London: Expensive But Worth It Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

While I found the academics at QMUL significantly less challenging than at Wesleyan, the professors were for the most part amazing, knowledgeable, intelligent, and more than willing to engage with interested students beyond the classroom. The decreased academic burden also mean I had ample time to explore the city and travel, which for me was one of the main points of going abroad in the first place. I didn't want to spend all of my time in London camped out in a library, so I feel that the easier academics made for a good balance, given the experience I was trying to have.

On-site administration of your program

I don't know if this is still true, but at the time I was there course registration was not an online process, which meant waiting in huge lines at actual academic departments, waiting to see if there were still spaces available in a desired course when you reached the front of the line. To any American student used to online course registration, this method seems antiquated and chaotic, but IFSA-Butler was very helpful during the process. Despite this process, it was my impression that most students ended up with the courses they wanted (at least with about the same success rate as an online registration process).

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Apartment style dorm, meaning a single room with an ensuite bathroom, access to a communal kitchen and common room shared with the other 8 students in my apartment. All of my flatmates were international students, but other students in my program in the same building lived with a mix of British students.

In my program students were left completely to their own devices. We had a kitchen in our apartment, and so could cook, eat out, get take out, etc. as we desired. There was no food plan so it was up to us to budget for food; I found the freedom of this system a welcome change from the meal plan at Wesleyan, where the quality of the cuisine is frequently underwhelming.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

London is full of students, and I found that by hanging out at bars, pubs, or clubs that had student nights or were geared for students, you could spend less money and meet people your own age. Of course with the drinking age being 18, there is plenty of fun to be had for an undergraduate.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

East London, where QMUL is located, can be a sketchy area. I found that just using common sense kept me out of trouble, and that the neighborhood is actually an amazingly diverse place to live. It might be of interest to note that there is a night bus stop just outside the front gate of QMUL, so even if I was coming home alone at 3 am I felt very safe on the bus, and after getting off the bus I would be inside the gated, guarded safety of campus in about 3 steps. Without the night bus, getting home after a night out in Central London would have been expensive and potentially dangerous.

(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