Thinking about going across the pond....

Hi! I'm new, I've been poking around here for a couple days and decided I might as well register. I'm in college in NC and am thinking of going to th UK to study. My choices as of now are The University of Keele, Hull University and University of Strathclyde. I've been to all their respective websites but am still unsure. In fact, I'm kinda unsure about the whole thing.   Has anyone gone to any of these schools or know anything about them that would be useful to know? Any thoughts at all would be helpful! Thanxxxxxxx

Hi Charlene,

I go to college in NC too   Are you thinking about going for study abroad, or a full degree course?  I studied abroad in the UK for a semester (at the University of Sheffield) and I had a lot of fun.  Adapting to a different culture was definitely challenging at first, but after I hit my low point about six weeks into it, things really started to get a lot better (and I ended up meeting my boyfriend in the UK!)  Studying abroad was the best decision I've made during my college career, and my only regret was that I couldn't stay longer!  This board is great for questions and support- good luck with your decision!

I went to Keele in England as a freshman in college, straight out of high school... yes, I was ambitious! It's a gorgeous campus, I recommend you visit it. They offer dual honors there, which is like a double major... something most UK uni's don't offer. Unfortunately I decided to withdraw because unlike American colleges it's not easy to change majors and I really didn't like the degree course I was on. Are you thinking of studying abroad or full-time? I'd recommend studying abroad -- studying full time as an undergrad is much different in the UK than what you may be used to. Not sure about graduate school though.

Wow! that was very brave of you! I'm studying abroad, it will be be over my junior year and I'm sudying Political Science. I'm not sure to go for a sememster or a year though. I'm just scared I won't like it, I've never traveled before. I've never even left the east coast! One half is really excited at the thought of going and the other half is terrified! hahahhaha I need to relax 

all i can say is do it do it!!!!!!

i chickened out on a semester at the University of Queensland and somedays i KICK myself for it

Having done 2 different study-abroad programs, in my opinion, nothing beats the valuable out-of-classroom education that you get when you are studying abroad.  Good luck with your decision!

I agree!!!  I always kicked myself for not going abroad!  What an opportunity, it sounds fabulous and so exciting!  Come visit, see how you like it.  Nothing to lose.

Now that I know you're doing a JYA, I say definitely go for it!!!  It's so much fun.

You should definitely do it- and come for the whole year if you can!  I won't lie, there are definitely downsides to being away from your home campus for such a long time, but it is completely WORTH IT.  I wish I had had the flexibility to do a whole year abroad, but academically it wasn't possible for me (if I wanted to graduate on time, anyway!) It'll be an amazing experience for you- before I went to England every student that had studied abroad that I talked to always said- "go, you won't regret it!" And now I know why 

Thanx everyone who responed! Honeybee!!!! I think I'll be going to Keele! Is there anything that you could tell me about it that you think would be useful to know besides the double major thing? Good, encouraging things perahps? And possibly any bad stuff I suppose, hahaha. Thanx!

I think of it this way, as well -- Let's say you do come and it for some strange reason, it totally stinks.  At least it's a great experience that you have under your belt, something interesting to talk about, and you can just "chalk it up to experience."  I'd rather regret risks I've taken and decisions I've made rather than not taking the chance and living with the regret of what I could have done.

As a current grad student here at uni of Leeds, I'm going to enlighten you about some things that weren't mentioned to me about school here:

class - a LOT less of it
studyiing - a lot more of it
papers - a bit different, mostly just longer, which is to be expected as a grad student
course - 1 year full time!
Financial process - horrible, a total nightmare and I sincerely am glad I am halfway through and never have to deal w/ it again; become best friends w/ the financial person at your school
breaks - they look long, but you have papers assigned over them and the truth is, I have 1 week off next week btwn work due and new classes starting (Boo! to doing work on Christmas eve and New Year's day!)
No exams! just papers (they're really big about citing and bibliographies)
Great profs (or lecturers as they're called here)
Great students, very friendly
as a grad student and living w/ my brit bf away from campus, I'm not into student life, but i am still glad to get a masters and get it here.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for responding! I'm so glad I found this forum. It's so interesting and informative!!

Actually, there are exams, on my course anyway. And final projects. And midterm and final papers. It depends on the course. I find the exams to be far more formal than ones I took in America.

The primary difference is, even though there is less class time (contact time), you are expected to study ALOT outside of class and do your work independently. You need self-discipline and motivation to pass.

I went to Keele when I was 18-19 years old. I remember it had a beautiful campus, even a mock American bar. I found it amusing to go in there and see what their idea of an American bar was. Very strange feeling. 

The thing I didn't like about it was, in the UK, you have to KNOW from the start what you want to do. It is far more difficult to switch majors, almost impossible. I took sociology and psychology, both, and realized I wasn't prepared at all for the amount of math, labs, and statistics from the start -- I was fresh out of high school. I never took A-levels or anything. It's a different educational system. And on top of that, I was trying to get used to living in England and being a foreigner surrounded by English people, PLUS it was my very first year of college. I withdrew from Keele because I was falling too far behind and the course just didn't interest me like I thought it would.

Another thing I didn't like about Keele was the fact it was so, so far away from everything. It had a tiny shop on campus for food, but you could only buy crappy untasty food there. For that reason I easily gained my freshman 15. I guess there was a bus service that came every so often, but the nearest city was very rough so I didn't go there too often. 

Sorry it took me awhile to get back to you, charlene. Hope I helped!

Thanks so much Honeybee, that's just the sort of information I wanted. Actually now I'm planning to go to Scotland instead and go to the University Of Strathclyde. I'm getting verrrry excited!