I think the problem with the foreigners sticking together is (I think) that it betrays the purpose of studying in another country altogether. What's the point of studying in a country with a different culture, a different language and different costumes if you're just going to stick with what's familiar to you? You might as well just go to a good university in your own turf. All that, however, is none of my business.
Good point totally agree with you. Also in the workplace, particularly in the UK you are likely to be working in a diverse work environment so if you can adapt to this whilst still at uni it will serve you well in your career
AS someone who came to Royal Holloway to study from abroad (back in 1986) I can tell you very simply why I rarely hang out with English students: I did not find the pub crawling culture and generally the fascination about getting plastered - which reached new heights when the "new" union building was made available in 1987 - particularly enticing - and the same applied to the Germans, Danish, Spanish and Norwegian students with whom I would sit together for dinner. It had nothing to do with sticking with your own but more with the vast difference in maturity (in general of course, not always) between the international and the local students. That did not stop me joining clubs and societies (president of sailing club for a few years) where by necessity you met people with a similar interest to yours; but when it came to the day-to-day dining and socializing we tended to move in groups with few English people, if any. In the end I got used to the "lets go for a piss-up" culture though I have not adopted it and did find friends who saw pleasure in things other than the weekly drink and puke. That said, I am surprised by the tone and sentiments expressed by the OP (and the video poster's similar concerns) which I would expect to find at the Daily Express comments section but not from Royal Holloway students.
As someone who lives in a very international area (Geneva) I understand why international students go to a foreign uni but stick with their own culture. It's a big change and a big culture shock, so for one you want to stick with people who are familliar to you and who have similar experiences to you. Generally this will change more once you're acquainted with the culture, but Britain's drinking culture especially isn't as common in the rest of the EU and in a lot of different countries. Lamguage can also be quite saunting, I'm fluent in French but given the option I prefer to spend time with English speakers because I'm more comfortable in that language. Now imagine what it's like for someone who isn't fluent in English.
Thank you for making this video! I just got a place at Royal Holloway and even though its not my first choice its still quite high up on my list :) this was very very helpful ! About the international students I know exactly what you mean (I am not British myself) and while I made friends more easily with people from other countries (not because we spoke the same language but because we were in the same situation namely we missed our country so much :P) later as my English improved I became very close friends with British people too :) so maybe that will happen as well with some international students, its very scary at the beginning as you dont feel confident when you speak but then it passes and its so rewarding to meet new people and just get to know their culture more :) I wish you all the best of luck and one more time thank you for your video! Xx
Thank you, Izy. My son has been accepted into RH, and your videos (including the Campus Tour) are helping us make a decision. Very useful. Thank you for making them.
Nice, balanced video, I thought :-) I also did Psychology there (well it was RHBNC when I started in 1990). It sounds like not a great deal has changed, other than more buildings! When I started there were 3,500 students, numbers gradually rose whilst I was there, and as I stayed around in Egham afterwards until 1997, I noticed the numbers increase. I was in the area a couple of months ago, first time in well over a decade, and I could see that there were more shadows on the ground than I remembered - but then when there are more students, they need to live somewhere, and need lectures halls in which to be taught. I hope you've gone on to find work this summer. I might have to watch your Ps&Cs of a psych degree. I confess, I didn't do anything with mine, started out temping whilst pursuing life as a musician; but then needed to pay the rent more reliably! I did a couple of decades programming, but now work as part programmer, part musician. Longer term, I've found many of the friendships I made at Royal Holloway have lasted. The joys of the internet have meant that I could reconnect with those with whom I'd lost touch (mine was the last year /not/ to have a college email account!), and went to a reunion in June in WGP. My connections with the Psy dept. didn't stay strong, but that's more my fault than anything on the Alumni side. I wish you well as you start out past undergraduate life!
