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CRAZY AWESOME! STUDY ABROAD IN LONDON CUZ IT'S INSANELY GREAT.
AIFS: London - Richmond, The American International University in London
Program Information
Central London is just outside your door when you are living in AIFS residence halls in South Kensington, steps from Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. Hop on the Tube and visit Covent Gardens, Camden Market (where you can buy vintage clothes and jewelry at a bargain) or Piccadilly Circus.... More
| Provider: | AIFS |
| Location(s): | London, The United Kingdom |
| Year Founded: | 1964 |
| Website | Take me there! |
Review By:
Elizabeth L. (Communication Arts, Wartburg College) on January 13, 2011
Overall Rating
Personal Information
| * Start Date: | 2010-09-01 |
| * End Date: | 2010-12-18 |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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| * Housing: |
The bathrooms in my dorm were really gross and about fifty percent of the time 2 of the 3 toilets were broken, and usually 2 of the 3 washing machines were broken as well, even though they got new ones half way through the semester. |
| * Food: |
The dorm food was pretty gross. Sometimes they did really good, but they have the same thing for breakfast everyday and it gets old, and a lot of the food was starches. They served 2 - 3 kinds of potato at most meals. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I didn't end up meeting very many British students, but I met a bunch of really great American students that I konw I'll be friends with for a long time. The school does a pretty good job of giving students the opportunity to travel around the UK and the rest of Europe. They also did well with finding activities for the students to do the week before school started to help everyone get to know each other. For example, the boat party on one of the first days we got there. It is pretty much where I met all of my friends for the semester and we all had a great time. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
There isn't a student health center on campus, so if you get sick you have to go the hospital. Since I never got sick I don't really know what you do insurance/money wise about that, and they didn't really explain it to us during orientation. |
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* Home Institution Advising:
How well did Wartburg College prepare and support you for your time abroad? |
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I think the most I spent on food and personal expenses was 100 pounds which is about $165, but on average I would say about 60ish pounds? So around $100, sometimes more sometimes less. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Keep track of the money you spend! And if you travel, use airlines like EasyJet, Flybe, and RyanAir, as they are WAAAAAAY cheaper than most. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
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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A Look Back
| * If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? | Yes |
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | While you are there TRAVEL. Don't be a complete stickler with your money, but don't crazy overspend either. Try new things, even if you don't think you'll like them, or don't seem like your type of activity. For example, I feel in love with clubbing. Which is SO not me. But is was so so so much fun. You can connect with your peers and meet people from the area, and maybe even some celebs, in my case, Skander Keynes, Edmond from the Narnia movies (this was at an awesome club called On Anon - student nights on Thursdays!) Also, don't bring more than 2 suitcases full of stuff, you wont need it all, and you'll want room to bring back more stuff when you go home. |
| * What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? | YES! Doing this was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I had so much fun, met so many cool people, tried so many new things, and I feel like I really grew as a person too. With out having other friends or family there you really have a lot of stuff you have to do by yourself and you learn to be more independent. |