Arcadia Abroad in England & Wales

London is the perfect city to go to if you are looking for a home base from which you can explore all of Europe. I traveled to 17 countries in 5 months and loved every second of it. Arcadia also has a great support system in helping everything from the application process until you are ready to leave your program. In addition, Arcadia encourages you to acquaint yourself with the city you chose and thus holds a lot of free events.

I was very happy with Arcadia but my time at Queen Mary felt unsuccessful. The staff in the Global Opportunities office were very kind, friendly and easy to talk to. I felt as though there was no connections between students and professors, which is very different from my home institution. Meeting once a week for class made that connection harder to achieve. In addition, I feel as though the staff let me down with the strike and their lack of teaching. I wanted to study abroad to learn about and immerse myself in the London academic culture and I was unable to do that this term. The location of some of my courses were not on the campus where I was living and I was unaware that I would have to travel to a different location. Lastly, I felt as though the housing accommodations were not appropriate. There were a lot of issues with cleanliness of the common spaces and the age difference between us showed that the maturity level is different. We had a lot of issues when it people would be coming over at 3am screaming on a weekday. Also, The facilities staff was unresponsive to when something broke in my roommate's room when she called a few times. I enjoyed my time more abroad and traveling than the study part. I wanted to have a mutual balance between the two.

My experience overall was lots of fun and exciting. I enjoyed Queen Mary University and thought that the classes were not any more difficult than my university in the States and that the assessments were fair. One of the reasons I chose this university over the actual Arcadia campus in London was to be more immersed with and be able to meet more local students rather than just being with Americans and associate students. I was able to meet many local students, mostly through my living arrangement and the clubs I joined. It was lots of fun to meet them because I was able to learn more about British culture firsthand. However, I wish I did meet more associate students because the local students do not want to travel around the country every weekend like we do (since we are leaving in a few months). Therefore, if I were to do it again, I would have participated more in the associate student orientation activities at Queen Mary to be able to have met more associate students, and then would have had a better balance of British and associate student friends.
The opportunities given to me were great - from Arcadia trips and events to activities for associate students at Queen Mary, and I wish I had taken advantage of them better to have been more involved.

The whole entire experience in London was a dream come true. Being able to take the Tube anywhere I wanted in the city to explore was the best way to get to know the city and the boroughs I enjoyed most. While I'm biased to my home borough of Kensington & Chelsea, places like Covent Garden and Westminster became a couple of my favorite spots to discover new pubs and social scenes.

I attended a large University for college, and always craved individual attention, and true academic challenge that could be hard to find. My semester at Oxford provided all that and more. I really grew into my academic interests while working with my professors one-on-one. I even helped to run a research project while I was there. Studying in the libraries was incredibly inspiring, and I'll never forget the feeling of being handed a 2-page reading list each week and being told to read as much as I could. Such a great way to push yourself.

Outside of class, the friends I made are still some of my best. We'd punt on the Thames, go to rowing races, explore the historic bars and coffee shops, and go on day trips whenever we could.

I loved my time in London and I truly did enjoy the academics and other opportunities at UCL. However, I felt Arcadia promised much and delivered very little. After our orientation period, we were essentially set free in London without much support. Their "additional programming" sold out quickly. While other programs include costs for travel and special opportunities, Arcadia had travel adventures that sold out online in an hour. I would do it all over again but I would have preferred to go through a different program. UCL was academically and socially a blast and I highly recommend it.

The program was an overall good experience it could use some work. The teacher I had for photography was great, took us around the city to see different exhibits. Housed well and lived very comfortably. Class was not far from the station as well as housing and they helped teach you how to get around.

Obviously, studying at Oxford was academically rigorous. This isn't going to be your typical study abroad experience! While many of my peers refunded from their study abroad experiences with stories of their ABUNDANT free time, I came back with a bag filled with essays and a mind filled with knowledge. Through Arcadia, I experienced an authentic Oxford education-- I lived on campus with other students, studies in the Radcliffe Camera, and drank at the local historic pubs that all became familiar. Oxford, itself, is absolutely breathtaking and walking to and from lectures was like walking through history. You will be held to the same standards as the matriculated students, but if you have a sense of discipline, you'll be able to work during the days and have your evenings and weekends free to socialize and travel. The program provided a wonderful orientation in London. Though I wish we had had more contact throughout my stay, they were very responsive and supportive whenever I reached out to them. If you're thinking of traveling abroad and you want to challenge and surprise yourself, there is no better place than the "city of dreaming spires." Good luck!