Was a bit worried when the pros stopped 4 minutes in - but great video! How easy is it, or not, to get a job around Holloway or for the Uni itself? What other stuff is there to do around, like socialising and general things to do? Was it easy to settle in, what sort of stuff happened in the first week? Is the student housing difficult to get and are the student houses any good? With the international students, was it hard to find friends then (would it be possible to end up in halls with all people that don't speak English?!) Apologise for all the questions - thank you!
Thank you it 's very helpful to me. As an international student , it's hard to be familiar with a new language, but luckily my international friends are tolerant. However ,culture shock is a problem.We are not interested in the game they are keen on. We can chat happily, but it's hard to have fun together. For example, some friends like to go to bars or club at night, or play interactive games in the kitchen every day. We are not familiar with or interested. I really like to have a British friend in future
Nice to meet you here : ) I heard that there will be a new library near Windsor building next year. By the way, I am an international student here and very glad to make friends with you!!! lol
Hi Youngin, wouldn't let me reply to your comment so hopefully you will see this. Glad the video was helpful! I would imagine that your school would help you with applying to university..? But I think that international students apply online through the UCAS website which is the same for British students, between the 1st september and 15th january (according to the website). I imagine that as long as you get the minimum grade requirements Royal Holloway would accept most international students that apply, although obviously I don't know for sure. There are many bilingual students (the other day we were talking about bilingualism in my lecture and there were quite a few people who had been brought up bilingual). Hope this helps!
Hello! With hope this comment gets noticed I just want to ask something very brief: Should worry not beeing able to afford the UoL even if I managed to get in? I could say I'm middle-class in my country but when compared to London, the living costs + tuition fees would be too high for my family to afford. From the brief scan I made trough the University support it gives the idea it's not somehting easy to get as an EU student and the financial help is still a bit limited. I am aware most students find a part-time job but I can't help but to wonder, is it enough to help cover the costs? Do you happen to know any other types of support I could get by studying in UoL? Hope to hear from you (or anyone else who wants to share their experience) Thank you!
Most universities have the problem with study space. They should rethink the role of libraries in universities. In a digital age, printed materials should take as little space as possible. Most undergrads going in libraries are doing revisions or doing some quick work in between lectures, not browsing books or looking up journals. What some universities do now is they create learning centres
Hi! I would like to know about master's in Clinical Psychology like the faculty, study environment, practical exposure and placement, if you have some idea about it. I am looking for 2018 intake.
Well, see it from the point of view of international students. They are in a foreign culture, seeing people who don't look like them, listen to different music, eat different food, like different things, even dress differently... British students also form their own groups. Meeting people is a mutual thing. You see them forming groups, not making effort to meet the locals. They see the same on you. So, when the foreign students feel lonely and homesick (remember they can't just go home for the weekends), of course the easiest thing is meeting people from their own countries. Socialising around alcohols is a much bigger thing for British/European students, students from many other countries have much less contact with alcohols. So, if you invite them out to pubs, bars, etc, they would say no. Not necessary it's a religion thing. It's just something they are not familiar with, don't get much pleasure from and don't want to spend money on. Having said that, I do agree international students from certain countries DO ONLY want to meet their own people. ps. I just looked up the statistics RH has about 30% international students (inc. EU), that's a very typical number. Even Oxbridge have about the same percentage.
This video was particularly helpful for me. And I just hope I meet people who are enthusiastic about International students, cause I am very much looking forward to making friends from diverse cultures.
Oh my gosh this is perfect! I've applied to study psychology here, this is such a helpful video, THANKYOU!! I've put it as my firm choice, just got to wait till results day :) I have a few questions about the uni. 1) I was just wondering, how do you find youre course in psychology? like the lectures and stuff are they good and are the staff good? ( I have had a look around but it;s nice to here from a student) 2) Is there anything in the canteens ect. suitable for vegans? 3) Also how did you find meeting new people in your first year? Are people friendly there? and lastly, 4) do the staff around the uni know you well? Also looking at Portsmouth and Plymouth but Royal Holloway looks miles better.
