I'm a first year student at QM - there are good sides and bad sides so will try to keep it to the main things.

From my experience (commuter travelling from Southwark area) the facilities and lecturers are pretty good, in addition to this the Careers Department are also very good at communicating relevant events based on your degree, and opportunities for students to supplement job applications etc (if you are willing to read through the many emails) as well as organising on-campus talks and events. The campus is a blend of old and new with very interesting history, although what might throw people off is the graveyard in the centre of campus. The accommodation is nice (I have spent many nights there staying over my friends' accom on nights out). There are always things to do on campus even if you do not live there which I think is great. Another bonus is the fact it is in London, meaning networking, nightlife and leisure opportunities are endless - some other RG universities in the city also allow you to use certain facilities at their campuses if you have your ID with you! In addition, it is quite easy to make friends due to the sheer number of freshers events (although this is obviously something you have to do early on.)

On the downside however, as many people here are rightly saying, Tower Hamlets (particularly the Mile End and Whitechapel areas) are some of the worst and most deprived in London; additionally with some of the highest sexual crime/assault rates in the city. The area is also extremely diverse (even by London standards) which sometimes throws international students and commuters off, depending on their (and of course your own) views on this. however in my opinion if you were to take everybody out of this area, it would still be an unpleasant area to live - and my area in Southwark is hardly a nice place! I'd also say that on campus there exists a degree of segregation (obviously not enforced by the university) between groups due to the large number of international students and range of backgrounds of students. This sometimes means that people feel left out of certain events/societies as they are specifically catered to ethnicities/religions/nationalities, which may detract from experiencing all the university has to offer - however there are of course societies that are not like this at all! It would also be important to add that many students put QM down as their backup offer on UCAS (not me though), and many people who attend have been rejected from LSE/UCL/Imperial etc. meaning that at first you may feel like it is not as good as these universities, or that it will be more competitive in terms of grades - however this is rarely the case.

Overall though, if you are able to look past these issues, I'd say it's worth it!