Good advertising to take your money, does not deliver on promises Past Review
By A student (The College of New Jersey) - abroad from 09/23/2019 to 12/15/2019 with
Oxford Study Abroad Programme (OSAP): Oxford - Study Abroad at Oxford University
I loved Oxford Uni and the faculty there. The city and university staff did their job, but the private organization OSAP failed on numerous obligations.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Associate students are told to their faces they are not real students and the program insists you do not access any lectures or resources available to Oxford students. It's a ruse. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
OSAP's admin is really disorganized and in the end only negatively impacts the student. Anything and everything from academics to housing and affairs in individual colleges are poorly organized. They don't support you after the program starts so you better hope everything is perfect on day 1! Despite running a poor program, admin give the cold shoulder and have an attitude. Also, be aware that no matter how much they say they've told you, being an Associate Member is far worse than what they say it will be like. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Assignments come out just 5 days before term start and the team is really shady about answering questions. Housing team is really slow at answering requests and takes a really long time to deliver simple things. Oxford Uni students stay in way better housing conditions. |
| * Food: |
The food was good in my college and totally depends on where you have been assigned |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
They took us on some tours, which were contracted to tour agents. You have to push to integrate and OSAP will not help you do that. After you arrive they spend a lot of time telling you how you are not real students at Oxford. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
You pay a fee for healthcare and OSAP is associated with an NHS clinic close by. Yes, OSAP still takes money even though you are registered with the NHS. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
OSAPi is a private organization with inflated prices, inefficient and rude administrators, no sense of obligation to students, poor housing and maintenance, and a complete lack of customer service and sense of accountability. |
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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $80 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't use OSAP |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | 10+ |
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? | There will be very little support on the ground from OSAP and they leave it up to you to sort out any housing and academic concerns. Also, there is literally no one to hold them accountable and they take full advantage of that. |