Hi Izy! Thank you so much for this video as it has helped me in a way to want to put Royal Holloway as my insurance instead of Leeds. I've put York as my firm and I'm realising some similarity to them as they're not as hectic as some unis are? (From what I've researched and stuff) I'm an International student and applied to the Media Arts course (Film, Tv and Media Production), I'm wondering what's the ratio between British and International Students? I just want to know what to expect aha. Also in terms of student life, are you in any clubs/societies and how often do you go to these societies? Also, how often do you go out, especially in your first year and how did your freshers week go! (Really sorry if there's a lot of questions to this as you're one of the only people who really reply back!) Also great video :)
Tiffany Gan Hi Tiffany, thank you for your kind comment! Yes I imagine York is also a little less hectic than some universities, and also York is such a nice pretty city! I think I read somewhere that about a quarter of students at Royal Holloway are international. I was in ROHO Snow (the skiing and snowboarding society) last year, but I wasn't that involved, I just went on a couple of trips to the indoor skiing centre but I didn't go on their ski trip (which is really popular) as i'm not very good at skiing! Besides that I haven't been in anything else, I think because in first year I felt like I was just adjusting to being at university and making new friends. Also while I like doing individual sports like running, I'm not into any team sports which is how a lot of people get involved. So if you are into sports and make it onto a team you will probably be doing matches twice a week (monday and wednesday afternoon) and maybe training on one or two of the other days. Most departments have their own society, I do Psychology but I never joined the society as it doesn't really do that much. But some departments have really active societies, i know that the geography department do loads and is really popular. And I know that the film society organise quite a few events and talks, one of which I went to as the talk was given by some youtubers! With non-sporty clubs/societies it's kind of up to you how often you go along, but I think most societies would do something once a week or once a fortnight. I don't go out very often as I'm just not really into that kind of thing, in first year only a few times a term. But a couple of my housemates who enjoy going out usually go to the SU once a week, but in first year I think they went out more, maybe two or three times a week. Freshers week was good although fairly quiet, the first night we were given a free meal at the Hub (a cafeteria on campus) which was nice because it meant that everyone went so it was a good way to get to know your flatmates. Then we went to the sports fair and the societies fair together which was just fun to walk around. People go out a lot more during freshers week - there's Monkey's mondays (a pub down the road), SU wednesdays, Liquid (a club in Windsor) on thursdays, SU fridays, Medicine (a bar on campus) on saturdays and some people go into london although a lot of people can't really be bothered/don't want to spend extra money. But even if you don't want to go out you can always just join in with pre-drinks in your kitchen. You'll also probably have a welcome talk with your department and maybe meet your personal advisor that week. Hope that helps!
Hey Izy, I appreciate the video! I'm currently deciding between Liverpool and Holloway (as I've got those offers as of yet). In your mention of international students, how common are German speakers and continental Europeans? Also, if have some knowledge on Liverpool, I'd love your penny's worth on a comparison between the 2 unis. Thanks!
Hi Liam, thanks for your comment. I know of quite a lot of German speakers and other Europeans (particularly French, Spanish and Italian students), so I would say that they must make up a fairly large proportion of the international students. Unfortunately Liverpool wasn't one of the universities I looked at! But I imagine student life would be quite different up there, there would probably be more of a drinking/partying culture seeing as there would be loads of bars and clubs right there. And it would probably be cheaper there as well. But Royal Holloway's campus is so beautiful, and I think it's nice that it's a bit quieter here plus we are really close to London which is really fun and obviously there's loads to do there. Also if you need to travel abroad we are really close to Heathrow airport and if you want to travel around England we are close to all the London train stations which is useful. Hope that helps!
Hi Izy , thank u for the informations. well I'm an international student and I checked the fees for applying to royal Holloway and it's quite expensive, can u advise me with other universities in london less expensive and with accredited degrees. Thank u in advance
The whole International Students thing I think is quite common just in general. It happened even at my University all the way in the US. It's just a thing that happens haha.
