Past Review
By Nina B (Geosciences, Wellesley College) for
University of St. Andrews: St. Andrews - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I wish I could have stayed for the whole year. I now have a new perspective on the world outside of Wellesley and I will take my experiences with me for the rest of my life. This trip has inspired me to consider graduate school and/or living in the UK after graduation.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2010 |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Much was expected of the students. Because they had all been taking geosciences courses for the past 3 years, I felt a little behind and intimidated upon my arrival. However, the students and professors were more than willing to get me up to speed and by the end I was confident in my work and receiving the same grades as my colleagues. Since Wellesley is a liberal arts college, there is more emphasis on the whole education of the student so it was nice to get to experience a strictly geoscience work load. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in a hotel turned dorm so the rooms were all ensuite with queen sized beds. However, because it is a hotel in the summer, you cannot post things on the walls and you bathroom/room is cleaned once a week and linens are changed once every two weeks. The hall was large and contained mostly singles and sometimes felt anonymous because of its size and the amount of first years living there. <br /><br /> I lived in a hotel turned dorm so the rooms were all ensuite with queen sized beds. However, because it is a hotel in the summer, you cannot post things on the walls and you bathroom/room is cleaned once a week and linens are changed once every two weeks. The hall was large and contained mostly singles and sometimes felt anonymous because of its size and the amount of first years living there. |
| * Food: |
The food was extremely limited and the portions were small and rationed out and I was often hungry. Only 1 hour was alloted for meal times and you were not allowed to eat at any other dorm on campus. The food was very disappointing and I would highly suggest being self catered. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My study abroad trip was better than I could have ever imagined due to the social interactions I experienced. Since Scotland is so close to many European countries, I would often spend the weekend traveling and meeting new people. |
| * Safety: |
I had no health issues but St Andrews was a very safe town and community. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
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? | Roughly 50 pounds per week because I was catered. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I hadn't budgeted that I would need to pay for food during my 3 weeks of field work. I also didn't know I had to pay for myself for the Spain trip. I also didn't realize how expensive Europe is/how little the dollar is worth so I spent more money than I was use to for one semester. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
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
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Any student pursuing a geosceince degree has to come to St Andrews. You learn things here that just aren't offered in the States. This trip changed my life and career goals. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Sedimentary Environments and Depositional Frameworks |
| Course Department: | GG3082 |
| Instructor: | Tony Prave, Ruth Robinson |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Sedimentary environments was the most challenging course for me. It was designed like a graduate school class where most learning comes from independent reading from the text book. One day field work trips to log near by sedimentary environments was extremely beneficial and allowed me to become more confident in my logging by the end of the semester. Tony Prave was a terrific instructor that really knew his material. The over all course work was worth 50% of the grade and the final the other 50%. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not applicable |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Palaeontology, Palaeoecology and Palaeoclimatology |
| Course Department: | GG3090 |
| Instructor: | Stuart Allison, Bill Austin, Tony Prave |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I had previously taken a paleontology course at my home institution but this course allowed me to think about how animals can give us insight into past climate and environments. This course was split into 3 parts- 3 weeks on invertebrate paleontology, 3 weeks on the origin on life and 3 weeks on paleoclimate reconstructions. The most memorable part of the course was one lab unit that had us work on SEM machines to identify foraminifera in a local estuary. This course really complimented the sed environemnts course in that all sed environment trips taken also included pieces on fossil identification to help us identify the past environments of the area. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not applicable |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Field Methods in Geosciences |
| Course Department: | GG3090 |
| Instructor: | none |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course is designed for non-degree seeking students (ie study abroad students) and it samples the main field trips for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students. I spent one week in Spain, one week in Mull/Iona and one week at the NW Highlands. It was excellently designed in that the trips were in order so you could build in techniques and knowledge you'd gained from 2nd to 3rd to 4th year trips. This was an unforgettable experience that I never would have had in the States. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | not applicable |
