London: Larger Than Life - Faculty-Led Theater Appreciation Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This class was about typical for my non-major classes at Southwest. We did not study in a foreign university so I can't comment on the difference between U.S. and UK institutions.

On-site administration of your program

Where our foreign resources were concerned, the dorm where we stayed was EXCELLENT. Very clean, well-run, safe and the staff was very helpful. We also had a tour guide who gave us two tours and she was great as well, very professional and knowledgeable and she knew how to interact well with students. I do think this particular class was too large and could have benefited from having two separate, equally-sized groups, each with both a professor and a school liason to help keep everything running smoothly. While I think we accomplished everything we set out to in our program, I got a little impatient with how long it took us to get around the city when transitioning from activity to activity. Additionally, I think the size of the group make the group self-select and break into smaller cliques, which impacted our experience because we weren't really experiencing everything "together", as was the goal. Finally, I would not have included as many students from the same study program as were in this group. The majority of the students were from the Radiology program, and I think that familiarity was detrimental to the cohesion of the group and the group experience once we got to England. The program itself was great, and I was overwhelmed with how much we were able to experience and learn while we were there.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I would advise future students to just buy a converter when they get there - it was not very expensive at the dorm. Also, I would recommend next time arranging a short tour around the neighborhood on arrival and allowing the students time to purchase phone cards, etc. in order to call their families. A lot of us paid WAY too much for a phone card from Londis, when we could have gotten more economical calling cards at Tesco down the street. Also, I didn't find the good grocery store until Wednesday, and there was an internet cafe nearby I could have used earlier had I known about it. The neighborhood itself was VERY nice and safe. We had been informed earlier about bringing a towel, so that was not a problem when we got there. My one complaint about the dorm was the bathrooms - I don't see why the bathrooms weren't ventilated better. They got soaking wet whenever you bathed, and because the fire alarms were so sensitive we could not keep the door open while taking a shower so there way for the condensation to escape. Also, we found out that some things on the website were not correct - for example, there are no phones in the rooms so you have to have a UK phone card (I personally loaded up a U.S. phone card, but found out when I got there it did not work in the UK), also there was wi-fi in the common areas, so it was not necessary to get the ethernet hook-up in your room.

No comment - everything was great. I am now bummed I can't get a pickle and cheese sandwich in the U.S. :-)

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I just enjoyed walking around and enjoying the history of the city. I did not talk to many locals, just tried to get to know my classmates and learn from the program.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

No safety issues. We were in good parts of town and traveled as a group, so I never felt we were in any danger. I personally had no healthcare issues.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Dorm

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• International Students
• Americans

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• Americans