Type of housing: Dormitory

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: the same place if staying as an exchange for 1year

Why? because if I was there for longer time than 1year I would need to meet people who stayed there also for more than a year. otherwise, I couldn´t stand a situation where I met new people every year(exchange students)and not the same friends.In the dormitory where I lived in, there were 90% of exchange students that left at the end of the academic year and won´t come back to study anymore.

Personal comments:
the accommodation was generally very good. the single unsuit rooms are very very small, I could say tinny rooms. The price is expensive. the location is good considering that it is half way from the uni and half from the city-center. furniture of the room, kitchen and laundry are in good conditions.

Describe host city: Students equally interact with the local and student community

Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Activities, Nightlife: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
I enjoyed many places in Wales, and the UK as a whole. For outdoors and other scenic interests, I loved the Gower peninsula and the Botanic Gardens. There is also a resort town, not far from Swansea, called Tenby, which is a great place to spend a relaxing weekend. There are a lot of clubs in Swansea, but my friends and I preferred the pubs. Although dancing all night can be fun every once and a while, we liked pubs, especially the Orange House more, because we were able to hang out, talk and meet new people. Swansea had a lot of interesting cultural events and festivals, most taking place in the city centre. The best way to find out about those events was to keep an eye open for flyers and posters around campus, they were usually well advertised. I also took a yoga class in Swansea and took an aromatherapy course at the Gardens, both were unique and a lot of fun. The university itself offered an array of events and activities. We enjoyed going to comedy acts and magic shows, and had the opportunity to participate in a variety of clubs and organizations. The school also sponsored all-inclusive and therefore inexpensive trips to places like Holland and France.

Course recommendations:
Courses in Swansea were much more lecture-based than the courses I took at my home institution. This took some adjusting. However, I found that in my American Studies and psychology courses, the professors were interesting and very well informed, so it was nice to listen to their lessons and theories. I also found it very illuminating to take their American Studies courses because they take information that I thought I knew, both inside and out, and turned it on its head by offering new perspectives and ideas that I hadn't considered.

Personal comments:
The one thing I really didn't enjoy about the courses at Swansea was that most of them based your grade for the entire semester on one giant exam that was given at the end of the term. Over the course of my 15 years of formal education I had always been evaluated in my classes on a periodic basis, so I was not as prepared as I could have been at Swansea to demonstrate everything I had learned by taking only one test.

Language of instruction: English

Main source of funding:
Government assistance

Other sources of funding:
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:

Personal spending habits:
I live with my parents, so I automatically spent more on food and accommodation. I hardly used my mobile phone as it was a dutch one, so It would've cost too much to use it. I went out more than In Holland so I spent more on nightlife. In Holland I have a travelcard which is funded by the government, so I spent more in the UK.

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

Telephone: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
i should have prepared better to culture (social life and costs).

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!