In London, New Students Make Acquaintances During Move-In

Chapter Spitalfields, one of the four accommodation blocks housing London students, was abuzz with students and their families getting acclimated to university life.

Two people wheeling large suitcases outside of a dorm building in London. Hundreds of Northeastern students moved into halls of residence at the start of Welcome Week. Photo by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University

LONDON — Halls of residences playing home to Northeastern University’s freshmen in London were buzzing as students and their families became acquainted with their new surroundings.

New arrivals checked in to their living quarters, situated across four sites in central and east London, on Monday, with more set to do so on Tuesday.

Among them were hundreds of U.S.-enrolled Northeastern students who will study in London for one year, known as “London scholars.” Domestic students, who will spend three years studying on Northeastern’s London campus, were also moving in to their new digs, with postgraduate students due to the same on Wednesday.

As students waited to collect their room keys at Chapter Spitalfields, one of the accommodation blocks, they were able to mingle about and meet their roommates.

Brody McVay, from Boston, and Max Moroz, who has come from Los Angeles to study business and law, had never met in person before Monday. But, using the power of the internet, they had found each other online before traveling across the Atlantic and agreed to room together.

McVay, a mechanical engineering student, says the pair connected through an Instagram group after learning that they had both been accepted to study at Northeastern in London.

“There was a page where you post about yourself and link up with like-minded people,” he explains.

It was not the only acquaintance he made before even stepping foot on British soil. Being on a group flight arranged by the Global Experience Office in Boston meant he traveled with others embarking on the same journey.

“It was definitely good,” he continues. “The pre-boarding was a good time for us to hang out and really get to know each other.”

Three students having a casual conversation in a university building.

An excited student wearing a red 'Northeastern University' hoodie holds a pamphlet in one hand and their phone in the other. Photo by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University

A family posing for a photo after helping their student move in. Photo by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University

Two people standing in an elevator behind a large cardboard box. Photo by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University

A red sign with a Northeastern logo on it on a wall. In the foreground students are blurred and mingling. Photo by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University
Some students flew in on Northeastern-arranged group flights from the U.S. while others traveled to the U.K. with family members. Photos by Carmen Valino for Northeastern University

Caroline Schmitt, a health science student who is on a pre-medicine track, was also on the

overnight flight from Boston to London, arriving at 7 a.m. The Bostonian and her friends, Grace Zhong and Margaret Miller, took the Elizabeth Line, a metro route linking Heathrow Airport to central London that opened in 2022, to Liverpool Street, the closest train station to Chapter Spitalfields.

Schmitt, 18, is set to see plenty of the city by the time her first week is over. Students have the chance to explore London thanks to activities arranged by the university, as well as going through registration and undertaking academic inductions during their first few days.

“Our Welcome Week is pretty stacked,” adds Schmitt. “I’m going to see two shows on the West End, ‘Hercules’ and ‘Hamilton,’ which I’m super excited about. And then we have a lot of touristy stuff, like bus tours and we’re going on the London Eye.”

Brynn Emery was ahead of many of her American peers in getting to know the place that she will call home for the next year. She and her mother, Crystal Peppiatt, flew in from Kansas City two weeks before move-in so they could get to grips with the city.

This long stay marks Emery’s fourth time in London but the philosophy major says there is still a lot she wants to see as she studies in “one of the coolest, most culturally diverse and significant cities” in the world.

“I’m so excited for all the museums,” says Emery. “I have my list of all the free ones that I’m going to see. This might sound so dumb but everything here is so old. It’s not like Kansas, it’s not like America. It is so different culturally — I’m excited for that, it’s going to be really cool.”

Emery, 18, was texting her new roommate before traveling to the U.K. and had the chance to meet her on Monday. Her roommate put up a welcome banner on their door to surprise Emery upon her arrival.

Peppiatt was due to fly home on Tuesday, leaving her daughter to start her new adventure. She says her overwhelming feeling was one of excitement for her eldest child.

“She is my first, so it is going to be a hard transition once I get home,” Peppiatt says. “But she’s also messy, so I’m looking forward to a clean house,” she adds while laughing.

A London reunion will not be far off, however. “We’re coming back at Thanksgiving,” Peppiatt says, “when the whole family will come over for the week so she doesn’t have to be by herself. We’ll come back around the holidays and see the lights and do the Christmas shopping.”

Some new students will have far longer than just a year to acclimate to London life. Mackenzie Savage of Orlando opted to switch to a double degree, allowing her to gain an undergraduate degree in international business and international relations that will be recognized in both the U.S. and the U.K. The 18-year-old will spend three years studying in London before completing a final year in the States.

The Formula One fan, who traveled with her mother, Erica, and grandmother Sylvia (who was experiencing leaving the U.S. for the first time) says that with London’s cultural offerings and Britain’s strong motor racing heritage — Silverstone hosted the first F1 race in 1950 — the U.K. feels like the perfect place to be.

“I’ve been to the U.K. once before when I came to visit my sister when she studied here,” says Savage. “That was my first taste of life out here and I loved London. It is like New York City but a lot calmer and with a lot more opportunities.”

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In London, New Students Make Acquaintances During Move-In

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