The George Birkbeck

Birkbeck has all the potential to be amazing but sadly remains truly frustrating. I wish I didn't have to say so and I do write this relunctantly but unfortuntaley, this has been my experience. From day one, the Law School's administration has been a shambles. Information was confusing and chaotic and while you're bombarded with a plethora of emails and updates, including notifications and retractions or corrections of said notifications (can't admin staff just get things right first time round?! and WHY so much unnecessary communication? , getting to the information you actually want and need usually seems long winded. Some staff members really do try their best (and I've had some lovely tutors but there's this feeling that the college (or at least the Law School does not run as a well oiled machine, which does not fill me with confidence. Having previously studied at Sussex University, I am not entirely satisfied with the quality of teaching and/or resources at Birkbeck for one the library could be better. The Mooting program however, is great and perhaps it has encouraged the two stars. Secondly, for the exorbitant tuition fees that are charged, the teaching level doesn't correlate. You spend half the time feeling like the law program is being thrown at you at high speed (which is very overwhelming and the other half trying not to drown in the pit of chaos. The main building does look a bit dated and some rooms are run down. Saying that however, the new group study area is a plus and is quite relaxed. I have pretty much pulled up my sleeves and rolled with the punches to get through my course because the alternative would be to let these distractions derail me. Birkbeck is not all bad at all however, the bad tends to outshine the good and that much frustration isn't good for anyone's studies. As I work full time, I'm pretty much stuck at Birkbeck but for anyone not tied to studying during in the evening, go elsewhere.

Boy has this place changed! There is a really neat cafe on the right as you come in. The staff are really helpful. On the left is the information area where you can find out about all the courses that the college has to offer. The library is past the security barrier and you need a Birkbeck student ID or pay a daily fee of £6 to gain access. Very bright. Much better then it was 20+ years ago.

Hmm. Birkbeck. I take a couple of classes here. The place is nice in the kind weather, but seems like such a grey campus for being so close to several nice squares (especially Russell Square). The quad area outside of the main building is a nice place to dodge errant tennis balls being thrown around and take a seat on the green grass. Eat a sandwich if you want to. No one's pressuring you to not eat your sandwich wherever you want to eat it. You can eat your sandwich standing or sitting, no judgement here. Speaking of food, outside SOAS there is a vegetarian krishna food table that gives away lots of food for free every day. You can just stroll on up to it (or the que) and they give you a huge plate of food. Based on every single person telling me they didn't like it, though, I'm staying away from there. To some people, free is free so you might want to try it. The area around the aforementioned Russell Square is my favorite part of Birkbeck rather than the area around the main building. My classes are 3 hours long, so when there is a 20 minute break in the class, we all stroll out into the square and grab some grub at the Russell Square Cafe. It's incredibly peaceful. I like donuts. Birkbeck's main building has a cafe on the ground floor, but the prices aren't so good. So I'd recommend bringing food onto campus (Russell Squ cafe is also a bit pricey). There are many coffee shops leading up to the school. That's another thing, Birkbeck is in the center of London, easily accessible via underground by way of the Russell Square and Goodge Street tube stations. So if you're looking for a centrally located school, LOOK NO FURTHER. Stop looking. I take classes at both London Met and Birkbeck; and everything at Birkbeck is so much nicer. But that's to be expected. #TeamBirkbeck

Birkbeck College have some great creative writing courses. I recently completed an introduction to creative writing tutored by Raul Peschiera. We explored prose as well as poetry. Raul was engaging and quirky and I looked forward to our weekly sessions. The classes were informal with critiques on our work and weekly homework goals. My only criticism is that the course went on for 4 months and so lost a lot of momentum, however I do feel more confident in my writing skills after completing the course. Birkbeck offers other more intensive part-time courses (such as the Certificate of Higher Education or the Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing) which gear one towards studying for an MA.

Birkbeck College is the continuing education branch of the University of London. There are a few Qype entries for it since, as a college, there are several offices and classroom locations. I've taken five evening classes from Birkbeck over several years: four of these were for a Certificate in Philosophy and one was in the Psychology of Advertising. All have been very good: lecturers are great, the classrooms (I had several, most of which were actually in the LSE) were appropriate and not with too many students.