I spent the last semester (the fifth of my business studies ) in London at Regent’s University and can recommend it to everyone . I looked at several universities in the US and London and the surrounding area through top-medical-schools and ultimately decided on the Regents, mainly because of their location.
The application was quite easy, only the search for the courses was a little more time-consuming, because I wanted to have all courses that I take abroad also credited to my home university in Münster . Shortly after Easter I got my approval and then the most difficult part of the preparation came : finding an apartment. There is also a member of staff at Regent’s (James Barnes) who can be turned to for help finding accommodation in London. But because I didn’t want to live on campus and so did the other accommodations that I was offered but not accepted, I looked around the Internet myself (gumtree etc.). But in the end I found a room on a German website (http://www.langzeitunterkunft-london.de/unterkuenfte/) and was very satisfied with it! I lived in Clapham (Zone 2) and took the tube 13 minutes to Oxford Circus and 17 minutes to Baker Street (closest tube station to Regent’s University).
The Regent’s University with its location right in Regent’s Park is a dream . It was always nice to walk to the university from both the front and the back entrance. Although there are some prejudices about the London weather, we had an incredibly beautiful autumn with a lot of sun and little rain and with the colored leaves the university looked ten times more beautiful. For me, Regent’s University with around 6,000 students was comparatively small, hardly any of the students come from England itself. As a result, I made a lot of friendships with people from all over the world during this time, but I have to say that most of them were also exchange students. The normal Regent’s students are partly open, but also stay a lot in their circles. You can tell that it is a private university, many are brought by their drivers every day or come to the university in Ferrari; everyone wears designer clothes and great attention is paid to the external appearance. Personally, I still felt very comfortable and got to know super interesting people , through and with whom I experienced things that I would otherwise not have experienced.
The lectures and seminars also show a clear difference to a German university. The lectures were actually planned for 60 minutes (which I found to be short, as I am used to lectures over 90 minutes from Germany), but these were usually ended after about 40 to 45 minutes. The seminars, which are in the timetable with two hours, were usually over after one hour. The lecturers were all very nice and helpful and in the seminars one was quickly addressed by name due to the size of the course. There were around 30 to 40 students in the lectures, only around 15 in the seminars, which makes the lessons more of a school-like character, which I liked a lot. There is also compulsory attendance, but you only get a reminder if you exceed the maximum absence of six appointments and can still pass the module. In terms of content, the level was much lower than in Germany. In most of the modules you have to do two things, such as: writing a report, group work, presentation, shooting videos or an exam at the end of the semester. But that was really all feasible and not a great deal of effort. If you really want to learn something, maybe you should look for another university, but I was happy.
And London is really a dream and for me the most livable city I’ve ever been to. Despite the size of the city, it didn’t seem too big to me and, apart from the typical tourist destinations, there are great neighborhoods where you no longer feel like you’re in a big city, but more like a small English town. I have never felt unsafe on the streets (not even at night, on the way home after partying), I have already experienced different things in Berlin, where I come from. I can really recommend everyone to spend a semester at Regent’s University, I had an unbelievably great time and I would definitely not want to miss this time.
