The Best and Not So Great Experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

In one of my classes -- Cross Cultural Relations -- I had a list of books to use as references. I was not told at the beginning of the course that the school library did NOT have all of the books. I was not happy to have to run all over central London looking for ONE specific book. I had wasted more time looking for a book AND to find out that I also had to register with the library to even take a look at the library. The professor was not clear on telling the class where we would find these books. Many of us were studying abroad and had two or three other classes to deal with. We should not be running around London looking for specific books because we were required to use them in certain class activities or assignments.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The wireless internet in the entire building was TERRIBLE. Sometimes it would work, and other times it would not. Going from my bedroom to the kitchen, I would go from having internet to not having any internet at all. The kitchen was used for not only cooking, but also for meetings with other flatmates for class and other activities. It got to be quite frustrating when working in the middle of the night and the internet stops working. With the amount of students in the resident building, the internet should have had better connection. Also, the security guards are always supposed to be at the reception desk after the office hours are closed. There were times when they would not be there at all, especially in the late hours. My sink in my bathroom also started to leak and my reading lamp burnt out. I did get these two issues fixed though. The provided pillows and blanket were NOT the greatest accommodation. I had to go out and buy another TWO pillows and another blanket because the pillows and blankets did not look too pleasing. The pillows were so flat that I felt I was sleeping without pillows at all.

There were no dining halls for food, however, there were nearby shops with easy access foods.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

At first I was a little nervous about taking public transportation because I had never taken public transportation for school besides school buses to and from school. It was quite a social and cultural integration experience. Walking around the city was a great way to immerse myself in the culture as well. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Although the security guards were not available at all times of the day, the security of going into the housing building was good. I thought it was a great idea to have a key card to have access to the building and the handles to the doors were on the inside so that it made it harder to get inside. The buildings used for campus were the same as well except for the main building. It felt safer to have key cards to access the building than to just simply walk in.

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

It was not easy living on a student budget, especially arriving in London and finding out that we would have to provide our own funds for laundry and our oyster cards. At times it was also hard buying food because they would spoil within a couple days such as bread and meat.

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• Dorm

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• Americans
• International Students

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• Americans
• International Students

• It was in London!
• Networking

• A couple of the librarian staff need to be nicer. A couple of them are quite rude to the students.
• Better internet access in the housing buildings.
• Another building where students can go and lounge in there as well as a place to eat in case the Main Building is occupied by a certain exhibit.