University can be a daunting experience, often more so for students who will be commuting to campus. We hope this brief guide to London as a student living at home will ease some of your concerns and get you excited to start at King’s in September.
King's as a Home Student
Being a University student whilst living in a private home is a different experience from those displayed to us in popular culture the likes of Legally Blonde and Pitch Perfect, although King’s boasts its very own selection of acapella societies. It is its own, entirely valid and unique experience, one which, contrary to what some believe, does not lessen or diminish your time at University and in fact, has many benefits. Aside from the obvious: escaping London rent, home comforts and perhaps the most important of all, pets, the commute into campus is anything but wasted time. Commutes can be lengthy and sometimes tedious and, whilst it can be a joy to see the look on your classmates faces when you tell them the ungodly hour that you awoke that morning, the journey into university can be one spent preparing for the day: writing out a to-do list, coming up with questions to ask in your upcoming seminars, deciding which Pret to get your increasingly necessary caffeine fix at. The commute itself will become an integral of your university experience, use it.
Get In Touch
As a student living at home, as opposed to in halls, it can be more of a challenge to socialise in the first few weeks of university. One way to avoid turning up on your first day of class feeling like the ‘new kid’ is to make friends before the first day. Utilise what is available to you, there are a plethora of facebook and instagram groups set up solely as a space for new students to socialise. As well as this, many of the societies at King’s have dedicated social media accounts that would love to hear from you, you can find a comprehensive list of the groups at King's here. It is also important that you keep in contact with the members of your Faculty, when you are assigned a Personal Tutor and begin Lectures and Seminars, let these staff members know that you are living in a home - they are there to help you, as is the Student Services team. Most of all, it is important to remember that everyone is looking to make friends, it is never too late and you certainly won’t miss any opportunity to meet ‘your people’ by being a commuter.
Take Part
Outside of making use of social media and the online services available to you as a student, King’s and KCLSU offer a wide range of events throughout the year, especially during the first few weeks of term, in order to help you socialise and become accustomed to your new life at King’s. Our Students’ Union is dedicated to giving you the best possible start to university, as you will see at our incredible Welcome Fair on the 21st and 22nd of September. This is an excellent opportunity for you to meet other students as well as discover all of our amazing societies and groups. Other than the much anticipated Welcome Fair, there will be plenty of events going on around our campuses, including those tailored to your course and interests - a scroll through the King’s Event Calendar would be an excellent place to start for those looking for events to meet students and staff alike.
Get to Know London
A fundamental part of your university experience as a student living in a private home will be the commute itself and most of you will likely be using public transport to travel to and from campus. Getting to know the transport available to you in London, of which you will be in no short supply, will immensely improve your experience as a commuter. London is known for its red buses and tube station signs, both of which are operated by Transport for London, which can in itself be an excellent resource - their detailed page ‘Getting around London’ is an example. Despite the fact that living at home will most likely save you money, commuting into London can be expensive. The National Rail ‘Railcard’ will save you 1/3rd off your train fares which, after a year of commuting to campus, could save you hundreds of pounds. The Railcard itself is only £30 a year, or £70 for three years, but there are even ways to save on this cost, such as the Santander Student Account, with which you get a free four year railcard. Don’t forget that King’s offers a wide range of support for any financial difficulties or concerns you may be having, which you can find here.
University is a time for you to grow as an individual, to have new experiences and meet new people, it is an adventure that is uniquely yours and valid in whatever form it takes. We hope that this Guide to London has given you some idea of what life at King’s as a commuter looks like, and that you can start to replace some of those nerves with excitement! We can’t wait to meet all of you during our Welcome Week in September