A Broke Girls Guide to Studying Abroad: The London Expierence Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Many of my Professors except for Philip Grey and my Social History of London Professor didn't excite or stimulate my brain. They all just talked at as opposed to us. This made learning uninteresting. The Professors I mentioned earlier took us out into London or encouraged us to explore and by that we learned. I felt less terrified to explore an unknown place. I was learning about my topic of study at the same time.

On-site administration of your program

I never knew who my advisor on campus was. It would have been nice to get to meet them in a meeting to see how I was doing with the adjustment to European college life (because it was very different) and to how I was doing with my classes. The people I would meet with didn't know my name and didn't care. I resented the university for that.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I loved living in the dormitory. However, there was constant back up in the girl's shower's plumbing. The drains would get clogged with hair and no one would come clean it for days. Also, it would have been nice to have better hair dryers since many of the ones from other countries would stop working.

The food service was awful in terms of being "clean" and healthy food. Everything had way too much grease dripping from it but remained as bland and flavorless as licking a piece of toilet tissue paper. One week, they completely took away all salt from every commons area because the university was practicing awareness for some health issues of African & Asian males, ages 40+, which was literally no one that attended Regents as a student. Why did they punish us? We would have to ask around in hopes of someone having extra seasoning and salt or go out and purchase some ourselves. The worst thing that we (study abroad students) were not told was that the cafeteria would be closed on Saturday evenings. This is fine considering the workers do need a night off but a heads up would have been nice because we could have saved up more money. Eating out in London, if you want to remain healthy is not cheap!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Some professors encouraged us to go out into the city and explore for our courses which was nice but not a great enough push to make me feel integrated. One course, Social History of London, actually took us out and gave us walking tours of the city which really helped. We didn't get to interact with London natives though which would have been nice. I wish there would have been a day of volunteer service like the one at my home campus of Webster University ST. Louis. Internationally, every Webster campus takes a day off school to help the community through cleaning litter, visiting students in school and chatting with them, volunteering at various shelters, etc. By getting involved directly I believe the study abroad students could really feel integrated. Finally, I wish there were mixers or team building exercises between the study abroad students and the regular students of Regents College in London. While studying there, I felt a serious divid between societies.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I did have to visit a doctor's office once, it was very close to Regents College which was nice but when I went there, they were closed that day of the week. I was told by the University it would be open so that was not a great experience. I had to go to the Emergency Room where I was evaluated immediately and given a prescription for antibiotics almost immediately. I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket and was never sent a bill. That opened my eyes to their healthcare system and how great my international insurance was. That left me pleasantly surprised!

We lived and stayed in Regent's Park which was the Queen's park, obviously a very safe location. I never had issues. However, my good friends had problems. One guy was attacked and mugged for his wallet on his way back to school at night (he was walking by himself). Secondly, a few friends would walk in groups from Camden Town (15 mins from university) and they would be harassed by local thugs on their way home. Thankfully, nothing happened to them because they were in a large group. I think there should be a small shuttle van that the university runs to help students get back home safe at night. It could be free, or cheaper than cabs. Hotels in America do this all the time and it really leaves a lasting impression on the people that stay there.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Traveling through London is extremely expensive. I had to travel for many of my courses and their activities, filling up Oyster cards drained my funds. I wish my Webster advisors had let us know about this.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• London's City, Diverse Culture, & Pace
• Challenging courses with great resources
• The accessibility to cheap out of country travel

• Initial presentation of information to prospective students about living on campus and in London.
• Relationship between advisor and students. There needs to be a solid path of communication and friendship. I could have used a mentor while I was there.
• Breaking down the barriers between study abroad students and regular students. Integration and mixers can help S.A students really experience the city from someone their own age who knows it first hand.