Arcadia University- King's College London

The experience was a very exciting one overall. The classes were pretty relaxed, so I had ample time to explore London, England, and other European countries. However, the university was very disorganized. There were cancelled classes and we were not made aware of it and were criticized when we had questions about it. Also, there was a large paper that I had to write and was not made aware of it until the last minute, which was a bit stressful.

I had a rather unique experience with the Arcadia KCL program due to the fact that at the beginning of the term one of my immediate family members died suddenly and unexpectedly. Had this not happened, I think I would have had a much better experience with the program, however given the circumstances they were largely unhelpful, especially when I was trying to figure out how to drop a class in an attempt to stay in the program. One Arcadia staff member reached out to me immediately following the event, however beyond that email I didn't receive any other support, which was difficult. Again, had I not had a death in the family I think my experience with the program would have been perfect.

This program is spectacular. The teachers and quality of the classes are as amazing as the opportunities to explore, travel, and experience London from the inside. I was able to travel to Scotland, and Wales, as well as areas around London including Bath, Stonehenge etc. The academics are not all time consuming to prevent you from seeing the city. They're challenging and engaging enough to keep you excited but sill allow your weekends to explore.

The program also does a really good job during orientation to get you used to the city and know what to expect. They send you on little scavenger hunts to try foods from certain markets or walk through famous parks. They also get you acquainted with the public transit system, the currency, and the slang of the city so you can communicate easily with the locals.

I am a theater major so my favorite part of the trip was how many shows I was able to see. Arcadia told us our opportunities to get discounted tickets to west end shows and I was a part of the theater class which gave me tickets to 5 different shows. I was able to see 8 shows in 8 weeks.

Overall, I would recommend this program to anyone. It's an incredible experience for not a lot of money in comparison to other abroad programs. The staff are all so kind and helpful and want to make your stay in London as awesome as possible. I also made so many friendships that have lasted long after the program ended.

Classes were usually two days a week for about two hours. I had to use the tube system (underground subway) because it was about a 45 minute journey to class from my housing with walking and going through the tube. I tried to go to as many markets as I could while I was there because there is great shopping and wonderful food choices that range over many types.

After the orientation week is over, you have the ability to make your own travel plans and I took many four day weekend trips to other places around Europe. Using the bus system is a great way to travel around England and can be very inexpensive. I suggest finding people that you want to travel with potentially very early in the trip and buying plan tickets through Ryan Air and EasyJet because they go up in price the closer you get to the date.

The staff in this program are extremely friendly and helpful! Most of them are younger and have a lot of great suggestions on where to travel and places to go see in London itself. I would take advantage of the school and their free printing and computer room. They are open everyday but Saturday and it was a great place to do homework and print it for free!

This is a great program and I would suggest it to anyone who wants to experience a different kind of classroom experience but still wants the availability to travel around Europe and have free time! This is an awesome program!