Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

One of the best things I've ever done. Past Review

By (University of Southern Maine) - abroad from 01/20/2012 to 06/07/2012 with

Keele University: Staffordshire - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
It was completely worthwhile and what I gained from it is further confidence in my independent actions and learning how to travel functionally since that's a big part of exploring Europe.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

Didn't have a meal plan although I will say having to share a communal fridge was a pain due to theft.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Never went and only vaguely aware of the experience of others with it.

* Safety:

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

* Was housing included in your program cost? Yes
* Was food included in your program cost? No
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? It varied but usually around 40 pounds a week.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? For the full experience it's definitely more expensive than initially advertising; it'd be good to really encourage budgeting food since tourist expenses are nearly unavoidable but at least food expenses can be brought down if you shop around.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? Exchange

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • N/A
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
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?
  • Honestly, it was the people I made friends with; they really were incredibly important to the experience.
  • Plus, staying in a rural area left me able to travel more due to Stoke being relatively less expensive than the rest of England.
* What could be improved?
  • USM could have been clearer on some parts such as I didn't realize I had a room reposit to pay until late (my fault, obviously, but if it could be more obvious that'd save the easily confused on headache).
  • Also, USM frequently bothered me about my financial aid this year which ticked me off since I couldn't deal with it personally. It was for next year's aid, but honestly, it pissed me off because that was during my first round of papers and I didn't have time to screw around. I'm sure it couldn't have been helped to some degree, but still, it wasn't cute.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? The first week sucks for most people. It's hard to be thrilled to be there when everyone's jet-lagged, awkwardly feeling out of place and crabby, but you just push through that and things pick up really quick. Also, even if you're bank card allows you to go abroad doesn't mean you don't have to tell them that you are going abroad. For some reason I thought if it still was accepted then I didn't have to say anything, not thinking that they'd lock it when they saw charges from the UK, so yeah, my bad on that part.