To be honest i doubt if there are any private apartments that are in the university's area and will cost you less than say 150 pounds a week. I've been looking at some real estate agencies online, and most apartments are way out of my league budget-wise. So i guess you either stick with UCL accomodation, or end up living in a private space that is further away. In that event, I'd personally go for the first choice.

On the other hand, a friend of mine has studied at UCL last year, and he told me that he'd go for a private apartment in Camden Town if he would have been staying for another year (contrary to living in one of the halls like he did last year). So i guess finding a nice private apartment is possible, as long as you keep your eyes open. For you (i understand you're a UK student already) it shouldnt be too much hassle to go to London for a weekend to look at some places, should it? I assume thats why UCL gives non-UK students priority... In any occasion, good luck and see you in september!

Thank you very much for your responce - it was really helpful. Going to London for a scout around seems like the best way to go for me. Hope all is panning out well for you with accomodation and yes indeed see you in september.

Googling for London Student Housing just now, found some interesting websites already. We're still talking 150+ pounds a week and most landlords want to sublet an apartment as a whole (so you'd have to gather 2 or 3 friends to live with before you start searching), but at least it does look like there's quite a few places for rent out there ;)

hi, I just got Ifor Evans Hall. is anyone getting that accomodation site too? We can all make friends before we even start the course...hehe am so excited about this. anyone planning to do International Banking and Finance law at UCL this coming sept? keep in touch ya...

I didn't receive any news from UCL Housing yet. Did you get the offer by e-mail, or by regular mail? If they send out offers by regular mail, it might take a bit longer to reach certain countries. Where are you from?

Regards,

David

Haven't received anything either. A bit anxious about it... :(
Hope they'll send me an offer this week.

I have received an offer on 10 August. It was sent via e-mail and they said I was part of the "pilot group" which can accept this online. Not sure how large this "pilot group" is and what happens to others, but I understood from previous correspondence that the offers should all be sent via e-mail.

If you are worried you should probably call the residence services. Not sure whether it is a coincidence or not but I've received my offer several days after I called the residences to check status.

As to location I was offered Goldsmid House (which is a bit of disappointment since it is far from campus). Anyway if anyone else would be staying there let me know :)

hi Arbitrationfan, I am part of this pilot group too. and yes, i was directed to a website database where all offers are accepted online. hope to see you there in sept. are you a UK student yourself?

Although indeed quite far from campus, i must say that Goldsmid house looks pretty neat. Apperantly it's one of the newer buildings, so i guess that's a good thing.

Either way it's good news that UK students are being offered housing already. From what i've been told, International students have priority over EU students, who in turn have priority over UK students. So that would mean that EU students (like me) will most likely get an offer. I'll keep you guys posted, best focus on my TOEFL test for now, coming up this saturday (but shouldn't be too much of a problem i guess).

hi DavidNL, all the best in your TOEFL exams. Yes, I read the same too that non-UK students will surely get an offer, if things go well. The priority is with them. hope to see you there at UCL in sept. As for Goldsmid House, location is superb. located in a posh area in London as compared to Ifor Evans, which is at Camden.

DavidNL, good luck with your TOEFL! But why TOELF and not IELTS?

Thanks. I am from Russia (so non-UK/EU). Perhaps this also influenced the timing of the offer.

I received an offer for International Hall on Monday. Anyone else there?

For those who have their accommodation offers: when did you submit your application forms?

I sent my form on 27th May, so they probably received it around 30th.

I sent mine on 25 March! So, I wonder, where is my offer?? Think, it's time to call them...

By the way, if it's not a secret, what max weekly rate did you specify in your application form?

I didn't apply till the end of June, so i guess i'll be on the bottom of the list ;)

As for the TOEFL/IELTS discussion, TOEFL offered more convenient testing dates, so i picked that one. I read that the difficulty of both tests is pretty comparable, do you disagree?

Did you guys study a lot for your TOEFL/IELTS exams? I tried some reading tests and scored well over 90%, so i'm not too worried. Been working on my Economics thesis (in English) for over a month now, reading articles from economic journals so i take it my vocabulary would be sufficient. Might have to practice the speaking part a bit though :)

I personally had some trouble with the Speaking part. In fact my Speaking score is the lowest (only 6.5 with 9.0 for Listening and 8.5 for Reading).
I think that you need to take 5-10 tests (at home, not officialy) to have a good score for Listening, Reading and Writing. But Speaking... It all depends...

hi everyone, can i ask for some frank advice. is 151 pounds week in london including food mon-fri expensive? is there any place i can get it cheaper in central london? the location of the hostel is in central london at camden.

suchette, I have essentially applied for an en suite room (which carries the max price) so I wrote that I am prepared to pay whatever it costs (with the rates for the 2011-2012 being already published).

As to English language tests my experience is limited to IELTS as well and it is the same as suchette's, i.e. you need to do 4-5 practice tests at home in listening/reading to get a very-very high score (8.5-9).