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Advice on Year Abroad at University of California

Hi, I'm currently a second year Computer Science student at KCL and planning to spend my year abroad in my third year in the USA, mainly because my department doesn't seem to do any European exchanges and I have a few distant relatives in California. However, the thing is that my department wants me and anyone else applying for the year abroad to sort it all out by ourselves, and I don't really have much idea about what are the important things to sort out now.

According to the International page on the KCL site, the deadline for applications to UoC is 13th December or something, so I have plenty to do but I doubt you have to sort out EVERYTHING by then, with the must-do things properly fill in an application form and post it. Maybe I have to sort out a visa before the deadline and confirm my finances or something as well. But I just really have no idea! The so-called 'Year Abroad co-ordinators' keep referring me to other people or websites.

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately considering it's close to deadline) is that there will be a meeting with some members from UoC on 28th November, which would certainly help. I had been planning to use this free Reading Week to sort it out but I would like to hear from as many fellow students on TSR as possible about their experiences studying abroad and how they found the application process. I would be very grateful if you could say what are the most important things I should worry about first.

Before I forget, at the moment, my top 3 choices are Riverside, Irvine and Santa Barbara and I hope I will be able to live in halls, with around 12-14 meals provided for me a week. Finances shouldn't be much of a problem, and I'm not much of a big spender myself. The KCL website estimates I will need around £8,000 for the whole year. Is this what you would say is an accurate estimate for a year's studying the USA? Looking forward to your replies! :smile:

Note: Los Angeles and Berkeley won't accept Computer Science students which is a shame as I would have applied for them instead!

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Reply 1

ebonyphoenix

Hey! I'm a Californian with some knowledge of the UC schools (since I live in California and many of my friends are applying to the UCs as we speak). If you have a choice about where to go, I'd definitely pick Santa Barbara or Irvine over Riverside since the location of these two schools is much better (by the beach!) and they are generally better academically. Is there any reason why you aren't applying to UC San Diego? Or do they not accept computer science students? If you haven't looked into it, I'd try to apply at San Diego since it too has a desirable location and it is the third ranked UC school after Berkeley and Los Angeles (it's better than Santa Barbara and Irvine).

I think more realistically you're looking at over 10,000 pounds to study at a UC school with living expenses and books (they can be quite pricey in the US) and all.

Reply 2

chidori

Thanks for the quick reply. I also forgot to add that I currently don't have to pay tuition fees so therefore, I won't have to pay the fees over there as my local council will sort it out. Do you think this would this bring down the cost by much as I heard tuition fees are quite expensive over there. One reason why I haven't considered San Diego as much is because I think it's one of the most expensive ones of all 8 universities but I'll need to research the finance side of all the universities more first.

Also, the main factors that I will be concerned with are local amenities, decent transport and crime. Quality of teaching doesn't have to be the absolute best (KCL apparantly doesn't have the best UoL teaching but my year still done well last year :smile:

), unless there is a huge difference. Weather, I'm not too bothered. I mean I have lived in London all my life :tongue:

Reply 3

ebonyphoenix

Oh, absolutely, without tutition fees, it will be a lot better!

For Irvine and Santa Barbara room, board, books and required fees (other than tutition) are about $10,000, so maybe 5000 pounds for that. Then figure out what you think your living expenses will be. Riverside is a tad more expensive at $16,000 or 8000 pounds for room, board, ect.

Do you know if you have to pay for books yourself and that kind of thing?

Here's the breakdown for fees in my college guidebook for Irvine if this is of any help (if you want for the others, then let me know):

Annual tutition (in state): $4,984
Out of state tutition: $19,194
Room and board: $8,056
Books and supplies: $1,353
Required fees: $1,181

This is for a year. The fees for San Diego are quite similar; I would definitely consider it.

Reply 4

anna_tucker

Hi...I'm currently on exchange in Canada but I also applied to California....Santa Barbara, San Diego and LA if I remember rightly! I'll give it to you straight but the applications for the U of C were a nightmare. I'm not sure how it works where you are because we had to go through interviews at Royal Holloway (still part of the UofL though). From what I remember and this was a long time ago now (my brain only works on monthly shifts!) there is 2 essays to write about each place you want to go too as part of the forms and then just the normal application stuff. I think there is a personal statement bit too.
However, now for the positive bit, going on exchange is really really good and defintly worth it. Expect it to be different and to be overwhelming BUT also expect it to be fun and one of the best experiences of your life. I have been out here for just over 2 months now and I love Canada and I am loving everythign I am doing..

