I wouldn’t really consider it since you’ve also been admited to two world-renown universities. I’d say it’s a bit like Bushwhack or East Harlem. Not as bad as it used to be, but not super nice to be in when you leave a late class.
Not the nicest area. However, it’s like any urban campus, usually safe on campus and you should have some street smarts.
^ @MYOS1634 with respect Lucy didn’t ask about what you thought about ‘rankings’, QMUL is a solid Russell group university and if grad school in the US is in the future a 2:1 or higher from QMUL will do just fine. As to being “sketchy” do you think its any worse than Glasgow city centre 11 pm on Fri/Sat nights?
^Except University of Glasgow is like 2 miles from City Center so what does it matter? … whereas the university/student neighborhood is safe and pretty nice. In addition, lots of students at QMUL are local and commute; students at Glasgow live on campus and around campus. St Andrews obviously is very different in atmosphere since it’s located in a very small town (as OP likely noticed when s/he visited).
I would base my decision on program and reputation and that would rule out QM.
Acid Test Lucy. Would I allow my 19 yrd old D to study at QMUL if that’s what she really wanted? Absolutely.
Although I would add, I am not a big fan of London for university in general.
I would add as well I am not a fan of going to any university sight unseen.
Would not consider Queen Mary if you have better choices (which you do). In terms of safety, it’s probably the most dangerous out of the three options you have. Glasgow has a ‘reputation’ as well but it’s in the West End which makes it slightly better.
St Andrews is St Andrews and will be the safest (+ the most reputable in the UK)
@elguapo1 with all respect to Queen Mary, just cause it’s in the Russell Group doesn’t mean it’s an ‘amazing’ university. It’s often regarded as one of the worse RG unis with several non-RGs perceived as better than QM.
I said it was solid not amazing.
I see the Russell Group as bring the UK equivalent of the AAU in North America: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities
Research powerhouses all, but the members range from being super-elite & super-selective to not really elite or selective at all at the undergraduate level. And yes, some of the most elite colleges on both sides of the pond are not in the AAU or Russell Group. Dartmouth + all the elite LACs in the US & St. Andrews in the UK.
Dartmouth is in the Ivy League (although yes this was originally an athletic conference). Why would it care about the AAU. Dartmouth also has an endowment of over 4 billion dollars (generous alumni have contributed to this). Personally, I would definitely pick Dartmouth over St Andrews.
Queen Mary Times World University rankings 121 St Andrews 143 (2018). Queen Mary is in the University of London and is a perfectly reputable university, despite the area around it being a bit mixed. Most people in London are used to this and at least some local rents are actually not too bad compared to much of central St Andrews (less so if you commute in from Dundee or something, but not very convenient).