Hi Erin, I don't know why but I can't seem to reply to your comment, hope you see my message though. What kind words, glad it was helpful! 1) I've actually just filmed a video about the pros and cons of doing psychology at Royal Holloway (I realise you've already put it as your firm choice, but I promise you the cons are not bad at all and the video will still be informative about what the course is like). I need to edit it but I will upload it in the next few days so please subscribe so you don't miss it! 2) I must admit I don't eat at uni very often so not really sure...there's definitely vegetarian food, but not sure if it's vegan. I know Crosslands (a place in Founders) sometimes does some kind of vegetable soup at lunchtimes and at the Hub there's a salad bar...if you have twitter I would recommend tweeting RHUL Veg Soc, I'm sure they could answer your question. 3) You will meet so many new people, so even if you don't become absolutely best friends with the people in your flat you will definitely find people you get on well with. And even in your flat there will be at least around 8 of you, so you'll get on well with at least some of them. I was really lucky and had such lovely flatmates. Once you know which halls you are going into I would definitely recommend joining the Facebook group for that hall as people often post on there which flat they are in. That's what I did, and I managed to find a couple of my flatmates on there and it was nice to talk to them online a bit before we moved in! Also you will find everyone is in the same boat and is slightly nervous/excited but I think people are, on the whole, friendly here and eager to get to know everyone. And you and four/five others will be assigned a lecturer as your Personal Advisor (PA) for the duration of your time here, and you will meet fairly early on as a group so you'll get to know them. And you have smaller lab classes and seminars so although there are loads of people in your lectures, you will have opportunities to get to know people studying Psychology in smaller settings. 4) The staff here are FANTASTIC! They are very friendly, and they each have office hours so if you have any questions or want to get to know them better you could just pop along for a quick chat, they're really happy for you to do that. I was stuck on a piece of coursework last term and went to see the lecturer three times about it! You will have maybe 14 lecturers though in total (I think in first year you do 7 modules and you tend to have two or three lecturers per module) so obviously they're not all going to know who you are. It depends how much you interact with them, it's very much down to you to seek them out at uni otherwise you will just be one of many, That was one of the biggest differences I felt between school and uni. But obviously you will get to know your PA really well, and your lab tutors. And in your third year you will have a supervisor for your group project and dissertation (if you choose to do one). You can also apply to be a Research Assistant, which is quite competitive but if you did become one you would get to know more staff. Also the staff do a Christmas Pantomime every year and it's always brilliant, so funny and always really popular (just shows you they are fun and laid back!). Sorry my answers are so long, think it's from writing all these essays! I hope this helps, let me know if I can answer any other questions but do of course keep an eye out for my Psychology related video as hopefully that will inform you more. Good luck with your exams!
That's all really useful to know and i will subscribe to you to see your video on psychology at Royal Holloway. It's really cool to hear that you get the opportunity to become a research assistant, i was quite lucky and got that opportunity at college as my teachers nice worked at Oxford Uni, I got to do some transcriptions and was trained to carry out a battery of cognitive tests on a few ppts, it was really interesting. How many people are selected to be a research assistant each year? Also, kind of unrelated to psychology, I've heard that there aren't too many clubs and bars around the area? what things are there to do in the are? Thank you so much for replying and i hope you have a good weekend!
