Review of Goodenough College - University Residence 4*

I am a current resident here. The facilities are very good and the staff generally efficient, although always behaving too formally to be called friendly. They take in a lot of US students and Canadian students, as well as people from the richer Commonwealth. So this is not the most culturally diverse experience, as there aren't that many British, Europeans, and poorer-Commonwealth and developing countries people staying here. There are a lot of activities, but many are formal (you really need a suit to go to many of the events here). Like the a commenter who disliked it on Yelp said the place is full of people 'who like to dress like their fathers'. They have a Chaplain rather than a secular psychologist to offer 'counselling'. The ethos is still very much stuck in a British Empire mentality. Also from my own personal experience living in an all male corridor there is also quite a bit of public macho behaviour going around (last pearl I heard was: A: 'I'm staying in London for Xmas'; B: 'For a girl? '; A: 'Nah man, I would NEVER do that for a girl'). Many of the neighbours here don't even say hi when they meet each other on the corridor or the street, and just blank whoever they don't think is cool enough or part of the in-crowd in my corridor. So this place offers frequent encounters with people who are self-centered/individualistic, passive-aggressive, and have an inflated sense of self-importance. If you don't care about that / are unfazed by idiotic behaviour and just want a place with excellent facilities to live in close to uni then Goodenough does offer that.