Comments | ucl: Study Abroad

eclaire4186 in ucl

Study Abroad

Apr 10, 2006 22:42

Hey guys, I'm a newbie here looking for a little advice if you're willing to help.

My name is Claire and I'm a Sophomore at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, USA. I have an unnatural and completly (well not completly) unfounded love of Britain so I'm planning on doing my study abroad term in London next Spring Semester. My problem is ( Read more... )

Comments 17

balefully April 11 2006, 03:17:10 UTC

What kind of credits do you need while abroad/what classes are you looking to take? That'll have a big impact on what university you'd want to go to and the time you'll have to spend studying. I'm doing psychology, and I've found that there's totally time for gallivanting (even if I do way more of it that I really ought to), while at the same time the program's really well-respected.

eclaire4186 April 11 2006, 12:35:47 UTC

Haha, in all my excitement about going abroad I forgot to include my major. I'm a maths major and a spanish minor. I don't have to take credit for my major while I'm abroad, so I'm not quite sure what I want to take. I've been told that you have to apply to each concentration and then only take classes from your subject. Is that really how it works? And how flexible are they about it? I would love to take some math credit while I'm there, but I'm not sure if I'll get into the program.

balefully April 11 2006, 20:20:03 UTC

I have lots of friends who do maths, actually, and they say it's amazing but kinda tough.

shmoobly April 11 2006, 09:45:41 UTC

Yeah it'll depend on the subject you're taking. I've just sent off my acceptance of a place at UCL so I don't know a great deal, but the fact I've chosen it as the place I want to study Geography for the next 3 years should tell you my opinion of it. It's slap bang in the middle of London so that'd be good if you love the London thing. It has a really good reputation (saying that everyone thinks the Uni they've chosen is the best one, so I'm a little bias). Oh! and the lecturers and professors I met all seemed nice and to really know their stuff, alongside our wonderful British accent!lol!

eclaire4186 April 11 2006, 12:37:19 UTC

Ooooh, accents! Haha, you already know me so well! Well, me or every other American girl :) Thanks for the info on the reuptation. It's hard to get that kind of info without actually being in London.

eee_eph April 11 2006, 10:02:25 UTC

UCL and King's are considered "good" universities - they have a great reputation, whereas Westminister is so-so. I haven't heard of Regent's College and I'm at UCL (so it probably doesn't have much of a reputation!).

In my opinion UCL is great - it has a brilliant location, Bloomsbury is a lovely area, whereas King's is by the river which a bit more chaotic. How much spare time you have depends entirely on what course you do - science degrees sometimes involve classes from 9am to early afternoon everyday. Arts degrees (ie. humanities, including anthropology, history etc) have fewer classes, as you are expected to do more reading in your own time. You'll always have weekends off to gallivant around Britain! It doesn't take that long to get anywhere from London and, of course, the transport links are great.

eclaire4186 April 11 2006, 12:41:35 UTC

Thanks so much for your reply. UCL definitely seems to have the best location I've seen. I'm hoping to take math while I'm abroad and something in the humanities too. You said science classes can be from 9am to early afternoon. Are the class periods that long? Or do you just take that much class each day?

eee_eph April 11 2006, 12:46:36 UTC

I mean you take that much class each day. Be it lectures, tutorials or lab work. For example, my boyfriend at UCL studies chemistry with maths. Every day he starts at 9am. Some days he finishes at 12 (yay!), but one day was 5pm, one was 6pm (both labs), and one was 3pm. Apart from medicine (obviously!) I'd say that was pretty instensive. I study languages, which has more contact hours than most arts degrees, yet I still get one day with only one one-hour class. You can be lucky and have full days off. For example, a couple of my friends do anthropology and only have two days of university a week! But like I said - you are expected to do reading with that time, or essays etc. If you have any other questions, just ask. I'm a second year student, by the way.

eclaire4186 April 12 2006, 14:20:28 UTC

Wow, only 2 days of university a week! No way I'd be that lucky, but still a nice thing to hope for. Math makes sense to be more class time each week, but I'm sure that will be the case anywhere I go.

Thanks so much for all your help! If I think of anything else I'll be sure to drop you a message.

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eclaire4186 April 11 2006, 12:52:29 UTC

The Easter break certainly looks like a wonderful thing. I'm looking foward to that.

So if you just skip class, it doesnt count off your grade? Or are the classes so big that no one would ever notice that you didnt come?

eee_eph April 11 2006, 12:55:06 UTC

The classes can be so big no one would notice if you didn't come (but see my comment below) BUT attendance is recorded, and lack of attendance will affect your grade. For example, you might not be allowed to enter exams if you don't attend enough classes.

eee_eph April 11 2006, 12:53:18 UTC

And finally, apart from tutorials and seminars, remember that all your "classes" here will be lectures only.

This completely depends on your department. I guess, the smaller the department, the more classes you have. I study German and Scandinavian Studies (both small departments, but the best in the country!) and don't have any "lectures", only small classes, which are much like seminars. It is true that other departments have large lectures, but as I understand it, attendance is recorded - a list for people to sign goes round. I know they check these, as my boyfriend has been called up to explain absences before.

Thread 6

daskind April 11 2006, 11:25:43 UTC

I'm not sure what course bonhomme is on but I'd dispute the point about nobody taking attendance registers - I do German and a few courses outside of German and almost everything is registered! But other than that, I'd definitely recommend UCL, which is my own university. Other than being in a great location and being probably the best in London (it might tie with Imperial but it's definitely better than Kings), there are a lot of American students that come over in the Spring term and UCL lays on a whole load of tailor made programmes for them; I did one of these courses as an extra course this Spring, and about 40 of the 50 students in it were from the US (most of them from WashU in St Louis). UCL has experience of dealing with affiliate students, in other words

I wish there was a chance to do it the other way around! I'd love to spend a term in America. It wouldn't fit into my course though, and I suppose I do get a whole year abroad in Germany anyway, so can't complain too much.

eclaire4186 April 11 2006, 12:56:34 UTC

Thats great that UCL knows how to handle abroad students. Although the tailor made programs might be nice, how do you think an American student would fit into just a regular classroom? I rather have classes with someone I couldn't see while I was at home. Also, are abroad students generally treated well by the rest of campus? I can imagine it could go either way - loving fun new people comming on campus, or annoyed at the silly Americans that take over half the year.

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eclaire4186 April 12 2006, 14:08:08 UTC

So you would say living in the residence halls would be the best choice? That makes a lot of sense. My friend who is abroad this semester is in an appartment with other abroad students, so she's not really making new friends with any of the people there in Ireland. And if I dont come back with at least 2 good British friends, I will be very dissapointed.