Well worth the experience! Past Review
By A student (Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/03/2016 to 05/31/2016 with
IFSA: London - King's College London
I learned a lot, both in and out of the classroom. I was able to live in an Amazing city and had easy access to the rest of Europe. It was definitely worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
All of my professors were excellent. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved that I was housed at Stamford Street Apartments in central London, a 10 minutes walk from campus. But, some people were housed in the outskirts with a 40 minute tube commute. |
| * Food: |
We had our own kitchens and I never ate in the university cafeteria. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I made some local friends. I also lived with other Americans, a British student, and a Greek student. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I never has an experience with healthcare, but the program provides insurance. Also, there was an on-campus doctor. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt unsafe in London. But, all of Europe is on higher alert these days, so it's important to keep an eye out. Also, watch out for pickpockets, especially on the tube. I did enjoy that IFSA brought in a former policeman during orientation to prep us for safety in London. He also gave us great tips to spotting a pickpocket in action. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I would choose to study at King's College again. But, I would prefer to enroll directly with them and not through a third party. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
In reality, I felt that supermarket prices were generally equal to those in the USA. Now that the rate of the Pound is going down, prices will favor Americans even more. It seems that a lot of money is spend of traveling/entertainment, rather than on food and personal expenses. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $150 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Depending on where a student is housed, there may be cheaper supermarkets nearby. For example, I lived a few blocks down from Iceland, which was a discount supermarket. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would have liked to know that the IFSA orientation was over two weeks before class at King's actually began. |
