Fantastic experience because of the location, not the program. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

One of the classes that I was enrolled in was called International Finance. This class is also known as Global Financial Management at UConn, and counts towards the finance major. This class was not about finance, however. It was a macroeconomics class. The class consisted of about 6 actual lectures on material, all of which ended early. The rest of the classes included guest presentations from people in different areas of business. While I found some of these presentations interesting, none were related to global finance. It is incredibly misleading to advertise this class as a finance class, when it was an economics class. And even if it was labeled an economics class, we only touched on very few topics, not nearly enough to give a well rounded overview of macroeconomics. I can't complain about an easy A, but in terms of learning value, it was very low. I also took a business ethics class. This class applied the three major ethical philosophies to the current practices of corporations. My teacher did a great job of engaging students in discussion regarding the ethicality of corporate actions. Lastly, I was enrolled in a reflection class. This class provided therapy to students who did not ask for it. I can do a perfectly fine job of reflecting on my internship experience without needing a class telling me how I should be doing it. The teacher for this class is a great guy and really cares about what he does, but this class should not be for the everyday student who does not want or need it. I would rate the 3 classes 1 star, 4 stars, and 1 star respectively, giving an average of 2 stars.

On-site administration of your program

The administration was very average. I don't know to what extent they are responsible for the layout of the courses, so I cannot comment on that. I think that the administration was very disconnected from the students, and had a very ignorant understanding of what the students wanted to get out of the experience abroad.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The location of the building was great. It was central enough to get pretty much anywhere in London relatively quickly. The specific area it was located in is referred to as "little Lebanon," and that name is not inaccurate. I definitely could have done without the overwhelming smell of hookah every time I walked down the street, but that is only a minor gripe. The apartment itself was fine. It accommodated my needs and the needs of my roommates. We did not have a dryer and had to hang our clothes up everywhere around the apartment, but apparently that is not uncommon in the UK and other European countries, so I can't complain about that. Maintenance responded quickly and effectively to any problems we had regarding electrical/mechanical problems in the apartment. When looking at the bill for housing, I find it hard to believe that our room cost over $30,000 for 3 1/2 months for all of us. I am no expert in housing prices in London, though so I can't take that into consideration when rating it. Overall, I was very pleased with the living arrangements.

It is difficult to rate the food, because I had a lot of different food. Some was good, some was bad.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I found the culture to be pretty similar to that of the Unites States, so it was not difficult to feel assimilated. I never really felt like a foreigner, because London is full of people from all over the world. It felt more like everyone was a foreigner.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had no health issues, so I cannot comment.

At no point did I feel unsafe during my time in London. I am not sure what the cause of this is, but it is mainly because I never found myself in any circumstances that were remotely dangerous.

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

I made myself a rough budget before going on the trip and was able to stick by it pretty well. I chose to travel only when the pricing was reasonable, and I bought most of my food at the grocery store as opposed to eating out.

Select all that apply

• Apartment

Select all that apply

• Americans

Select all that apply

• Americans

• Giving me the opportunity to live in London.
• Housing.
• Business Ethics class.

• The excursions and other activities that I was forced to pay for were not at all worth it.
• The "finance" class.
• Don't make students go on an overnight flight and then through them in to orientation after orientation the next day.

The Avid Adventurer