<p>My son is planning to study abroad next spring and is mainly considering England. Has anyone's child studied abroad in England? He is particularly interested in psychology and is looking at a few programs including University College London. He's not sure whether it's best to base himself in London (very expensive) or perhaps in Leeds or elsewhere. Any suggestions? </p>
<p>(I will post this on the Study Abroad forum as well.)</p>
<p>I'm looking for answers too so will keep this question bumped up on the first page. The study abroad forum is kind of quiet. Our son was looking at Ireland but after some conversations, England seems more likely.</p>
<p>A friend my kids was in Leeds for a full year, last year and while he enjoyed his abroad, he said the English students kept to themselves and were not overly friendly toward the Americans. The friend was in an apartment building with other internationals and it took awhile to make friends. The two direct abroads in England for my sons schools are Regents college in London and University of East Anglia two hours away.</p>
<p>I'm studying in Wales this semester, so I suppose that counts. London is nearly twice as expensive as the rest of the UK, which is quite expensive as it is. If I could do it all over again, I'd probably choose a more central location, although not London (Birmingham, maybe). My experience has been the exact opposite of the above; most people I've met have been very friendly. It's been a bit awkward living among freshmen, though, since the university only houses first year students. </p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?subject=PSYCHOLOY%5DHere's%5B/url">http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?subject=PSYCHOLOY]Here's[/url</a>] a ranking for psych, if it helps.</p>
<p>I've been getting some feedback from my kids who are of the opinion that depending on the specific program, London can be somewhat of a generic location for US kids who study abroad there in terms of comparing it to more exotic locations/languages, etc.</p>
<p>I was encouraging my son to look at other locations besides Europe because of the expense and weather. I'm very weather affected and the idea of spending a semester in a warmer climate sounds wonderful and I like the idea of a place that very different then the US. (Obviously, my globe trotting daughter who has visited 4 contintents in the past year agrees) My son though, thinks that since he is an English major he should do his abroad in an English/European country so he can delve deeper into the roots of English literature.</p>
<p>Agreed, nyumon. And I was advocating for a term in a non-English speaking country for all sorts of reasons. The problem that arose was that some of the courses S needs to take are of a highly technical nature, so should be taught in English. Several universities have overseas programs with instruction in English. Further narrowing the choice is the fact that one of the courses has to be thermodynamics with a lab. Looks like he is going to the UK!</p>
<p>What about St. Andrews in Scotland? Anyone have any info?</p>
<p>mafool,
It sounds like a wonderful program! S had the option of taking a very specific program in London, but decided at the last minute to just take a general program, and when he returned to the states, he was thinking that he should have gone with the original program, but he had already been to another study abroad program in another country that was career specific, that was more productive for him at the time. He was probably comparing the programs and realized that he accomplished more with the non-London program, but he was able to travel more being in London, so it all worked out.</p>
<p>Twinmom,</p>
<p>My son studied two terms at Oxford in 2006 and the cost of living is expensive but worth it. He lived with other Americans but got to know British students through participation in Crew, something he had never done before. I don't know if that opportunity to participate is unique to Oxford but I find it to be a much more inclusive system than ours. England was a great base for traveling to more exotic locales in Europe and he was thrilled with his experience there - one of the highlights of college!</p>
<p>I think there is a certain amount of stress and adjustment no matter where you study abroad so not having to deal with another language can be a good thing for some students - it all depends on the student, their temperament, how seasoned a traveler they are and the subject they are interested in studying.</p>
<p>Lizschup: Thank you! My son definitely wants an English speaking country although he has studied two other languages.<br>
How did your son primarily travel throughout Europe? And did he travel over spring break? I understand that the break is a month long.</p>
<p>St. Andrews is a few miles outside of Edinburgh, not right in the city. It is ranked right under Oxford and Cambridge; Prince William went there. D's roommate, who is British but spent the latter half of her childhood in Texas, wanted to do her junior year there, but her parents nixed it because they felt she knew all there was to know about the UK already.</p>
<p>The academics are wonderful at St. Andrews. Scotland is a mite more exotic than London; at least it's a slightly different culture. My D would only accept being in a city. She really needs the independence readily available public transportation gives one.</p>
<p>twinmom: There are many options for the break. Some schools lock the dorms; some don't. Those are things that could be looked into in advance. If there are other friends in Europe that's a time to visit them too. The month vac only pertains to the UK. D is visiting a friend in Madrid for a week. I am hoping she meets friends to travel with, because she does not feel confident enough to travel alone. I have promised that if worse comes to worse she can come home. Yes, the plane fare will be expensive, but there will be no other expenses. Put it on my tab. What can I do? She's timid. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but one day at a time.</p>
