133 reviews
4.00 / 5 based on 133 reviews
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martamarina
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
How much did you improve your English?
My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Before starting the courses in October, I attended an English course of one month in September at the University of Essex. This has been very useful especially for improving my spoken English with new terms but also they teached us how to organise a written project in English. Then it was fondamental to speak English everyday with my roomates and friends who were mainly foreign students and this was a great exercise for my capacity in understanding spoken English. Therefore, when I came back I had really improved my English and actually after three years I have been able to write my final project for my home university in English mainly thanks to this experience in Uk.
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martamarina
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Family
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits
In general I spent more in almost every categories because the cost of life was higher than in Italy. For the housing I use to live with my family in Italy, so it has been the highest cost.
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Food, Telephone, Housing, Travel, Overall:
was more expensive than at home.
Nightlife:
was the same price as at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
I found very useful to open a bank account with an English bank and which has the cash dispensers inside the campus.
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martamarina
Overall
I wish I had known...
I wish to have planned in advance the possibility to stay the whole year and not just for a semester.
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In my opinion:
Most people loved it.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
There are many aspects I recommend about this university like the good level of teaching, the geographical location and the weather itself was not rainy as expected, but most of all the human experience and the opportunity to live and study with foreign students which I think is one of the main aspect I appreciated and from which I learned new culture and a more open attitude of my character in general.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
For havinf helpuful advice before arriving, I found extremely kind and disposable the university office in charge with the relation with foreigh students. Then for arraging travel and activities in the university there are travel agency and student organisations that help you.
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martamarina
Academic
Course recommendations
I had veri good teachers and in general the courses where structured differently from my home university where usually I attend also 6 hours for one course a week, while in the university of Essex one course consists of nearly 3 hours for week.I appreciated the closer and less formal relation with the professor in comparison to my university.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
In sum I think that the academic life was well organised. The structure of the courses left more space for student work.In my opinion, when there are good professors, I would have also disposed to attend more hours of a single course.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
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martamarina
Housing
Type of housing: On campus
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: On campus
Why?
Living on campus was extremely convinient because I had easy access to classes and to the majority of services I need like library, laundry, pubs and I liked to live with foreign students from various countries.
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Personal comments
In general I consider my experience on campus a positive one. My room was of the right size and near to all the facilities of the university. A possible aspect to improve was a renewing of the building and of the common space like the kitchen. However the university had already started to restructur the oldest buildings.
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martamarina
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment
Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Usually we went to have a beer and playing some pool in one of the two pubs that were located inside the campus;in the week-end we went to dance or in the disco inside the campus or in a big one in Colchester.While on sunday evening the university organised movies.What I liked most was that the campus was inside a wonderful park, so you can make long walks as well as play many sports in the open air. Colchester is also one hour from London and in different occasions I went for the week-end or just for a daily visit. About Colchester, it is a lovely town where the main attraction is its castle of roman origins and which is located inside a nice green area.
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