Past Review

By (Microbiology and Japanese, The University of Texas at Austin) for

University of Sussex: Brighton - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I thought my time abroad was worth-while. I got to experience things people can only dream of and learned new things about myself, while becoming more and more independent and self-confident.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Workload appears lighter than courses at UT, but grading scale and assessment styles are completely different. The emphasis is placed more on applying knowledge learned in class and from previous courses to complete lengthy papers.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

They assisted the new students and had numerous day and weekend trips around the country available for students to mingle and get to know one another.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

It was located on campus and was close to all my classrooms, but the dorms themselves were sketch. They were 8 person apartments which made Jester look like Duren. So yeah, it's probably a good thing they're getting demolished in the near future.

* Food:

I made all my own meals, so any complaints I had about food are just complaints about my own cooking skills.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The program had multiple trips arranged for the foreign students, but I never went on one because I felt it was important to surround myself with local students rather than other international students in order to better experience what life in my host country was like.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

The area was extremely safe. There are certainly places you didn't want to visit late at night, but they were far away from both campus and the main nightlife centers of Brighton. The health centre on campus was easy to access and the pharmacy was also conveniently placed and well stocked.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? No

Finances

* 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)

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? Exchange

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • International Students
  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? I only chose this particular program because of the university's pre-med program, which I didn't get into... Because of this, the majority of the course I took didn't count towards my degree. If I had the chance for a do-over, I probably would have looked at the other universities in the UK to find one which wouldn't have set me back, progress-wise, a semester.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Cognitive Psychology I

Course Department: C8250
Instructor: George Mather
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Eh, not my favorite course. Kinda wish I hadn't taken it to be honest. I feel like I learned nothing useful, and would rather have taken another biology class.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

Evolution

Course Department: C1007
Instructor: Adam Eyre-Walker
Instruction Language: English
Comments: I loved Adam, and he managed to make this normally dull subject interesting with many different real world examples for all of the theories he taught.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

Developmental Biology

Course Department: C1008
Instructor: Claudio Alonso
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Some portions of the class were incredibly interesting, and some were incredibly boring. Overall, I enjoyed this course despite it really not doing much for my degree.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

Intro to Structural Pharmocolgy

Course Department: C7112
Instructor: Andrew Smith
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Loved this class. I knew going in it would be nothing more than an elective, but I still took it. The professors all know what they are teaching about and make a terrifying (although fascinating) amount of information easy to ingest and learn.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

Psychobiology

Course Department: C8003
Instructor: Hans Crombag
Instruction Language: English
Comments: I chose this psych course specifically because it was biology-based. It was an easy and nice way of getting my required psychology course. The last portion of the class is over animal psychology, which really did not connect with the first 2/3's of the course.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Course Department: C1122
Instructor: Trevor Beebee
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Some portions of the class were incredibly interesting, and some were incredibly boring. Overall, I enjoyed this course despite it really not doing much for my degree.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.
Course Name/Rating:

The Immune System

Course Department: C7115
Instructor: Kathy Triantafilou
Instruction Language: English
Comments: I actually missed most of the lectures because I felt I went in knowing the material being taught better than most of the other students did at the end of the semester. So, if you have had any previous instruction over the immune system, chances are this class will be painfully repetitive.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not that I know of.