IES Abroad London

I wasn't sure where I wanted go abroad, all I knew was that I wanted to go. I had wanted to travel since I was a freshman and it took me until my first semester of my senior year to make the leap of faith and just go for it. Up until that point the only place I had been outside of the US was Canada. In the months before my departure I was deciding between going to Spain, China, and England. I ultimately chose London and couldn't have been happier with my decision. China was just too far for me and I happened to make a visit from London to Spain during my time abroad because of how centralized England was and how modestly priced the flights were throughout Europe.

Some of the pro's of my visit included:
Travel - as stated above. Considerably cheap & very convenient

The transportation - bus/tubes take you anywhere for reasonable prices.
TUBE IS GOING 24/7 SOON

No real Language Barrier - Not an entirely new language but certain expressions may have you scratching your head. All the more fun tho

Fashion Capital - plenty of good looking people in London thats for sure

Classes - Most, if not all, of my classes took walking tours during class time and I got to see some of London's most renowned features along with local favorites that I may have never even heard about had it not been for the classes.

The People - Theres not enough that can be said about the people you'll encounter. For me it was the people who made each place I visited while abroad what it was. They were the lifeblood of the trip and regardless of where I was or the wonders I saw it was the people who made the biggest impact on my journey.

I could go on and on with pro's but I'll stop there and give a few cons to the experience to make things fair:

Currency - The exchange from Dollar to Sterling Pound was rough when I went abroad. I've heard stories of it being even worse and then other stories of it being cheap. It varies from day to day and either way I don't regret the money I spent. If anything I'd regret not spending more. It's just a friendly reminder to budget for your time cause theres always gonna be something you wanna go out and do.

Dorm Living - As a senior it was a little odd for me to go back to dorm living with a roommate. The place looked a lot bigger in pictures too. Turned out my roommate and I were both in the same fraternity so we hit it off pretty quickly and the small space wasn't as awkward. The elevators though broke pretty much every other week and would sometimes go up when you pressed down which was extremely frustrating. You also had to pay for laundry services. But there was a weekly cleaning lady and a common room area with pool and foosball tables too so if you wanted to get out of the room you could.

Overall It was an experience that I would recommend to anyway and hope to be able to go back abroad one day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in London through IES Abroad. I ultimately chose this program because of the classes I would be taking. As a public health major interested in global health policy, the classes corresponded wonderfully to my academic goals and allowed me further explore possible career opportunities in social services and public health.

That being said, I would only recommend this program if you are sure what you want to study and what you want to get out of this program. I loved that it involved a lot of independent learning - I got to self-direct my learning in my courses. If I wanted to focus more on understanding past international health laws, I could choose to do more reading about that and get really great answers out of my professor. If I wanted to understand how international actors get involved in health policy, I could choose to focus on that. The teachers do their best to teach you what YOU want to learn. That was true in all of my classes. So, if you are unsure of what you want to learn, you might find yourself a bit lost in this program. However, if you know what you want to learn, you can really get a lot out of this program.

London is a great location to study abroad. It's a very modern city, but like many European cities, has lots of history and culture. As this is a very independent program, you get what you want out of the cultural experience. If you leave the country every weekend to explore the nearby European countries, you won't have as much time to absorb the rich culture of London itself. I loved being able to take advantage of the free museums and late night events offered. IES also has a wide selection of field trips on the weekends, which really helped me explore more of the English countryside and cities farther away.

This program includes a course at Oxford University as well as a Service Learning Placement. The course at Oxford is what you make of it. There are positives and negatives, for example, the long commute to get there every Friday morning. However, Oxford is a beautiful little town and I really enjoyed walking around with my friends after class. The Service Learning Placement is also what you make of it. The staff at IES try to place you with an organization that you have interests in, but it's not always perfect. You just have to remember that this is just another experience, and take advantage of the opportunities. I loved my placement and made some great British friends.

