Learning to navigate the city
Overall, I had a great experience studying abroad at the University of Westminster with IFSA. IFSA provided a lot of resources and support throughout my study abroad experience, and I enjoyed a lot of the activities they had planned for us. Moving along, the University of Westminster program is great for someone who really wants to be immersed into the city and sort of dictate their own study abroad experience. The university consists of a few buildings about a mile away from each other (exception to one building which is quite far) that are immersed into the city. Because of this, most of the peers I met from classes I would only see once a week in that class. For that reason, I became very independent and began to explore the city a lot myself. As someone who came from a small school with a close-knit community, this took some time to adjust to. However, as soon as I adjusted, I learned to enjoy it a lot. I got to explore a lot in the city, and also made friends with some other study abroad students. As for the academics side, personally, I did not find the business courses (which took up most of my schedule) to be that rigorous or engaging. That being said, I took one course in the social sciences, and I really enjoyed it. I think if academics is not a main focus for you while studying abroad, the University of Westminster is a great university to allow you to balance exploring London and immersing yourself in the culture along with maintaining your academics.
