The University of York is Great? Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Overall, the academics at the University of York were unexpectedly difficult. It may have just been my History instructor, but she piled on the work. It was common to receive 200+ pages a week. Beyond that was recommended reading, which many of my fellow student colleagues chose to delve into. I had little understanding of the course's subject (medievel English history) but I learned a load from my module. Class met once a week in the evening each Friday for two hours of discussion.

On-site administration of your program

Susie Steinbach knocked it right outta the park. She was a wonderful host. She invited us into her home and her life and we still talk when I see her on campus today. The first week in York, she gave us tours of everything that we needed to know about and lectured about the history of the city, which was more extensive than I could have imagined. I could impress most fellow British students with my knowledge of their history by the end of it! She was also always available for communication. She gave us her email address as well as her phone number and was able to talk whenever. I just wish she hadn't given us so much homework for her course in our last few weeks abroad, that really irked me, but c'est la vie!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing in England was pretty similar to American on-campus housing. I had a huge single and lived next door to my best mate Dylan Anderson. Everyone on our floor was friends and we all socialized with each other. The only issue that I ever had was with noise. If you were not in the mood to party, chances were that someone was on the floor, and there was little noise-blocking-technology invested in the poured concrete dorms a'la 1960s Britain. But when you wanted to socialize it was nice. There are things that are 'foreign' to me, like using the toilet while in a closet, but these were minor inconveniences, and certainly nothing to get worked up about.

The cafeteria was really hit or miss. The food was either really, really good or just bad. When we had to make our food, there was only a small kitchen provided for 8 to 10 students, so we had to be respectful o four neighbors. The quality of the food was what I had expected, pretty similar to home. I would dine at the pubs if I were in England and didn't know where to go. One would be surprised how delightful the English cuisine tastes after a few warm-up pints.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I had a great time with my mates. England is full of fun. The whole country goes out to the pubs at night and foreigners are all invited! But in all seriousness, it was really fun. The University put on field trips to cities, but I never went on any of them. I did however, travel through England, France and Italy on my own time.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

York is really quite safe. I never felt any sense of danger walking the streets at any hour. My friend was called an ambulance after she fell off her bicycle. She wasn't injured, everyone just wanted to make sure she was okay. It was pretty surreal to see that people actually cared about one another so much. I did not ned any special vaccines or anything of the sort to go on this trip.

(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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• Americans
• International Students
• Local Students

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• Local Students