Finally, the program ends in Kingston, Jamaica. We spent about a week there volunteering at health clinics and learning about the health system in Jamaica and the Caribbean. I will say that I probably learned more in Jamaica than I did in London the past 3 months. It was a great way to end the program and I am infinitely thankful for the experience in Jamaica.

This was the best experience I could have hoped for. I learned so much about myself and the world, and I have grown so much. The classes were amazing and the opportunities in London are endless. I highly recommend everyone should study abroad. It will change you totally for the better.

This program was fantastic but it really depends what you are looking for. The program is mostly with American students and you live together so it's hard meeting foreigners. However, the profs were amazing and really got to know their students. The British Youth Culture class is so interesting and you learn about things that you can relate too. The Jamaica part of the program was invaluable. It helped me figure out what I want to do with my future and what fields I enjoyed.

As an international student originally from Romania, studying abroad was a familiar experience since I was already abroad in the USA. However, the semester I spent in London at University College London was a unique experience I enjoyed very much. The first couple of weeks I was there, the most challenging part was to find my way around, remembering how to get from the building I was hosted at to school, to the groceries stores, or to restaurants; being used to a small university campus, I found it relatively hard to live in a very busy city. This experience however turned out to be a rather pleasurable and exciting one as I started to get used to the public transportation. London is an amazing city, having to offer incredibly many attractions and exciting places to visit and enjoy such as restaurants, museums, parks, etc. Not only did the city of London impress me, but also the classes I took at UCL were extremely interesting and stimulating. I was enrolled in the Psychology department, where I also had the privilege of working on a research project with amazing professors. This study abroad experience was definitely a very positive one, and I highly recommend all students to try at least one study abroad program.

My study abroad experience with IES Abroad was one of the best times of my life. Having never been abroad before, I was nervous about how I would handle being in a huge city thousands of miles from home. After a quick orientation into Life in London (and its public transportation) given by IES staff, my silly worries were quickly put to rest.

I learned so many life lessons through the UK Today program and have found a better sense of who I am as a person. Both of the classes I took met in specific locations in the city, such as the National Portrait Gallery or the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, and required lots of walking and picture taking (two things I throughly enjoy). My classes let me see London in its natural environment and gave me insight into its incredible history. In our spare time my friends and I would visit one of the many free museums, watch the FIFA World Cup at a local pub, or have some lunch in one of the many green spaces (Kensington Gardens was a favorite!), and we quickly found out own side of London.

The program also offered many opportunities to visit popular spot outside of London during the weekends, including Stonehenge and Bath, complete with tour guides and transportation (Brighton was a personal favorite). I met so many wonderful people abroad and I enjoyed getting to know the IES staff and world-renowned Professors. I am so grateful for the experiences IES abroad has given me and I will always see London as a second home.

The Health Practice & Policy program through IES Abroad in London was such an amazing opportunity. The courses that I took were relevant to my major, which is public health, and I gained some important skills while studying abroad. Not only did I learn from the academics during the semester, but I also learned so much from the culture in London.

The faculty and staff at IES Abroad London are extremely welcoming and helpful. Whether you have an issue with a course or a question about getting around the city, they are always happy to take the time to talk with you.

I was able to experience so many new things through this program including taking a course at Oxford University, doing a service learning placement at a homeless shelter in South London, and making friends from all over the world. I particularly liked the field trips and group outings that were offered to students. They were both engaging and fun and they helped give us students and understanding of the local culture.

I do not think it is an overstatement to say that studying in London changed my outlook on life, and I would definitely recommend this program to any health studies majors who are interested in learning about international health systems and policies.

If I could re-live my four months in London, I would do it again in a heartbeat! The IES Staff was fantastic, the food delicious, classes interesting, and plenty of fun field trips! Not to mention, I got to travel to several other countries being that there are no Friday classes. I was able to learn through a unique mixture of typical classroom learning and exploring throughout the city. I would definitely rate this program five stars.