A Dream for Library Nerds! Past Review
By Tiffani Ren (Wellesley College) - abroad from 09/30/2018 to 06/16/2018 with
University of Oxford - Visiting Students
I learned how to manage my time in order to read a couple of books, make an outline, and write an essay within a week, and how to navigate the library systems and their individual opening hours in order to maximize my time. I also quickly learned that I needed to deliberately make time for friends and reach out to them, in order to counteract the inherently lonely style of the tutorial system, which gives you a lot of unscheduled free time. I also learned how to travel within Europe (how to navigate European airports, and get the cheapest flights and accomadations). Overall, I became so much more confident in my ability to navigate on my own, as well as in my academic ability, and it was absolutely worthwhile!
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The tutorial system was isolating (as you need to work mostly on your own), but really intellecutally rewarding if you were studying something specific and unique to your interests! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
St Anne's College was really accomadating with visiting students! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The walls were thin sometimes and the dorm would be noisy; the kitchen was dirty and often people's things would be stolen. However, I appreciated having my own room and sink! |
| * Food: |
British food lived up to the expectations! However, the hot desserts and sweet pastries were great. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
It was generally harder to make friends with matriculated students because cliques quickly formed, but when you did interact with them or become friends, they were very kind! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
The pharamacy was really helpful when I needed medical assistance |
| * Safety: |
Oxford overall is a very safe city! |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Getting to study at Oxford was an incredible experience, both academically and personally! I loved getting to know the beautiful, quirky city (where the best food was, where my favorite libraries are--the Taylorian is a gem!--and where to for a breath of nature--Port Meadow and University Parks are beautiful!) and getting to feel at home within it. The academics were tough and required a lot of time management and self-supervision, but were so rewarding during the tutorial: knowing that you had enough of a grip on the subject matter to have a one-on-one intellecutal conversation with a tutor for an hour was so heartening! |
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) |
Oxford was expensive to live in, and, if you ate out, meals would be at least 10 pounds, but meals in hall were more affordable! |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | +60 pounds per week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cooking would've reduced my expenses a lot! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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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? |
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? | No matter how uncertain you are in your ability to make friends or excel academically, you will manage and come out more confident in all aspects! And more well-traveled at that. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
