Why would you go to uni anywhere but London?

If you try to walk down Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, you’ll find yourself cursing at tourists, texters and children who walk like they’re working on their impression of a tectonic plate.

But as you sit down and sip on your caramel frappucinno you realise there’s nowhere you’d rather be. There’s a reason so many people flock to London – it’s the greatest city in the world, and there’s nowhere better to be a student.

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You get to live in the capital

Sure, you may be able to afford living in the centre of London when you’re in your fifties, by the time you’re that old you’ve got real shit to deal with like kids and tax.

When you’re 18 there’s nowhere better to exercise your new found freedom than London. Whether you want to get ketty in XOYO or have a cocktail on the 40th floor of The Shard there’s something for you. You could see the extent of somewhere like Durham’s nightlife in about seven minutes but you couldn’t get around what London has to offer in a lifetime.

Yes, it’s a little bit pricier than a lot of places, but with £2.50 drinks at places all across the city on most nights, it’s not that bad. Plus, with the option to splash out every now and again in places which are actually nice, it’s the perfect place to pretend you’re a baller to your mates.

To be fair The Shard costs more than £2.50

There’s loads of students

With almost 400,000 students in London among a wider population of 8.3 million, there’s always going to be someone you can be friends with no matter how weird you are.

There’s also a huge range of people. Straight, gay, black, white, rich, poor, clever, sporty, there’s almost definitely more of a particular group of people than anywhere else in the UK, meaning finding people with shared interests is easy. While rivalries exist between the different universities, there’s a shared love for London and the London experience which unites everyone. You can always hit ULU on a Friday night and make a best friend from LSE or Kings while intoxicated in the toilets.

London’s actually nice

When you visit your mates in Birmingham and Manchester you realise how beaut London is. It’s simply nicer to look at than anywhere else. Be it Canary Wharf, The City or any of the eight Royal Parks, London is as beautiful as it is vast.

You can sit on the DLR on the way in to Canary Wharf and be wholeheartedly stunned by how impressive it is, how incredible mankind is and how you’ll never want to live anywhere else. Why would you want to walk your future dog anywhere but a sunny Hyde Park? Why would you want to wait more than three minutes for public transport? Why would you want to be anywhere else?

Show me a better view in Sheffield

You’re more likely to get a job

Want to be a trader? Head to Canary Wharf. Insurance? Get yourself to The City. Media? Hit up Soho.

The country revolves around London, it’s a fact. As a result, it comes as little surprise that’s where all the jobs are, and you’re in the prime location to start bum-licking bosses. You can apply for work experience more flexibly since you have accommodation in the city, and you’re always around for interviews. If you need to gold-plate your LinkedIn then there’s no better place to be.

If you want to work abroad then you’re also on to a winner. “London” carries a weight which “Exeter” or “Newcastle” just don’t have – everyone has heard of London. Even if you go to London Met people will be impressed you graduated from a university in the capital and people love Londoners for some reason.

Americans will love it if you say you’re from London, and it could help you clinch that job across the pond that you’ve always wanted. The same applies in Asia and Europe too, just tone down the Northern accent if possible so they can understand you – don’t make the same mistake as Cheryl Cole.

Even the dog loves it

The basic message is this: London offers absolutely everything. Whatever you’re in to, from fashion to acting to entrepreneurialism, there’s nowhere better to follow your passion than in London. The fact that some of the best universities in the world are on your doorstep is a bonus. Yes, you pay a lot of money to stay in halls but you get a bigger loan and you pay significantly less than you would if it were private accommodation.

As you progress through your three turbulent years of university you slowly turn in to a Londoner. You become someone who appreciates the fact you are a cog in a huge machine which we all call the capital, a machine driven by a shared passion for the magnitude and beauty of the city by all that live there.

Yes you pay a bit more, but it’s worth every last penny. London is special, there’s nowhere else like it.