Hi Erin, just uploaded a pros and cons of studying Psychology in general which you may still find useful just as a heads up about what might be challenging and what I think is good about it. But I will also be uploading a pros and cons of Psychology at Royal Holloway which will hopefully give you more information about the course etc. Wow that sounds great, I definitely think that having that experience will put you in such a good position to get a research assistant role here as not many people will have had relevant experience already. Generally the research assistant jobs are for 2nd and 3rd years and they are always well advertised (they usually email everyone). But you can always speak to your PA, you never know they might need someone or know of another lecturer who's looking for an assistant. I'm not sure how many there are, maybe 20? They also look at any coursework marks you already have and they usually want you to be on a high 2:1 or preferably a first. Some of them are paid (often up to £12/hour) but a few are voluntary. Regarding clubs and bars, you're right there aren't many at all but students make the most of the places that are here, and it's kind of nice in a way because if people are "going out" then you know that everyone will be going to the same place! On Mondays people like to go to Monkey's (a pub down the road), Wednesdays and Fridays are SU nights, some people go to Liquid in Windsor on Thursday nights and then there's Medicine (a place on campus) on Saturday nights, And occasionally people go into London for nights out. In terms of other things Staines is ok to go to, it's not huge but it's got all the normal high street shops and quite a lot of restaurants and a cinema. Windsor is really really nice, very pretty and has nicer shops and is bigger than Staines. Windsor Great Park is up the road, it's so pretty and quite a few students go there in the summer. Kingston is easy to get to on the train and London is only a 40 minute train journey away. It is quiet on campus during the weekends, so you have to make an effort to go to other places to do things, I guess if you were in a city there would be more to do right on the doorstep. But I feel like you get to know people better because people stay in more. If you do sport though you'd be busier anyway what with training and matches. So yeah it is quiet and maybe at first you might be envious if you have friends going to bigger universities that are in cities, but in the long term I think it's nice that it's chilled out here and it's not overwhelmingly busy.
From when I visited I can't remember if there were actual lessons there (I think so?) but there is a library inside and therr is accomodation there too.
Hi Izy! Torn between Royal Holloway and University of Surrey, what would you say was the dealbreaker for you? Also, I don't currently have a drivers' license and likely will be entering university without one, will I be entirely stranded on campus without one? How is the bus service? What are the social life and activities like at the university? I've heard people say that Egham is very isolated and boring and people can become depressed there easily.
Metamorphosis Hi! I think both Royal Holloway and Surrey are very similar in terms of their location and the campus. So I think for me Royal Holloway won because the modules that I would study there were slightly more appealing, and I think it did slightly better in the league tables for my subject. In terms of whether you will feel stranded, it kind of depends on what you're used to. If you don't currently have a car and have to use public transport to get anywhere then you might not find it that different, as there are regular buses and trains so you can get to Staines or even London fairly easily. But if you currently live in a city or in the centre of a town you might find it a bit of a shock, as there's not much in Egham and you have to make an effort to go to places to do things. But the same would be the case at Surrey. I think in a way you might feel more isolated/depressed in a city though because you might not feel a sense of community, whereas here everything is contained in one place. All your friends will be nearby and you're likely to see people you know when you walk around campus. Plus there are things you can do and get involved with on campus, and besides most of the time you will be studying/going to lectures or going to buy food or just sleeping/cooking/just hanging out anyway! Hope that helps!
Yes there is, well it takes you down Egham Hill and drops you off a couple minutes walk away from the station. The buses are maybe every 10/20 minutes and I think cost you about £1 each way, so they're a very good option :)
Exactly. Many people around the world think they have heard of universities in Liverpool and Manchester. Nop, they first know the football teams. Now they just keep going because people they met have gone there. They are not better than Royal Holloway, in my view.
Hi, really useful video :) I've applied for Physical Geography and am thinking of putting RH as my first choice, I was just wondering which of the Halls you stayed in? and someone mentioned in the comments that the drunk students are quite distracting. Did you find this true for you and can this be solved by just staying in your room?
+Niamhcat Gallagher There aren't that many of them, the Common Homo Intoxicus only ventures out on SU nights, and is easily evaded by remaining indoors. Rarely bands of Homo Intoxicus can enter halls for house parties and pre-drinks, but that's about it unless you seek them out to join them
+Niamhcat Gallagher Hello sorry for my late reply! I would agree with the comment above, it's really up to you how much you get involved with drunk people! You will get pre drinkers in halls but if you stay in your room then no one will bother you, and also it's fine to just pop into the kitchen to hang out with the pre drinkers for a bit and then go back to your room. RHUL students don't go out and get drunk a crazy amount, mainly Wednesdays and fridays for the SU nights and on the weekends quite a few students go home if they live locally so it's quite quiet. Also people quite often leave to go to the SU quite early, say 11 ish, if they haven't bought tickets yet. Hope that helps!
