Study abroad rant!

I've just been told by my coordinator at the third party company ASU uses for study abroad that I may not be able to go to UCL after all. My adviser at ASU never informed me that UCL RARELY accepts sophomores for study abroad students, so I may have to go with my second choice of University of Edinburgh. I'm worried though that I won't want to do it at all because I was so set on UCL since they have conservation classes I wanted to take, and now because I will be a second semester sophomore, they may not take me. I'm so angry and upset that I might cry. This is all so frustrating and I wish someone would have told me BEFORE I went through all the pain and frustration of filling out all the applications and paperwork!!! He told me that there would be no problem with my class standing!!

 :\\\'(

I know it's a bummer, especially when you were already set to go to London. And that is crap that your advisor has misled you. But honestly, if you end up in Edinburgh consider yourself very lucky. It's a wonderful city! I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here no matter where they send you. 

aww, hey I'm sorry to hear that.  Don't give up yet, you never know what might happen.

If you're not accepted at UCL though, I would still encourage you to study abroad, whether it's at Edinburgh or whether you wait to reapply for UCL next year....my semester abroad in undergrad was such a great experience for me, and to be honest the academic portion of it (while worthwhile) ended up being one of the less significant parts of the experience!  And Edinburgh is a lovely city- I really enjoyed my visit there.

Well the main reason I wanted to study at UCL was the conservation classes. I don't believe they offer anything similar in Edinburgh, and now I feel like it isn't worth it to me to go for a full year if I won't be able to take the classes I wanted to take that are not offered here. That was a huge part of why I wanted to go.

Also, I paid a $350 deposit for this, and I'm worried that they'll reneg on refunding it if I don't get into UCL but do get into Edinburgh. That's $350 down the toilet for me, and a frustrating mess because I have been so stressed out about this whole thing for three months now. I just want to pull all my hair out.

I don't know.. maybe this wasn't meant to be for me.

What kind of conservation? Environmental?

Conservation of art.

I shot off a rather upset email to my ASU adviser. I'm really angry that they had me pay what they've clarified is a non-refundable deposit unless I am completely not accepted (I'm assuming by both choices of schools) when I don't even qualify under UCL's requirements. The other adviser at the third party said she would get back to me before the end of the day. I guess I will post more if I find anything else out.

Okay...sorry....that's out of my realm! Regardless, don't give up! Like Andrea said, it's the experience not just the classes.

Sorry to hear that, especially when you've gone through all that hassle and paperwork. While I hope you do make it into UCL, Edinburgh is also a good university, so I wouldn't rule them out completely.

Plus, Edinburgh does have a couple of pros over London - it's cheaper to live there (you could end up saving a fair amount of money) and is also a lovely city. It really depends on whether you have your heart set on UCL and if you can still get something worthwhile out of the year even if you can't take the conservation courses you were hoping to. Does Edinburgh offer any other courses you might be interested in that UCL doesn't?

Can I just ask what kind of study abroad program you're on? Would it be an exchange with UCL/Edinburgh or are you doing it on your own?

I ask because I did a study abroad exchange year at UNM in Albuquerque and your study abroad application sounds a lot more complicated than mine - my university had an exchange scheme set up with UNM and all I had to do to get accepted was fill out 1 form and send my financial statements to them - within a month of deciding to study at UNM, I'd been accepted. The only thing I really had to worry about was getting the 1-year visa in time to book a flight. It seems like you've had to go through a lot of time and effort just to get the application in - it doesn't seem fair on you at all.

Okay...sorry....that's out of my realm! Regardless, don't give up! Like Andrea said, it's the experience not just the classes.

I know.. and I appreciate everyone's kind words.. It's just that this will be very expensive (around $30,000) and I intended on being able to have the experience AND be able to take classes that I can't possibly take at the undergrad level in the US. I would have felt completely differently if UCL just decided they didn't want me, but to find out that I don't even qualify after being told that I did just really makes me so upset. Of course I would have been sad to not be accepted, but I'm angry that they allowed me to even apply without telling me I didn't quality. And if they didn't know I didn't qualify, isn't that something they should have known all along and told me? There's really no excuse for that.

I'd be more than willing to do one semester abroad instead because it'd cost me half as much and I would still be able to go. Now I may be faced with either losing $350 by just refusing to go or spending $30,000 for a year abroad somewhere where I can't even take classes that I really wanted to go for.

Hopefully darksquid won't mind me saying but she's a rare book conservator and she lives in Edinburgh. I'm hoping that she'll see this thread but you can always PM her.

Does Edinburgh offer any other courses you might be interested in that UCL doesn't?

To be honest, I picked UofE on a whim because they needed me to fill in a second choice. I'm currently trying to ferret out their History of Art classes so I can find out if there's anything I want to take.

Can I just ask what kind of study abroad program you're on? Would it be an exchange with UCL/Edinburgh or are you doing it on your own?

I ask because I did a study abroad exchange year at UNM in Albuquerque and your study abroad application sounds a lot more complicated than mine - my university had an exchange scheme set up with UNM and all I had to do to get accepted was fill out 1 form and send my financial statements to them - within a month of deciding to study at UNM, I'd been accepted. The only thing I really had to worry about was getting the 1-year visa in time to book a flight. It seems like you've had to go through a lot of time and effort just to get the application in - it doesn't seem fair on you at all.

ASU has two ways of studying abroad. One is called "Exchange" and one is called "Study Abroad."

Exchanges are as you've described above, and are usually less expensive. ASU would have an agreement with a UK uni to swap students so you are basically paying tuition at your home university, plus housing abroad and all the other stuff (airfare, visas, books, food, etc etc), so it usually ends up cheaper. I do believe that there is a lot less paperwork for it also. Unfortunately, the deadlines were at the same time, so more than likely all of the exchange slots are filled up. Even if I wanted to switch, I probably can't anymore.

Study Abroad means that ASU has an agreement with a third party company, in my case [url IFSA-Butler]http://www.ifsa-butler.org/[/url], who then has an agreement with the school you're applying to (in my case UCL or UofE as a second choice). I had to apply to ASU to be endorsed by ASU to apply to IFSA Butler who would then accept me and endorse me to applyu to UCL who would then either accept or decline me. I had to fill out an application for IFSA Butler that did include a few items that were specifically for ASU and some for Butler, and then when I got endorsed by ASU and Butler, Butler asked me to fill out a few more items (an academic statement, a family visit sheet because they do a 3 day mandatory family visit with a UK family, and a housing application for UCL). I've filled all that out and just sent it to the Butler adviser this morning when she emailed me back asking for my ASU transcripts. When I replied that I didn't have any as my acceptance to ASU was still pending (I am transferring), my ASU adviser said it was acceptable to send my community college transcripts. She called me back and then said UCL doesn't usually (she said RARELY, emphasis hers) accept "second semester sophomores." So does that mean they do accept first semester sophomores? I don't have enough credit hours yet to be considered a true second semester sophomore as I have not been full time. I will probably have the equivalent of 3 and a half semesters under my belt by the time I would be going.

It IS really complicated, which is why I'm so angry that I went through all of these hoops only to be told "oh we're sorry, you don't even qualify!"

Hopefully darksquid won't mind me saying but she's a rare book conservator and she lives in Edinburgh. I'm hoping that she'll see this thread but you can always PM her.

Really?! That is a true upside. Maybe if I go to Edinburgh she could use some free slave labor and I could nose around and watch her work

I still have to find out if I'm okay to qualify for UofE though too That does give me hope though.

I would have felt completely differently if UCL just decided they didn't want me, but to find out that I don't even qualify after being told that I did just really makes me so upset. Of course I would have been sad to not be accepted, but I'm angry that they allowed me to even apply without telling me I didn't quality. And if they didn't know I didn't qualify, isn't that something they should have known all along and told me? There's really no excuse for that.

They really should have known and told you about it. I just had a look at the UCL site and it does say that almost all of the students they accept are juniors or seniors - no mention of sophomores at all.

I believe the reason for this is because of the difference between the standards of US and UK universities. UCL state that the juniors and seniors from the US will take mostly 2nd year classes, so by that reasoning, they would put you in 1st year classes, which don't actually count towards the UK degree. If you were to go into 2nd year classes, by the time you got back to the states, you'd probably find that you'd already taken the equivalent to your junior year and would have to repeat similar material all over again (at least that was the case with my degree - I went from 2nd year in the UK straight to senior/graduate classes in the US because I had already taken junior year).

I think that your ASU adviser probably meant that 'first-semester sophomores were completely out, but second-semester sophomores might have a slight chance of getting in - however, you'd really need to be a junior to be accepted'!

Oh fantastic. She just told me that she won't be able to talk to UCL until tomorrow, but it's their policy only to take Juniors and Seniors. She said she was directing me to the UofE person at Butler, and I've already gotten an email from her, but apparently said that UofE might take the same stance on it as UCL. What the heck is the point then to fill any more paperwork out?! The UofE person sent me a generic email that looks exactly like the one I got from the UCL person saying I need to fill out housing, family visit, and a statement just like for UCL. Why should I bother if they won't take me either? Now I'm just angry that they are asking me to do it without telling me if I qualify for them either!!!

I think that your ASU adviser probably meant that 'first-semester sophomores were completely out, but second-semester sophomores might have a slight chance of getting in - however, you'd really need to be a junior to be accepted'!

That was actually the Butler adviser that said that, but I think she meant any sophomore at all since I won't be a full on second semester sophomore by then anyway. I have no idea.

If you're not accepted into UCL because you're not qualified, and Edinburgh doesn't offer the equivalent classes, I would formally complain to the office at ASU to get your money back. Or ask if you can use that money towards your application fee in your junior year. They shouldn't have allowed you to apply if they knew you wouldn't be qualified.