I am stuck on my choice between two programs. This is incredibly long, but if you have the time, please read and give me your opinion. If you’re going to be annoyed by the length and my indecisiveness just don’t read lol.
The two most important things to me while studying abroad: will I get to have fun on a budget? (nightlife and partying), will I be able to find others to travel around Europe with and will it be easy and affordable to do so?
CIEE Open Campus
This program is a third party instead of direct enrollment. I get to design my experience. I am planning on spending 12 weeks in London, but I am not sure what to do with the other 6 weeks! I dont know if I’d stay in London or go to Italy, France, or south Africa. This program is really appealing because it’s in London! Also there is more support with this program, I won’t have to worry about too much and I am a pretty nervous person. This seems great but I’m afraid I’m not pushing myself. I’m going to list out the pros and cons.
Pros: London!, support, I’m going to be with other Americans who will most likely be more willing to travel, overall program cost would be cheaper, traveling is easy from London, I can complete an internship,
Cons: London is expensive!, not pushing myself out of my comfort zone, will only get to befriend Americans, due to the block set up it won’t feel as homey as an exchange, missing out on a uni experience
Will not studying at a university be less appealing in the professional sense?
My biggest pro is it’s in London, a city I have always dreamed of living in and I feel there is so much less worry associated with this option
My biggest con is that I might be missing out by not going to a University (can I still get the same authentic student experience (social scene wise?)
University of Manchester
My second program choice is spending 4 months at the Uni of Manchester. At first, i was hesitant because I really wanted to live in London, but through research it seems that Manchester is really amazing too. There seems to be so much life and it seems as good as London in most ways. I am going to list the pros and cons
Pros: a true university experience, great city, more affordable cost of living, prestigious school, nightlife is amazing
Cons: I think it will be hard to find people to travel around Europe with since they will mostly be locals who aren't always down for a weekend trip, program cost is more expensive, have to do a lot of things on my own, weather is so different from the west coast
My biggest pro is that I would be getting a true university experience
My biggest con is that I think it might be more difficult for me to find others to travel around Europe with
My daughter did her semester in London on a very tight budget. She only traveled one weekend to Paris, but she actually experienced a lot more of England than others in the program who traveled ($$$) almost every weekend. She loved it and liked some of the day trips very much (Brighton Beach, Stonehenge). The school organized a lot of trips for $30-40, and they did a lot of theater nights as part of her program. Through the school she could have gone to Scotland but it was pretty expensive and a long train ride.
My personal opinion is that when you study abroad, you shouldn’t rely on finding others to travel with you, but make some plans to travel on your own! Studying abroad has the potential to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you don’t want to limit your own travel plans and sightseeing opportunities because you maybe can’t find anyone else who wants to go with you.
Honestly, if I were you I’d want to do the CIEE program in London. There’s something really awesome about being in a major city of another country (I studied abroad in Amsterdam in the Netherlands when I was in college). It’s cheaper and you can do an internship, and traveling from London as a hub is likely far easier than traveling from Manchester on a hub. There’s also likely more to do in London. You don’t only have to befriend Americans; you will, however, have to push yourself to befriend people from the UK/London by venturing outside of the program to find others to hang out with. This isn’t difficult if you put your mind to it.
Not being at a university won’t be less appealing in the professional sense - CIEE is a well-respected study abroad organization. And of course you can still get the same authentic experience. There are many ways to be a student, and the UK university experience is pretty different from the American one. There are also lots of universities in London. When I studied abroad through SIT, the program had an agreement with the University of Amsterdam so we were allowed to use the student services of the university, including the libraries and student center. Ask and see if CIEE has that or can arrange something like that with a London-area university, so maybe you can get a little of the best of both worlds.
My daughter used CIEE when she studied abroad in Spain for a semester in high school and had a wonderful experience. My husband and I were impressed with how organized they were. She had an orientation when she first signed up, another in Boston before the students flew over together, then a third one when they landed in Spain. They gave her a 24/7 number she could call if she had any concerns at all. Her host family was awesome. It probably wasn’t the cheapest option, but we were happy to pay more for what we got.
I’d go with Manchester. It’s a major city, college life will be much better, it’s really not THAT far from London (England is not big), you can easily go to Ireland, Scotland, Wales from there plus visit hundreds of other places, fly for cheap to many other countries.
In London students are spread out all over the city, so that’d be an additional downside for me.
(Also, less knife danger in Manchester. Sorry but 38 police stations were closed in the past year and the knife culture issues subsequently skyrocketed).
