Program: IES Abroad London Direct Enrollment – City, University of London
Term: Spring 2019
Major: Finance & Marketing
I almost did not study abroad.
I went back and forth multiple times about if I would even apply, if I would attend the program if accepted, etc. Luckily for me, the day the application was due I was feeling confident and clicked submit, and it happened to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. I have learned so much about myself through this experience and have really grown into such an independent, confident person. After living in one of the largest cities in the world for three months, I am going back home confident knowing that I can master my commute this summer to New York City like a pro.
I am a very quiet and timid person who was scared to be fully independent in a new country. I had been to London before but never something in this capacity. Through this experience I have become so much more mature and confident that going new places excites me, and I'm always up for a new adventure.
Advice for future #TerpsAbroad:
University of Maryland offers so many scholarship opportunities for study abroad students to help cover some of the tuition costs. Also as an out-of-state student at Maryland, my tuition at my London university is cheaper than my UMD tuition. I would tell any interested students to look into all their program options before they shut down the idea!
When abroad you want to seize everyday and make the most of the experience, yet this was the first time in many years that I was without a job and a weekly income. Having a budget is so helpful and really allowed me to keep my finances on track to ensure that I would still do most of the activities that I wanted.
School in the United Kingdom is very different than in the United States.
There terms are much shorter but give you almost a month to study for your final exams. All of my classes really relied on me being self-guided and doing a lot of learning outside of the classroom. This was definitely something that was difficult to get used to at first coming from an education in the U.S., but I have enjoyed really feeling like a real UK college student.