Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Location Location
Posts: 26384

Heya.

I'm finally getting around to firming up plans of mine to study abroad this spring. And we have a bunch of limey types festering here so I thought I might throw it out.

The program I'd be going through would be www.isa-butler.org

On a whim I'm thinking of studying in London, but any of the UK would do. Advice on that matter could be helpful as well.

More specifically, I was looking over UCL in Bloomsbury, their English program (lit). But again, I'm just sort of browsing right now. Know anything about it? Or other unis you think might be good for me?

Wherever I go, I would be an American English student looking for some academics but mostly a good time and a cool experience.

Thoughts from you bloody foriegners?

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: NYC
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My school had an agreement with Oxford, and a lot of my friends did a semester there. I visited for a bit too. Every one of them hated it.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: my mother's bloody womb
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jesus paint. you just HAD to tell the limeys you were coming, huh? you'll never get any studying done with those lushes falling all over your doorstep. i can see it now- you'll be typing up a term paper when czech stumbles through the door with a keg on each shoulder. phil, pj and rizz will be right behind him with the digital camera and other assorted party gear. you'll protest weakly at first, then grab a glass and get in line. repeat for one year, ad nauseum.

and we had such high hopes for you! *sobs*

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
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weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee clubs and pills get the whistles out time to get you bollocks!

all that aside. UCL is a good school. I have to talk up my Uni in Greenwich of course as that is obligatory, they have a fairly decent English Bachelors and Masters programme, and the campus in Greenwich is cool. The thing about UCL in Bloomsbury is going to be accomodation. All UCL colleges are in central town, which is cool for nightlife but its really expensive to live (especially at the moment and the housing market in buying and renting is not going down anytime soon). Of course you could live outside and travel into town, but trust me, you don;t want to be using the trains everyday, they are fucked and expensive. If I was you I would look south of the river at the likes of Goldsmiths College, or Greenwich, or Roehampton Institute. At the end of the day it all depends on where/how you want to live. Do you want to live in a secure campus designed for 2000 stduents getting drunk and being stupid, or do you want to share a house somewhere away from college etc etc. If its the latter then avoid town like the plague, it will skim you so much for cash you won;t be able to afford food.

Last edited by philjit on 08-02-2002 at 09:21 PM

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
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GO SOUTH OF THE RIVER GODDAMIT!

Ignore anything that Smug and slappy say about North London. North London is for yuppies!

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 11770

GO NORTH OF THE BORDER GODDAMIT!

I got plastered at Strathclyde once in Glasgow. With my 19 year old uncle.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Dumbfucksville!
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STUDY AT TRINITY COLLEGE IN DUBLIN!

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Germany
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I'm not sure if this is any help, but you might want to consider Berlin. The Free University Berlin has a Summerschool program. It costs quite a bit of dough, but getting those international credit points (ECS or something) is fairly easy I hear. I'm not certain if they have an English program, but it is likely.

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Yeah, but then I'd have to be around Germans.

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Registered: Jan 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by Phil
GO SOUTH OF THE RIVER GODDAMIT!

Ignore anything that Smug and slappy say about North London. North London is for yuppies!

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you have to ask the question why is north london for yuppies? my answerr to that would be because its nicer than south london. and i should know, ive lived in both areas. if you go to Middlesex Uni you will be part of the biggest uni around London, you would study at Trent Park where all the drama students go (hence lots of pretty girls to get know) and there would also be a shitload of computers for you to mess around with as Trent park is also the main IT campus. Middlesex uni is situated on the outskirts of london with the london center easily accesible by tube.

oh yeah you would also be near RiZZ, Slappy, Uj, Aminal, and SMug git, and miles and miles away from Czech, Phil, Rav (who doesnt exist) and myself.

just make sure you leave your shoes behind in merka , because im sure our imigration people will class them as chemical weapons of mass destruction.

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Registered: Aug 2000
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I AM NOT A YUPPIE!

my sister went to UCL... they have student accomodation there. i would have thought that they would provide accomodation for overseas students.

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ok Middlesex has more overseas students than any other University in London, and overseas students are guaranteed accomodation there, with internet access available in each room.

its ok slappy theres nothing wrong with being a yuppie. honestly.

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Registered: Jan 2002
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you are a yuppie slappy

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Germany
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quote:

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Originally posted by Paint CHiPs
Yeah, but then I'd have to be around Germans.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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I would assume summerschool has started, this being August.

I mean for the upcoming spring (Januaryish I gather).

Middlesex was actually one I was also considering. How is their English (lit and comp) program, pj? I have heard that cross-registering there (i.e. taking Lit courses and media courses, which is what I would probably want to do if I went there) can be a pain in the ass.

And sorry, Phil. Here are the colleges that are available to me via this program:

Inside London.

Outside London.

