Studying Biology in London Past Review

By Sai G (Cell and Molecular Biology, Tulane University) for

Imperial College London: London - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

The learning experience from my study abroad program was probably a once in a lifetime experience. I learned how to live independently without ever having had that experience in my life before. I feel that I could have been more prepared for the occasion, and more experience would have helped in this preparedness. Also, I wish that I was given more time to travel around Europe instead of just around London.

Personal Information

The term and year this program took place:	Full-Year 2008

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	There was enough time to study for the school material which we were given, but at Imperial students were asked to go beyond the classroom. A high emphasis on independent study forced the students to pursue numerous resources on their spare time. In fact, the lack of a syllabus made me feel that I had to study all the time during most of the academic year. However, this policy of no syllabus is a general feature of universities in London.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	They were very helpful when I first arrived with guiding me in the adjustment process. Imperial also had personal tutors whom you could contact when a student needed academic help, but the meetings were sometimes not that helpful.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	The neighborhood safety must have been great because I would sometimes walk around the neighborhood at 2 or 3 at night in order to get to my house. Transportation was only about 5 min. from my house and so that helped me to reach my school easily.
* Food:	The food which I managed to eat was O.K. due to the high Subway diet. However, most of the food is very bland and lacks salt/pepper. The places which I visited in central London really didn't have its own cuisine and were horrible at imitating other regional dishes. However, there were some general Indian restaurants and a small place called Cafe Milan which made great sandwiches.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	I was very busy, just like almost every other students at Imperial. With that said, there wasn't much time for other social experiences although friends tend to fraternize during the hour breaks every day. I think the social environment there was very open at a few religious meetings, comparatively.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	The healthcare system works for the students since every student had access to the nearby health center. Although I only had one use for it for vaccines, the help was available throughout my stay.
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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	London was very expensive - anywhere between 100-200 dollars were spent per week (besides the monthly rent of about 1100 dollars) on food and other items. Since I don;t drink and didn't have the time to attend many restaurants, this might not be an accurate budget for the average student.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Look for university housing at the beginning to maybe save some money. Shop for items that would last overall for about a week and are small since appliances are generally smaller in London.

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Fluent

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

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

Other Program Information

* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	International Students

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	A student who feels very comfortable in his domain but is looking for a different type of year in college would probably be the best candidate for a study abroad program. My words of wisdom would be for the student to be planned and organized as much as possible before leaving the country because its a whole new world when the plane lands.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Biology of Organisms
Course Department:	B 1.3
Instructor:	Various
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	This was my hardest course at Imperial. It involved the students learning in a good bit of detail about the invertebrates, vertebrates, and microbiology. This division of the syllabus into the wider aspects of the fields means that students might be left clueless about the extent of their studies during the year. However, most of the lecturers for the course were excellent. Part of the course involved written essays and labs that took place weekly. For this course, we were given two parts of the exam, and the first part of the exam is administered early so that students get a feel for Imperial exams. Imperial exams are not like any regular exam administered in the US because they involve both an essay component and a multiple choice component. The essay component of the exam is generally graded fairly hard, and the multiple choice component is somewhat of a killer since students are told that anywhere from 1-4 answers can be correct simultaneously and at least half a point will be deducted for every wrong answer.
Credit Transfer Issues:	I've had a few problems in that my courses are being given wild card numbers due to the breadth of Imperial courses. When my school viewed the breadth of the course, they automatically concluded that it didn't go into as much depth as the individual departmental courses would go into at my university. Try to get some old syllabi from Imperial before going into the course. Make sure that their cirriculum can be accurately assessed by your school.

Course Name/Rating:	Cell Biology
Course Department:	B 1.2
Instructor:	Steve Cook and various others
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	This course had the same format of exams as before. There was an examination of developmental biology, immunology, virology, and most aspects of cellular biology. Once again, the depth in the areas other than cell biology is questionable compared to the US equivalent courses (since they only spend about a week on each one of these other topics). The main instructor, Steve Cook, is probably one of the best (if not the best) instructors that I've had in any college.
Credit Transfer Issues:	I haven't transferred them as of yet.

Course Name/Rating:	Biochemistry
Course Department:	B 1.1
Instructor:	Steve Cook and Peter Brick
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Fortunately, this might be the only course which requires little outside reading (various textbooks, scientific journals). In addition to labs, we had problem classes that were an interactive approach for students to grasp the concepts of Biochemistry. There were no essays (thank god), and the exam consisted of problems with multiple choice instead.
Credit Transfer Issues:	I haven't transferred them as of yet.

Course Name/Rating:	Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Course Department:	B 1.4
Instructor:	Mick Crawley and others
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Once again, this course involved essays for the exam, but actually no multiple choice. One of the coolest parts of this course was that we all went to a park called Silwood (owned by Imperial)to view some of the ecological field work. Also, a few of our other labs involved the outdoors.
Credit Transfer Issues:	Same problem as the Biology of Organisms course.