Hi Vera, think you have your settings so that people can't reply directly to you on youtube but hopefully you'll see this. You can either pay as you go at the gym which is £6 per session or most people get a gym membership. There are three different types, the cheapest is £80 and the most expensive (for unlimited access to the gym) is £195. This is a link to the gym page for more info: www.royalholloway.ac.uk/sports/memberships/studentmemberships.aspx
I know the video is old but just in case: I live and want to continue living in London: do you think this university is a good option to go to and from the city every day?
I have a question regarding the psychology course, I have received a unconditional offer, and am not sure whether to choose this university, the offers I received are conditional, I have applied to these universities, - Leeds - Cardiff - Durham and received offer I am waiting for an offer from Edinburgh, is the unconditional offer worth choosing. Thank you sooo much, your opinion is much appreciated
Hi I presume you have watched my pros and cons of psychology at Royal Holloway video? If not check it out! That's a really tough choice, as they are all great universities. They never gave out unconditional offers (unless you already had your results) when I applied, so it's really hard for me to imagine it. Out of those I only looked at Durham, and I really didn't like the look of their Psychology course - the lecturers I spoke to seemed disengaged, and the whole department seemed a bit outdated. But I would say it by far has the best reputation, so if that's your main priority then I guess that's the one. I have heard some really great things about Psychology at Cardiff, but I don't know much about Leeds. I think it depends on the kind of university experience you are looking for, because at the end of the day you have to spend three whole years there so I think that almost matters more than reputation (but besides all of those have a good reputation). If you really want to experience living in a city and going out lots and having loads of things to do, then maybe Leeds or Cardiff would be best. Durham is just so so far from everything, whereas although RHUL can be a little quieter, it is really close to London and I think it is the least intimidating and feels a bit more like school because it's much smaller and contained on one campus. I think the Psychology course at Royal Holloway is fantastic though. Hope this helps!
Hi, thank you very much to do this video. I´m thing study there and I can see that you have a book of vegetarian cuisine, I am vegetarian and I really want to know if there options for people with this style of life
If you go with catered, then there are vegetarian options in all of the onsite food places, as well as other options available if you have other dietary requirements. If there aren't, then I'm pretty sure you can ask in the dining hall for something that works for you. Obviously for non-catered you control what you cook.
Hey, I applied for that program and I got accepted, and did you end up going after all? They canceled their open day cause of everything that has been going on so i did not get a chance to see it
Hey :) so I'm pretty certain permits are free but unless you are commuting from home, are disabled or are a top athlete you're not allowed to bring you car to halls (with the exception of Kingswood which is the only hall that is off campus - it's about a 10/15 minute walk I think). When I was in halls I brought my car to uni anyway as they didn't really care, they would just put the occasional warning letter on my windscreen. But this year they've tightened up the rules and I think they have cameras that detect your number plate so you really wouldn't be allowed to bring it unfortunately. Some people leave their car in the nearby streets but obviously this isn't ideal. But definitely at least bring it in your second year.
Hi Charlotte. I really liked Surrey, the campus had a similar vibe to Royal Holloway's and I felt like they were very good in terms of making you very employable. I liked the Applied Psychology course at Durham (but really didn't like the look of the normal Psychology course) as the lecturers and facilities seemed fantastic, but it was based at Durham's second campus in Stockton-On-Tees which I really didn't like! My other two top five choices were Birmingham and Bath, both of those were exciting as obviously they are much bigger and I absolutely love the city of Bath. But I preferred the Psychology course at Royal Holloway. Hope that helps!
