The Oxford Experience: Great, with some caveats Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was rigorous, but not as rigorous as I have experienced at my home institution. What made it difficult was not the number of essays we had to write, but the extremely high standards of one of my tutors (who I understand is not representative of the other tutors that my classmates had).

On-site administration of your program

While we were intended to figure things out for ourselves at Oxford, the study abroad students should have received more support from the program supervisors. For instance, we did not know how the dining hall services worked—when we could eat, what we could have, how much it cost—until a few weeks in to the program.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Where I lived (Canal Building) was excellent. My only complaint is that my neighbors were loud at late hours sometimes.

The food quality was good, and the price was reasonable.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Although I had the chance to meet many British students, I was mostly surrounded by Americans who were also studying abroad. My entire hall in my building was occupied by Americans. I think there should be more of an effort to mix American students with their British counterparts in terms of living spaces, as it is important for social interactions.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I needed one of the Hepatitis vaccines for the program, which I received at my home institution before I left the US. I got sick with a cold twice during my 3 months in the UK, which significantly affected my study abroad experience. I must have been sick for a month or so. The only thing that made the cold bearable was the other American students caught colds as well, so we could empathize with one another. It seems like a trivial thing, but being sick for nearly a month during and a month after studying abroad really affected how I perceived my experience.

I felt pretty safe at Worcester. I liked that it was a cozy and small environment. Since I got to know (or at least know of) everyone pretty quickly, I didn't feel unsafe walking around, even at odd hours of the night. London was another matter—my friend and I were verbally harassed by passersby at night—but to be fair the program is not in London. I'd just recommend that students be careful in big cities, and not carry around large amounts of cash.

While the academics were rough and one of my tutors was harsh (in my opinion, unduly so), I had a good overall experience and made a lot of lasting friendships.

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

Living at Oxford was not as costly as I expected it to be. I and other Wellesley students mostly shopped at Tesco and Sainsbury's for food, which was affordable. Dining hall food was also subsidized and affordable. The only unaffordable part of Oxford was the social events, which could cost over a hundred pounds (particularly joining the Oxford Union), making them inaccessible.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Other

• Academics (learning about Brexit while in the UK)
• Opportunity to travel to other European countries
• Having new experiences (joining rowing)

• Supervision (tours of the college(s), advance notice about how food works, etc.)
• More off-campus guided trips (the Cotswolds tour was great!)
• More opportunities for interactions with Oxford students

The Academic or Linguist