The lists on the left (and the non England places aren't hard to find if you go to the first link in this thread). Your alma mater appears to be absent, Phil. No dice.

UCL offers accomodation to a degree. They say they offer it, but if they can't, then they'd arrange regular housing (read: they'd set me up with a flat that I'd have to pay the differential for real housing costs in Central London, at which point I would probably rethink UCL.)

Seriously though, I know fuck all about the education system in the UK, much less the living aspects. Fill me in. What should I be looking for? What should I be wary of (besides the cost, London being the most expensive fucking place in the world)? What should I be considering? Etc etc.

Thanks for the replies, they're extremly helpful. Were it not for the Asylum, I wouldn't get the opportunity to ask real limeys.

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yeah you can take any dam thing you want at middlesex. i have met quite a few merkins on semester exchanges who took subjects that were quite differeent in their subject matter e.g. film studies/business studies. here you would probably have to take three modules (that is the norm for middlesex students). To be honest i havent heard a whole lot about the English course as it was taught at Trent Park (languages, IT, Performing arts) and my course wa taught at Cat Hill (film studies, Graphic design, Applied Arts, Jewellery, Fashion). There were some colleagues of mine who took both English and Film. Erm, you like creative writing as far as i know and there is a writing and publishing course that i think you may well enjoy doing, which you could mix with film, although if you did choose to take the film option i would recomend you tell me which module you are being offered, cos some of the modules are dead boring and others really good, and i (having completed my degree there) would be able to guide you.

Middlesex has won two Special awards given out by the Queen no less (cant remember what they are called) for excellence. Trent Park itself is beautiful as it is in effect an old mansion house, set in its own grounds. like i said before there are hall of residence there, which aren't bad, althought they are old so not as modern as the halls at Hendon, or Ponders End (Enfield) which were built in the last five years. you could do a lot worse than Middlesex. Plus if you did go there you could meet some of my friends who were in the years below me. My friend who is a couple of the pics i have posted here is still at Middlesex and is from CA woul still be around if you wanted a nother merkin to talk to. Just a thought. Anyway, theres lots of choice in London, so its not as though you are without options.

Oh beware the film course, its tough, no one gets firsts (the highest mark you can get in the english system)

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oh yeah from what i can remember halls cost around seventy pound a week. which may seem pricey, however if you are lucky enough to be studying on the campus where you halls are situated (Hendon, Tottenham, Trent park, Cat Hill(a bus service is operated between Trent Park and Cat hill for free) or Enfield, then it cuts down on travelling expenses. Also you dont have to pay any bills whatsoever except your rent, and there is free net access (T3 conection i do believe) and there is normally a student bar with pool tables et al within walking distance, although you must be carefu euro beer stronger than merkin beer.

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Registered: Jan 2002
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you are asking me about Uni inside London when Oxbridge is on the list? You need a 3.4 - 3.7 gpa (4.0 sclae) to get into Oxford. That's easier than what limeys have to get.

Last edited by philjit on 08-04-2002 at 10:00 AM

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quote:

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Originally posted by pj
although you must be carefu euro beer stronger than merkin beer.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Phil
you are asking me about Uni inside London when Oxbridge is on the list? You need a 3.4 - 3.7 gpa (4.0 sclae) to get into Oxford. That's easier than what limeys have to get.

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I had a few friends that studied there, and hated it.

My gpa was a 3.75 until last semester, when I flunked French. A, A, B, F, was my last semster grade. I am retaking French which will change my GPA, but not until I finish it with a passing grade.

I'm not just looking for great academics though (Cambridge Oxford whatever), I'm looking as much at the experience. I can stay inside and study all day here in Maine.

pj
English course as it was taught at Trent Park (languages, IT, Performing arts) and my course wa taught at Cat Hill (film studies, Graphic design, Applied Arts, Jewellery, Fashion).

That's what I meant by the "pain in the ass". I heard that at Middlesex, taking courses between campuses is a major hastle (even more so to a rural American like myself, I would imagine).

But a solid program is certainly something that is a foundation in my choice.

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Registered: Jan 2002
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at the end of the day Paint it all depends on what you want on your CV (Resume). The London schools in the list, whilst all pretty good, are not a patch on Oxbridge (at least not atm). There are London schools up with Oxbridge of course, but not in the subjects you want to do based on the list at that site.

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Oxbridge does all the old style degree's. It can't compete with London schools in the newer diciplines, graphic design, performing arts, film studies. As far as english is concerned its probably better though. but people who go to Oxbridge are all freaks, serious freaks.

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quote:

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Originally posted by pj
Oxbridge does all the old style degree's. It can't compete with London schools in the newer diciplines, graphic design, performing arts, film studies.

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Last edited by philjit on 08-04-2002 at 08:27 PM

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in fairness though pj you are in fact wrong. According the last University reports Oxford scored 5 in Art and Design (whi