Type of housing: On campus

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: On campus

Why? Living off-campus right now, after experiencing and comparing, on-campus is still better, no matter price or size. Off-campus feels isolated; prefer living in a community.

Personal comments:
Prices for accommodation is reasonable, but doing laundry is a hassle. The idea of bill-inclusive is very welcomed. Plus it feels more like a community, where neighbours interact with you like friends, unlike off-campus where neighbours could be rather unfriendly, sometimes unchalant, in some extreme cases, racist. Living on campus also provides you walking distance to many facilities that the University provides.

Describe host city: Student life dominates the city

Activities, Nightlife: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment

Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
The "Venue" aka the SU's nightclub and bar. There are also 5 other bars on-campus to choose from, including Woodies and K-bar, which are my favorite, Origins, that I sometimes go. The other two I hardly go, so I don't really remember their names.

Course recommendations:
In regards to quality of courses, the course notes could have been more specific in where to get studying materials. Interaction with teachers are not as good as it could have been, since through my own experience, I could see that a lot of students spend more time trying to jot down notes than to understand what the lecturer is trying to teach. It would have been better if the required notes are already given so that students do not have to write anything down, where students could just listen to the lecture, which is not a word-by-word repetition of the notes, but a complementary way of understanding the notes fully. Most international students are very out-going and willing to interact, unfortunately most local students do seem to have an arrogance and aloofness when talking to us international students and, at times, not so friendly.

Personal comments:
When doing team-work assignments, it is difficult to get all the teammates to act responsibly and willing to work hard. At times, there are certain teammates that would neglect to work hard, or sometimes not work at all. I believe sometimes teachers should monitor the progress of the group, not only as a team, but of each individual, to make sure everyone is cooperative and willing to contribute a certain amount of effort and time.

Language of instruction: English

Main source of funding:
Personal savings

Other sources of funding:
Family

Work opportunities:
I worked during my study abroad experience

Personal spending habits:
Living expenses in the UK is at least 5 times higher than in China; for instance, with £10, I could have barely have a decent meal in a mediocre or lower class restaurant in UK. Whereas, in China, that money would have allowed me to goto an upper class restaurant and eat almost whatever I want and there will still be spare change from the £10. It is apparent that the living index in UK is very high.

Food, Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone, Housing: was more expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
Adequate research was done before I went to this University, so I am satisfied and do not have further comments regarding this question.

In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.