<p>Mythmom: Is your daughter living in a dorm or in a flat?</p>
<p>I actually met my dear h studying abroad at Univ College London years ago. Fond memories. Be aware that in London especially, abroad students may or may not get university housing, depending on the program, and my university housing was a 15 minute tube ride from UCL in Bloomsbury. However, this really was not an issue for me, and I loved the self-catering hall (with communal kitchens and no yucky dorm food). Others may have chosen another campus outside London-my reasoning was that I wanted to be near the west end, and went to 1-2 theater or arts shows per week. Now that I've seen so much of England though, I realize how accessible so many parts of the country are for weekend travel and not having a commute would make options in other towns attractive too.</p>
<p>My d has begun comparing different UK study abroad options for her jr year, and I called family in England for links to ratings for different programs. These are not ratings for study abroad, but rather for the unis in the uk overall and for the departments or courses within each univ. Since Brits apply to their colleges by major, there is good info to be had. Generally, the harder the major is to get into for a British applicant, the more respected that dept. is. In looking at these ratings, look for which British exam marks are required for admission. This in essence tells you which are highly selective. Here was their advice: </p>
<ol>
<li> look on the on guardian.co.uk; ratings there- click on education, then choose a degree</li>
<li> look on the London Times Education pages on the Good University Guide and Sunday times are accessible form the UK website; make sure to go to [url=<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/%5DGood">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/]Good</a> University Guide | University League Tables | University Rankings - Times Online<a href="don't%20look%20on%20the%20global%20site,%20instead,%20make%20sure%20its%20the%20uk%20website">/url</a></li>
<li>therussellgroup.ac.uk; this is a website of a consortium of the finest 20 unis in the UK committed to research. There are a few exceptions she said, like Durham could be here but has never applied; but generally the value of this would be to see if the British uni your s/d is considering studying abroad in is in this group; then you can be re-assured of research reputation.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>One other comment: my career has been in business, and when looking at my resume in the U.S., everyone would ask me about it immediately; but also, noone ever had heard of of University College London. People asked me if it was the London School of Economics, which many had heard about. In general, outside of the UK, most Americans have only heard of Oxford, Cambridge and LSE. Still, in spite of this, I always thought it distinguished me as a job applicant, and it seemed to impress interviewers. For a 5-year period I was a manager who hired off college campuses, and I would always ask applicants about study abroad in those interviews.</p>
<p>She will be placed in a dorm. Dorm assignments aren't out yet. Barnard had very strict limitations on which programs it would accept in London. UCL was one; King's was another. She was accepted into Queen Mary's, part of UCL, but she found them much more disorganized and the courses not as appropriate to her major. King's had wonderful courses for her, and her dept. accepted all four of them for major's credit, which was a big plus; it ensures that she will finish in college in four years.</p>
<p>King's has a wonderful location; Queen Mary's is beautiful but a tiny bit suburban; UCL in central London that above poster mentions is cool; D did not want to go where everyone else from her school was going; her friend had waxed so enthusiastic about King's and its location, that she chose it. Her courses seem wonderful, and it is right on the river near Covent Garden. One dorm is close; two are definitely a ride away. As a student from NYC that won't bother her except for cost. The tube has gotten quite costly. Oh well, as my mother always says, "In for a penny, in for a pound", (in this case quite appropriate, haha.)</p>
<p>Twinmom,</p>
<p>My son flew by Ryan Air, Easy Jet and rail. His particular trip was more economical by air but he suggests looking into Eurail passes - you have to be a bit more of a planner to use it. He spent a lot of time in the Eastern European countries (Budapest, Prague and Berlin) - much more economical and the locals are very helpful and friendly. The Let's Go guides are highly recommended - one for UK weekends and a general one for Europe.</p>
<p>Thanks, Lizschup.</p>
<p>Does anyone have an opinion about going through a program such as Butler, SIT, etc. as opposed to going directly through the college?</p>
<p>I applied through Butler and was accepted at Oxford, although I didn't accept the offer. The staff was very helpful, and the application process was a breeze. </p>
<p>I went through [url=<a href="http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/%5DArcadia%5B/url">http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/]Arcadia[/url</a>] and have nothing but good things to say about it.</p>
<p>warblersrule: can you elaborate? Housing? I was wondering how credits have been approved back home. Does your transcript say Arcadia or does it say the UK uni?</p>
<p>Housing- It depends on the university. I chose a university that has enough housing for exchange students, so I got a very large single on campus. Arcadia guarantees housing for the universities that don't provide housing for exchange students; it's usually within a 5-10 minute walk from campus. Arcadia has its own London housing, and I think they provide tube passes.</p>
<p>Credits- I'll have an Arcadia transcript, although it'll have the university name on it. When I apply for grad school I'll have to request a transcript from Arcadia rather than the UK university.</p>