Meh Past Review
By A student (Mathematics, Trinity University) - abroad from 01/02/2013 to 05/26/2013 with
Arcadia: London - University College London
meh
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The UK school system is one that is really difficult to get used to. You only go to each class once a week for ten weeks. And that sounds great, but if you choose this program for the academics, the school system makes it very difficult to really learn the information. There just isn't enough time spent on the information. The classes are challenging but not really. Its really hard to do badly, but its hard to do well. Expect Bs. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Awful. You pay Arcadia for almost nothing. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Only problem was no Wi-Fi. But otherwise completely satisfactory. Its very small, and you don't develop hall communities quite like you would at an American university. But its great to live in the middle f London. I lived 10 minute walk from Buckingham palace. |
| * Food: |
I cooked for myself the whole time. And its tough at first because you have to buy pots and pans and all that jazz, but it ends up better than British cafeteria food... |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Very disappointing. I wanted to make British friends, but because of how the school is set up. Because you don't live on campus, and you don't spend a lot of time on campus (you're classes meet so infrequently) its tough to build relationships. This is made even more difficult by the fact that British people are put off by how outgoing Americans can be. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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? | 0 |
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? | How difficult it would be to make local friends |
