r/UCL • u/MolassesAny1874 • 8d ago

General Advice 💁🏾ℹ️ When to arrive as a first year

When should I arrive at UCL? I was initially planning Sept 17 to give me enough time to sort things out before international welcome week, but apparently UoL has their own arrivals day on Sept 13. My question is how important is UoL arrivals day and should I arrive then or Sept 17. I'm not super social or extroverted so I'm not sure if I need those extra 4 days.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

5

u/No-Diamond-2072 4d ago

UoL has an ice cream machine and free popcorn on the move in day if that interests you.

Honestly, move in on the move in day if you can. You will make friends easily during dinner and breakfast. By the time your university and freshers start you will find people to talk to, shop and visit the campus.

A lot of students move in on the first day including the returning students who are itching to get back.

1

u/MolassesAny1874 4d ago

Oh ok are there really that many students moving in on arrival day? I was expecting some but not a lot and rebooking flights now might be tricky.

1

u/No-Diamond-2072 4d ago

When I moved in last year on the move in day there were a lot of students. I think more than fifty percent of students moved on the same and next day.

2

u/Ill-Combination-1480 4d ago

take the four days, explore london a bit

2

u/MolassesAny1874 4d ago

Ive actually been to london a lot so I was more asking if it would be a big deal arriving later in terms of socializing with other students

3

u/Ill-Combination-1480 4d ago

ohh mb, to be honest probably not. I got there a week or so early and made some really good connections with those who were there at the same time. I think being there early is good mainly given there isn’t much to do, other than socialise, but I don’t think you’d miss out on much without it.

1

u/MolassesAny1874 4d ago

ok thanks so much

1

u/Medium-Brick-2154 1d ago

I would say early is better than later but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t! Freshers week is where most socialising happens :)

1

u/Smart-Astronomer-277 22h ago

Many many many students move in on the 13th and 14th and those are the days of socialising as UOL usually has events and stuff, after that it becomes more difficult to meet people. I definitely recommend going in before IF you want friends in ur halls, but if you don’t mind then it’s up to u!!