Study Abroad in the UK - Courses in Engineering, Computer Science & more

My time at Swansea University was amazing. I was able to go through a partnership program with The University of North Carolina Wilmington. The classes I took were wonderful and I learned a lot, and I was easily able to balance academics and the fun of traveling and experiencing a new country.

My biggest complaint during my time abroad was the housing situation. We were placed in a student village that was actively being torn down. Due to the ongoing construction, bus routes were often interrupted and sometimes buses wouldn't pick up from the village at all, and students were often not informed of these changes and therefore missed classes. Additionally, the water would be shut off for long stretches of time - students would live between 5 and 25 hours without running water. Finally, because of the impending tear-down of each building, maintenance wouldn't be done when it was requested. Overall, the living situation was not what I paid for and was overall disappointing.

That being said, Swansea University was a lovely campus full of attentive staff members and a pre-sessional course that provided ample time to get acclimated to the new environment. I would recommend Swansea University to anybody looking to study abroad; just be careful with where you live.

Literally, just commit. Sign-up. Pay the down payment. Whatever it may be, if you have any doubts about this program whatsoever, ignore them and take a leap of faith. This program and Swansea University as a whole was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. I originally never planned on studying abroad, but I'm 100% glad I made the decision to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because it's changed who I am as a person in such a great way. I'm so much more of an 'adult' now than I ever was, and I'm loads more knowledgeable with how the world works. With studying abroad experience under my belt, I'm more keen to graduate and move somewhere where I have to start a whole new life- it's given me the courage to do so.
First and foremost, Wales is incredibly beautiful and lush. Studying at Swansea gives you ample time to roam around and take in all the natural beauty like the Gower and Rhossili. As classes are set at your own pace with very minimal deadlines to meet (as there's typically only a final at the end of term), this gives you a massive amount of time to explore and travel. The weather itself isn't dreadful, either. It doesn't rain terribly hard at all and instead only drizzles. I'm from Texas where the temperature is a constant boil, and I managed to adjust really well to the wind and cold.
Secondly, you get to make so many friends abroad. I now have friends all over the world from Australia to Germany to Canada. In this sense, not only do you get to learn about Welsh culture, but you get to learn about so many other countries plus the ones you get to travel around to. After my five months were over, I had visited 10 countries including Iceland and Hungary (my favourites by far).
Tips: pack light (you never even use half your wardrobe, I promise. And more room for souvenirs!), integrate and become a local (I always went to the same coffee shop, met lots of sweet locals who I still keep in contact with), get the National Express discount card and the railcard

My Swansea experience was absolutely incredible. I lived in the student village with welsh students and it really helped me feel like I was actually a part of the school and the culture. I took two required chemical engineering classes for my major: Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics. While I did make the same mistake that many abroad students have before me by underestimating the weight and difficulty of the final, I felt that I did still get a good understanding of the topics, as I would have at my US university. Additionally, I took a philosophy and a history course due to other home requirements. It was very interesting to see how in the UK they do not cross over into disciplines and those teachers seemed intrigued and glad to have engineers in their classes. Additionally, Swansea University was great about organizing weekend trips for the students and I was glad I was able to take advantage of several of them. Overall, my time in Swansea was amazing and I would love to go back and visit my friends.