Hollins London was the experience of a lifetime! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Hollins Abroad is not Hollins. Yes, classes are made up of Hollins students, but you're taught by local proffessors, who (although they are used to teaching abroad students) conduct class in a British way. That is to say, it's a lot of lecture, a lot of read this, study this, and prove your knowledge in this exam. That being said, I enjoyed the freedom that the classes gave us, both in terms of time and in what we studied: all of my presentation/paper topics were of my own choosing, and I felt that chance to do independent study made up (generally) for the fact that classes felt like high-school.

On-site administration of your program

Sara Levine is absolutely wonderful! She's very attentive to student needs--I am gluten-free, and some of the classes are long enough that we take tea; she always made sure there was a sweet I could eat, even if that meant she baked it herself! The onegative of the overseas staff was that some students (including me) felt that we could have been paired with more compatible host families and/or roommates. Also, the state-side staff is not very clear in their communications with the overseas staff, so a lot of things over the course of the semester were lost in translation and it led to a lot of confusion on our end in London.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I loved Crouch End--it was a perfect place for a student abroad to live in terms of being able to walk to local shops, many bus stops, close to a tube, etc. I do wish my host family had been more comfortable with me utilizing their kitchen to prepare meals, but I do recognize that I was a guest in their house, and I would never have wanted to inconvience them, so I kept my kitchen activities to heating porridge and prepared soups.

Considering I can't eat wheat, dairy, and red meat, I did pretty well! Inevitably you are forced to eat out most of the time, be it at the Marks and Spencers prepared foods groccery store or at a restaurant. I recommend highly thai and indian food, as they're FANTASTIC and resonably priced, as well as pubs, which are also affordable on the stipend and are traditional English cuisine. It's hard to avoid frid food tho (aka chips, meaning "fries") and I felt sometimes that was all i ate! However, I loved being able to go into bakeries and order spelt bread, or get good cheap salads at the ULU, so I overall did better than fine.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

As strictly a Hollins student, I didn't ever meet local students on my own...i met them through other Hollins students that either lived in ISH or took classes at LMU, or even through the host-family, but not in classes. I didn't go to London hoping to pick up a boyfriend or make a whole boatload of British friends, so I wasn't disappointed when neither happened, however, i know some girls were upset at the lack of immersion. Remember tho, London is a hub for abroad students so the locals know you're only around for 3 months and often aren't willing to make the investment. Best bet: make friends with other abroad students from other universities!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

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

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• Host Family

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• Host Family