<p>What was your average monthly expense cost when you were studying abroad? What did the majority of your personal expenses go towards?</p>
<p>yes i would be interested in this as well. trying to get into optometry at bradford university? near leeds i believe, as finances are different then london</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>This really is dependent on location in the UK. Bradford for instance is one of the cheapest places to live and be a student. Your biggest expense will be rent so look at the costs for university accommodation and also the average for renting privately if that's an option. Bradford has done an estimate here which I think is feasible so long as you are relatively frugal:
Cost</a> of Study for International Students - University of Bradford
In London on the other hand the rent will be at least double what you would pay in Bradford and prices for pretty much everything are higher.The LSE for example suggests that the minimum you could safely manage with in London is £1000 per month - again I think that's realistic. There are ways to cut costs further but it would be a rather miserable existence. As a general rule the north of Britain is considerably cheaper to live in than the south (especially London and the southeast) but there are some places like Edinburgh that because they are very desirable, have highish rents. Generally the figures Bradford quotes in the link above would be doable anywhere outside of London commuting range but you'd need to adjust according to the expected rent in each place (all the university websites should give an idea on this).
The other thing you do need to think about is travel. Don't forget to add in flights home and a budget for any travelling you want to do while based in the UK. Hope that helps a bit.</p>
<p>thanks your advice is really appreciated. I had already checked out the quotes online, just wanted to know someone who actually experienced it and how it went. did you by chance attend a UK school? and if so how did u cope with the cost of tuition? i know it goes pretty high even in the cheaper schools, and right now am looking at some fasfa aid which is said to work in the uk. any other help would be great</p>
<p>Great link bewildered, thank you for posting.</p>
<p>Howardho - yes I went to university in the UK but I am British and went to university when UK students paid no fees (nowadays they pay depending on family income up to £3225 a year). So I'm afraid I've no real advice to offer except to say that I know a few US graduate students, who are having real trouble with US lenders backing out of loan agreements unexpectedly, so you are right to go into the finance in detail. If you do a search for UK-yankee, there's a discussion forum on the site that has a section for US students studying in the UK - perhaps they could offer some advice?
I did just wonder one thing, will a UK optometry qualification enable you to practice where you want to live afterwards? I had a friend who went to Bradford to do pharmacy and she had some friends from Trinidad who were doing optometry so it definitely works in some places. Bradford by the way is an interesting place - it's very multicultural which is a plus for me. The indian / pakistani food in the restaurants is gorgeous. The city has been going through a rough patch but has had a lot of money invested in it in recent years, and the countryside around is lovely if you like hiking.</p>
<p>I'm looking to study in the north and saw living on campus would cost 180 USD/week, 720 USD/month. Does that sound correct?</p>
<p>Kinglin - it sounds (although I'm guessing here) as though that might be an average price and there'd be cheaper and more expensive options to choose from. Unless - is this a fixed price your home university is telling you? They may have made an arrangement for their students to be in a certain type of accommodation and if so then that's the price. It really depends a lot on how your own university / programme has arranged the study abroad i.e. whether it's a all-inclusive package or whether it's a more flexible but 'thrown in at the deep end' exchange programme.
Most students will have been sent a list of possible halls of residence and asked to pick their favourites (tends to be a trade-off between price, facilities and location depending on personal priorities) and then rooms get allocated according to those preferences. There's usually a big difference in price for example between a single non-catered room with shared bathroom and an en-suite room. Catered accommodation is also more expensive.
If you want to check options with current students, there's a good chance that the UK site like this one might offer help. Try searching for **************</p>
<p>OK clearly it's censored. If you run a search for discussion forum and uk students you'd probably get there...</p>
<p>actually to tell u the truth even if the optometry degree doesn't work back in the US I'm prepared to live in the UK with the new three year and u can stay prgrm that the UK just installed for 3yr study abroad graduates. the two things im scared most about are getting in, as the requirements seem high, and surviving on a tight budget. but ur help has been wonderful</p>
<p>I know it's common for students to travel to other countries during the academic semester. Is it expensive to travel to places such as Rome, Paris, Berin, Etc? I'm really wanting to visit Sweden, Germany, Russia, and the UAE (Dubai). Would I need $10,000 to make those trips possible if I visit each place for 3 days?</p>
<p>Sweden / Germany wouldn't be a problem assuming you're a US national or similar (so not needing a Schengen visa for a short tourist trip). Basically it's generally doable reasonably cheaply, if you look for cheap flights and youth hostels - there's usually a travel agent on or near campus who can offer decent deals but it's cheaper the more you plan and book ahead.</p>
<p>Russia is expensive I'm afraid, especially Moscow and St Petersburg, and the visa question is a little problematic unless you go on an expensive package or have Russian friends who can issue an invitation. Check with the Russian embassy for details on visas, allow plenty of time to get one, and seriously, do not take any risks in cutting corners in terms of any necessary transit visas through Belarus, if you try to go on trains to cut costs. Given the current political climate (South Ossetia) tensions will be high in the region bordering Russia and you need to follow the rules to avoid problems. </p>
<p>Dubai does not market itself for budget travellers but is cetainly more tourist friendly. That one would be a case of getting advice from travel agents - they might be able to come up with package deals that are manageable.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I was looking at hotels orginally, but then I came across a website that showed hostels, and they are a lot cheaper :)</p>
<p>I was comparing rail to flying, and flying seemed to be a lot cheaper. Would you advise traveling by plane?</p>
<p>You want to travel from Bradford to continetal Europe, right? Almost certainly a cheap flight from the local airport, Leeds/Bradford, will be the cheapest option. </p>
<p>LBIA</a> - Leeds Bradford International Airport</p>
<p>They seem to go to Hamburg and Dusseldorf. To get to Sweden, fly to Copenhagen (Denmark) and get the train over the bridge to Sweden.</p>
<p>Rail travel can be very cheap if you book in advance in the UK, but EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE (like £100 instead of £9) if you just turn up for a long distance journey without booking in advance. You need an under 25 rail card.</p>
<p>16-25</a> Railcard</p>
<p>Note that prices advertised on web-sites do NOT include tax, which may be £50 (that $100) if the flight is on a Friday for example (it's usually cheaper than this, but just to warn you).</p>
<p>Definity use hostels.</p>
<p>I'm seeing plane tickets start at $250 and reach into $4000-5000. I have four weeks off in March that would be used for travel. It seems that I could save a ton of money, if I was to buy a Eurail pass which I can buy for $800 and will last me a month. Given the Eurail doesn't work in England, I'd fly into Berlin or Paris from Manchester and would be able to utilize the pass.</p>