The best experience of my life March 18, 2022

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Lets start with one bad point : Not a lot of work, good grades are not that hard to get. It is a bad point as it makes you wonder about the value of your degree. As a third year student in France, I took a third year criminology class. We had a group project. I proposed a structure for our project which was rejected by all the other students because "they do not have to that". I was quite surprised as I had been taught since first year and even high school to structure and problematize a subject. When we presented our project to the professors, they both told us that the entire class had failed to structure the presentations, as I suggested before. It seemed as they had not been taught well what I considered basic, but maybe it is very personal. Now the good part : You are generally assessed anonymously(always when it is a written task, at least for me) and that can be quite stressful for someone whose first language is not English. So having a good level in english helps a lot but as teachers value your ideas, intentions... some language defaults will not penalise you that much (but it will a tiny bit).You will for sure get better in English, but going to class will not suffice, go out, join societies ! Teachers are usually the best : they are extremely professional as they are very good academics, but also really open with the students. It really shocked me because in France, there is a huge social gap between the students and the teachers. There, it is completely different, and it is really appreciated. as an exemple : one of the teachers tried to help one classmate to find an internship with a professional who was doing an intervention for our class. It is very uncommon but makes us feel helped, and surrounded, as it is not that easy to find such opportunities. There is a large variety of homework, not only one type, which can help you familiarize with different sorts of exercise. Ressources : you have access to the library 24/7 if I remember well, which is very helpful if one has to do a homework for tomorrow because he spent too much time doing nothing (speaking for someone else of course). Maybe one last point which im not sure whether it is the university, the culture generally : Many classmates(locals) were not very respectful of the teachers. I mean : professors worked very hard to get their phd, to be such incredible academics, and then some 20yo kid shows up(if actually comes to class) an hour late without even apologizing, making a lot of noise which penalize every other students. OR they will interrupt the lecture and so the teacher, just to add something completely unnecessary. As the teachers are the nicest in the world, they do not say anything, but such behavior should not be tolerated in class...

On-site administration of your program

The study abroad office is amazing. They are very reactive, will help you for every matter, even if you feel kind of sad, homesick, they will try and talk with you. Because even though it is not their job, there is no such thing as a huge social gap between the administration and the student (exactly like with the teachers). They are very nice humans, and it is completely different from my home university. They are not friends, but they are not total strangers neither Maybe one thing : as they had probably so many things on their hands, they could not dedicate many time to study abroad students. So except if you come to them, they did not organize many things to help you socialize. I guess it is not that bad as it forces you to socialize by yourself, by joining societies, or sports team for exemple.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived outside of campus, in a house with a lady. She was very nice, welcoming... Also, there was a former student of st Mary's there who talked about his experience and advised me some things to do there. I have contacted that person through stmary's website which was very helpful. And living outside can penalize your social life if you live far from campus. But I lived 10min away from campus so I could easily go there whenever. Living outside may be calmer as I witnessed many times around 2am the firealarm in the building and everybody was obliged to go out (it was 4°Celsius, quite a shock).

I ate most of the time at home, so I had to buy myself groceries. Usually I had for 30£ per week/10days. Do not hesitate to download toogoodtoogo, it is helpful sometimes for finding groceries or even restaurant's mains cheaper. The refectory is alright. I guess eating there everyday would not be that pleasant, but it is actually not that bad.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The lady I was living with was so warm-welcoming. We did talk a lot, she made me discovered the roasted meals (tradition in the UK apparently), meet her family, who was very nice too. In the university, the contact was very easy with others : don't put too much pressure on yourself, on your English, go out and meet people. + Join societies : I joined the international and the fishing societies, and, especially the last, it was the best decision I made there. (I had never fished before and I am not interested in doing it especially) But the people there are so nice, welcoming, open-minded, and ACTIVE. Some societies are not, but those two are.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had to get a second dose of covid vaccine (Pfizer) because I had only one +contracted the covid before, and France counts that scheme as valid for a covid pass. Arriving in England I had to quarantine 10 days and could not access certain places (just a few). Registered with the NHS and a GP (general practitioner), which is quite easy, and then got the vaccine. The process was quite smooth and easy. Nothing else to report.

I felt very safe overall in England, London and Twickenham. Way more than in Paris. Even as a boy, I sometimes fear in Paris of being extorted or that kind of thing, never in England. And I was out quite late but apart from the many foxes in the streets, never noticed anything.

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

Even though it has been the best experience of my life, my bank cannot say the same. Fortunately, I worked back in France (I could not work in England as I did not have a Visa since you can't have one when you stay less than 6months), but burned overall every savings I had. Between groceries, and just going out with friends, or the societies, and cigarettes (cigarettes are very expensive(cheapest : around 10£ for 20cigarettes) : if I did not smoke I would have saved quite a ton, but I would have financial had problems too). So if you don't plan on going out much, you will not have the same experience, but of course, you might want to go out more and enjoy to the maximum this experience.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Im french and had to use ALL THE TIME English. I had one French friend but we did not see each other much. Spent all my time with English-speaking friends, and all my classes were fully in English, assessed in English (anonymously generally so you have no privilege for being a non-native)

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• Host Family

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• International Students
• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Student life
• The country (London)
• Subjects studied

• Maybe a few more organized events for the study abroad students by the uni

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer