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Why You Should Go and What to Expect

Sep 11 '02 (Updated Aug 10 '06) Write an essay on this topic.

The Bottom Line Get away from your American university and get some perspective!

One year ago today (yes, on September 11) I sent in my application to study abroad in London at University College London. Like most people who leave the comfortable for the new and unfamiliar, I was a bit nervous about the whole experience. What if I didn't meet any new friends because everyone thought I was a loud, stupid American? What if it rained so much that I became depressed? What if I was just too unfashionable to live in London? But, what it came down to was that if I didn't go abroad for a semester, I would probably regret it for the rest of my life. My university (Wesleyan) makes it very easy for students to apply credits earned at a foreign university, so I decided that it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.

Fortunately, most of my fears disappeared the minute I arrived at the airport on New Year's Day, 2002 and met some fellow students. I had the best six months of my life. Everyone on my program was extremely happy (because London is the best city in the world-- not because of anything the study abroad program did), but I know several other Wesleyan students whose experiences were not nearly as blissful as mine. I will use their stories to supplement mine in an attempt to make this an objective account of study abroad. However, obviously, everyone's experiences are different, and there is no way I can discuss every issue you may face on study abroad programs. The main thing is to keep and open mind and be ready for adventure and adversity.

The Application

Most undergraduate study abroad programs are not that competitive, so don't worry too much about the actual application as long as you have good grades at your home university. Foreign universities often make loads of money from American students because we have to pay a lot more to attend than native students. I had to get two letters of recommendation, but I was told that this was basically just a formality. However, don't ignore this requirement. Make sure you choose professors who know you well (and like you!) and allow enough time for them to write your letter.

Many study abroad programs have rolling admissions which means that the earlier you apply, the better your chances are of getting in. You want to apply as soon as possible. Some of my American classmates in London hadn't heard whether or not they had been admitted to University College London (UCL) until December and they had to arrive in London on January 2! Applying early will save you undue stress and increase your chances of getting admitted.

Butler Institute for Study Abroad

Wesleyan does not sponsor a program in London, so they strongly suggest that students go to UCL and other English universities through Butler, a university in Indiana that runs many study abroad programs. Butler also has an office in London that takes care of finding housing and runs excursions and social events for students. They also provide a group flight (from NY to London) and transportation from Heathrow Airport to your housing in England, which is extremely helpful.

If you do not go through Butler, you won't be guaranteed housing, and you certainly don't want to have to look for a flat when you get to London! The only annoying thing about Butler was that they made us stay in a hotel for six days in London before we moved into our UCL housing. It seemed rather hypocritical of them because they kept telling us that we should assimilate but then made us stay with fellow Americans and attend cheesy orientations.

Housing

I cannot stress enough that you want to request to live with native students. Butler had the option of living in a flat in Notting Hill. I would gladly take my squalid dorm over any luxury accommodation as long as I could live with British students! By interacting with British students, I learned valuable information about the British culture, perceptions of America, and learned a lot about myself. Plus, they might invite you to their houses and will teach you slang and cool places to go out.

Keep in mind that your housing will probably not be as luxurious as you are used to in your $30,000+ per year American university.

I would also not recommend going on the same study abroad program as your best friend. You want to meet new people and explore a new society and being by yourself (as scary as that might seem at first) frees you to do that.

Some programs require you to live with a family. In general, the people I know who have lived with a host family did not have as positive a study abroad experience as the people who lived in dorms or flats with other students. If you are in college, chances are, you don't want to live with your own family let alone someone else's! You will be more isolated and it will be more difficult to make friends. Also, your hosts may not give you the attention you are expecting, as they are probably housing you for monetary gain.

At the beginning of my stay in England, we had to stay with families in Kent for one weekend. I don't know one person who had a positive experience with their family! My hosts ignored me most of the time as they watched the telly at full volume, except when my host father tried to make me feel guilty about being a spoiled student (which I am, I admit, but it wasn't very pleasant.) "You're 20 years old? When are you going to start working?! I've been working since I was 15!" he said.

Fortunately, the next day, everyone on my program went to Canterbury (without the host families) but that night, my family tried to get me out of the house so they could go clubbing! They said, "Our daughter is finally having a sleep-over at her friend's house and then you came to ruin it!" Gee, thanks! Fortunately, my friend Paul phoned me and said that he was desperate to get away from his family, as well, who weren't so much rude, as incredibly boring! Their conversations went something like this:

Mr. Smith (looking out the window): "It looks like it might rain."
Mrs. Smith (also looking out the window):"It rains a lot."
They directed most of their conversation at the window until they finally addressed Paul.
Mrs. Smith: "Do you like Chinese food?"
Paul (enthused at the possibility of a conversation!) "Yes! I do!"
Mrs. Smith: "I don't."
Paul: "Oh."

So, I suggested that maybe I could meet Paul at a local pub (my host parents really seemed eager to get rid of me as soon as possible and I was tired of watching "Pop Idol" anyway) and then meet my host parents later at the club they were going to. We eventually had a good time, but if I hadn't been proactive in inviting myself along with them, it would have been quite an awkward situation.

My friend Dinny's host family made her sit in a different room for dinner and didn't feed her anything but toast (they gave their own children other food!) and my friend Katy's host family spent all their time ignoring her and doing sit-ups in the living room.

Someone I know who was on a program in Paris had to stay with an 80-year-old woman who was constantly making racist comments. Also, living with an old woman could really put a damper on your social life...

Culture Shock

Study Abroad guides always talk a lot about "culture shock." If you learn a lot about the society you are about to enter before you arrive, this phenomenon can be avoided. Life in London is generally not much different from life in a large American city. In any unfamiliar setting, you should be more cautious than usual.

For me, it was not culture shock but culture glee! I have always been an Anglophile and I loved nearly everything about London from the red, double-decker busses and old-fashioned looking taxis to the charming vocabulary and accents. On the other hand, I was, at first, a bit bewildered by the money and the traffic coming from the right and registering for classes, etc. The first week is always difficult for everyone.

A friend of mine who went to Morocco had an entirely different experience. As a woman, she had to change the way she dressed (no exposed arms or legs) and could never go out alone at night. There are also different cultural standards for alcohol consumption since it is a Muslim country. I once got an email from her that read, "I got stoned. No, not in that way-- people threw rocks at me!" And men were constantly grabbing her, as well.

The first stage of culture glee for me was that everything was completely wonderful. If someone had thrown rocks at me in January, I probably would have thought, "It's ok! It's a British person stoning me!" That is, of course, an exaggeration, but you get the picture. I didn't realize that I had entered Phase II until my family came to visit in February. We got to a bus stop on Tottenham Court Rd. and the bus arrival sign said that our bus wouldn't be coming for another 14 minutes. "B@llocks!" I said. "I hate waiting for the bus! Aaargh!" (or something along those lines.) My brother looked at me, wide eyed, and said, "But we're waiting for a bus in London !" I realized that I would have had the same thought a month earlier. But, I must admit, I never fully got over the thrill of riding on the top level. :)

The second stage is when you assimilate (or at least attempt to) into your adopted culture. For me, this meant playing cricket. We got to travel to matches in England and Wales and it was a good social outlet, as well, as the team had gatherings in the student union pubs.

"Are American Girls Easy?"

One thing you will have to deal with is perceptions of Americans. In our insulated nation, many Americans believe that the whole world loves us. We saved the planet in World War II, didn't we? But, leave the country and you will realize that the rest of the world thinks (knows!) that our president is an idiot and our nation has many other flaws, as well. I made it abundantly clear to my British classmates that I didn't want to be associated with Dubya so they felt free to express their political views. Even if you support the current administration, it is refreshing to hear some different views and you will be gain a better understanding of your own feelings about the U.S. and what it means to be an American. So, I urge you to have an open mind about political discussions. My (British) friend Tim loved to imitate George W. Bush and Richard Nixon, which was very entertaining.

Americans are generally more forward and loud than British people-- at least when sober or somewhat sober. This can give the wrong impression, so you might want to tone it down. I was once having what I thought was a fairly normal conversation with a workman in my hall when he said, "Go back to your room, you saucy minx!" And it was a member of the men's cricket team who asked me if American girls are easy-- not because of anything I did or said, but just because he wanted to know if I thought our image was justified. Don't feel that you have to represent an entire nation, but know that your reputation precedes you.

When people near the end of their stay abroad, they often become frustrated with situations in their host country that would have seemed innocuous a few weeks earlier. In some cases, this may be a rationalization since you know that you have to leave. My friend who was in Morocco had had enough and couldn't wait to go home. She told me that she practically kissed the ground and sang "God Bless America" when she got off the plane in New York.

I never reached this stage. I cringed when I read my friend's patriotic email, knowing that I wasn't ready to leave at all! Among the few things I looked forward to about returning to America were baseball, Seinfeld , and driving. But gaining these three things did little to offset the loss of beautiful parks, fabulous accents, pubs, the Tube, new friends, etc. etc. So, I cried all the way to the airport and felt somewhat depressed for most of the summer. But try not to think about this too much while you are abroad!

Academics

Everyone I have talked to at Wesleyan so far has said that their workload abroad was much less than it is here. The system may take a bit of getting used to, however. For instance, in the States, you get a syllabus with assigned readings that you are expected to read in their entirety. In England, you receive a massive reading list that you are expected to use to research essays. You know what is going to be on the final exam (which in some cases counts for all of the grade) based on past exam papers so you can plan what you want to write for them in advance. So, theoretically, you can not do any work at all for the whole term and then plan out your essays a couple of days before the exam. That's what I did and it worked just fine. :)

Students tend to do work during the day and then go out at night. And they go out almost every night. There was a bar in my dorm!!!!

I am a psychology major, but I stopped telling people that about halfway through the term. In the U.S., I rarely get a reaction when I tell people that I am a psych major, but in England, people in pubs would sometimes literally not want to talk to me anymore when I told them this! I think this is partly due to the fact that there is no "Liberal Arts" education at British universities. When you major in something, you do not have much room to take courses in other areas. As an undergraduate psychology student in America, I am very far from qualified as a therapist or anything, but, in England, the course of study is much more intense-- for all subjects, not just psychology.

Try to follow local standards for spelling and form in your essays. It shows that you have made an effort. When I first came home, I wanted to continue using British spelling, but I realized that I needed to re-assimilate to my native land, so as you can see, I have abandoned this practice...

Some other random things to consider

Mixed drinks are generally half as strong in England as they are in the US. Since I wasn't old enough to drink in bars in the States before I left, I didn't notice this difference. In fact, when I went out for the first time this summer, I wondered why two drinks had made me so tipsy. I have heard that in other countries, it is the opposite-- drinks are stronger. So, again, exercise caution.

Footwear can be a dead giveaway that you are an American. People in other countries rarely wear American style sneakers (except to work out). Also, people tend to dress in more muted colors.

It is a good idea to get traveler's cheques before you leave. My bank would charge me a $5 fee to use the ATM abroad, so I got a bunch of American Express traveler's cheques (in POUNDS), which were free to cash at American Express offices (there are several of these in London.) Be aware, however, that actual shops often do not accept traveler's cheques and, if they do, may require a passport. And I wasn't about to carry my passport around London... Also, make sure you have a plan as to what to do about finances while you are abroad. You will probably not be able to get a job abroad due to visa restrictions. There are endless opportunities to spend load of money, especially in London, so, unless someone is keeping a close eye on it from home, your bank account may run dry. Also, make sure to take advantage of the plethora of student discounts available on anything from a pint at some pubs to admission to Westminster Abbey.

If you are considering studying abroad, feel free to contact me with any questions.

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