+Izy Vlogs Hello Izzy. I watched your Campus video and this and found it incredibly useful! This comment made me think of a problem I'm currently facing. I'm a student from overseas Singapore thinking of studying English and creative writing there, and I know you are studying pysc but I was wondering if you know are there any Asians studying that? I feel slightly self conscious as it seems to not be a course overseas Asians would go to (not trying to discriminate). also importantly, what should we decide on when choosing a uni? For me I was attracted to RH because of it campus and the fact it had english and creative writing, but then i heard we also need to consider how much we LIKEthe modules and course itself. like it should be modules that we love. what should be most important when considering a uni? I don't know why but I get swayed easily by pretty places, but know it's rather shallow to think that way...after all studying is long term......
Asim Ahmad No not really, both libraries have partitions between some of the desks and you can reserve a study room for an hour or two at a time I think but no private booths. I'm not sure whether the new library will have any but it won't be finished until a couple of years time.
Hi again Vera, just saw your other comment. There are quite a few jobs on campus. Lots of students work at either one of the eating places (such as the hub) or as bar staff. There are also jobs available at the library and sometimes at the store on campus or at one of the post rooms. Alternatively if you just want to work occasionally many students become student ambassadors, and work during open days showing prospective students around. When you arrive in September there will be a freshers' fair and usually the careers service are there so best thing to do would be to speak to them. Also nearby companies who are looking to hire students sometimes come. The university also hosts careers fairs for students looking for part time work. Good luck with starting university and I hope you manage to find a job!
I hope in 2018 to start a Phd at the university, long way yet!!!, the politics and international relations department...my sister was there and I just fell in love with the campus...like to end my days studying there as a researcher...
Hi Nessie, I would say there are definitely more mature students doing postgraduate degrees than undergraduate degrees, but even with undergraduate degrees it depends what subject you're thinking of doing. I spoke to one friend who does French and she thought the oldest was maybe 23, and another friend who does geography and he thought the oldest was 24. But in Psychology we have maybe 3 or 4 mature students (out of around 150) and a couple of them are probably 40s or 50s. Certainly in psychology though no one would take much notice (or care) if someone was older, the only reason I notice the older students is because they tend to say more in lectures!
Thanks for your reply. What areas do you recommend if your staying outside the campus? From what i can gather there isnt any self contained flat in the campus.
All flats on campus are shared usually between 6 to 8 people. In my first year i stayed in Wedderburn which was really nice, double bed and ensuite and then shared kitchen between 8 of us. But in terms of non-shared flats outside the campus, there is a new development just next to uni called The Pad, which does have self-contained flats but they are a lot more expensive. I think there are a few self-contained flats in Englefield Green and Egham, I would have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk as a starting point. I would recommend Egham if you want to be near to tesco and the other shops on the high street (if you don't have a car this might be better than living in E.Green otherwise you have to walk up Egham Hill with your shopping or take a taxi/bus). I think Englefield Green has a much nicer feel (feels more like a village). Englefield Green is split into two parts though: the "forest estate" which contains ex-council houses, much cheaper a little further away from uni but still only a 15 min walk max. The other part includes Alexandra road, armstrong road, harvest road and a few other surrounding roads. These roads have more residents rather than students and the houses tend to be nicer but much more expensive. So handy for uni though, about a 5 min walk. Hope this helps!
One like looses the sense like of what is like being said like. Like it's really like amazing like that like a third like year student like finds it like so like hard to like speak a like sentence without like saying the word 'like' so often. Pity as I gave up after a while.
Artur C. Hi Artur, interestingly someone else asked me this question as she was from Russia so I guess there are Russian students who come to Royal Holloway, personally I can only think of one or two that did my course.. But Royal Holloway does have a relatively high proportion of international students (I think 25%) so there must be some, but I think more of the international students are from Asia or Western Europe e.g. France, Germany.