Cost wise i cant really help you with because I dont know much about California although there were a couple of people that are there this year from my uni....one in Santa Barbara and one in LA i think.

One bit of advise is make sure whatever courses you take on exchange are going to allow your transition home to be as easy as possible....dont take ones that arent going to fill you in on everything everyone is learnign back home (but also take the chance to take courses you wouldnt normally have the chance to do!)

Feel free to PM me if you want to know anything else!!
Anna

Reply 5

ebonyphoenix

chidori

Also, the main factors that I will be concerned with are local amenities, decent transport and crime. Quality of teaching doesn't have to be the absolute best (KCL apparantly doesn't have the best UoL teaching but my year still done well last year :smile:

), unless there is a huge difference. Weather, I'm not too bothered. I mean I have lived in London all my life :tongue:

The weather is sunny wherever you go, so no need to worry about that! :wink:

The teaching I don't think differs all that much between the UCs, so focus on the location. I know I said this before, but don't pick Riverside if you can avoid it- it's ugly!

Reply 6

chidori

Well, I'm sure with books, I can pick them up very cheaply online or second-hand so I doubt it will cost more than £500 for the year. If you consider the usual things like books, accomodation, food, personal expenses and travel within, then it shouldn't be more expensive than London right? I have asked several friends of mine who are studying away from home at my uni, and they put the figure on around £7k-8k too.

I'm quite tight when it comes to money and probably spend around £10 going out on an average week, as I don't go out often like many.

anna_pennell, I don't suppose you remember around which months you applied to UoC, when the deadlines were for you and when you got replies back? I assume you are currently living in uni halls right? If so, should I be worrying about that now or is that sorted out after you have applied and received an offer from one of the universities? I really do hope I can stay in uni halls because it will be so much more convienient and I won't have to worry about finding my own place etc...One more question if you don't mind, how much do you spend roughly a week?

Reply 7

anna_tucker

oooh thats pushing it...you see the way it worked for us was....we filled out all the applications for all the universities we wanted to apply (so I did a U of Alberta, U of California, and McGill) they got given to the 'international coordinatorr' back at Royal Holloway along with a RHUL application form....RHUL interviewed us and then decided which applications they were actually going to send....we edited that specific one a bit more and then they got sent off but as for timescale I really don't know but I'm willing to say if was after christmas. However the U of California stuff does have to be in earlier than my Canada stuff was I do remember that. Sorry!!

Accomodation for me is in Halls...but again this is specific to Alberta but my friends are both in halls in california AND partiuclary with you being an intnerational student they make large amounts of effort to ensure you get a place in halls.

Money wise its seriously no more expensive for me than England. I am hopeless and too frivilous with money so me giving a ball park figure is no use BUT what you spend in England should equal what you spend in America (not inc. flights and visas)

I should just add my Uni completely messed up my applications and also a friend that ended up at Alberta. I ended up with my halls application going missing and my friends academic application going missing so chase everything up. It was fine in the end we both ended up with seriously late applications and we still made it here!!!
Good luck!!!
Anna

Reply 8

chidori

Yea, I definitely cannot apply to Berkeley as stated on the page here in the middle: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/international/exchange-studyabroad/oe/na/uc/berkeley.html. Shame really as I always hear about Berkeley and UCLA but I guess it should be impressive enough if I get to study at any of the UoCs right?

I just hope I get my applications and stuff sorted out by next month. Can't believe the meeting with students from UoC will take place like TWO weeks before the deadline! I hope I can find the other students who are applying for the year abroad (I KNOW there are others....lol) and see what they have done so far.

May I ask whether you had to get a visa application form and get it processed around the same time as your application form to the uni you are studying at, or afterwards? I'm trying to prioritise what things that need doing now if their deadlines are like in a few weeks before Christmas so that I don't miss anything out! I wished I had seriously started working on this back at the beginning of the semester!

Another question for the timebeing (if you don't mind :biggrin:

). How are you paying for stuff over there? Do you have a bank account in the UK here with a card that you can use widely over there? I asked HSBC yesterday and they said you can use the Maestro card that comes with their current account in the USA to withdraw and deposit money. I'm planning to use a card over there to withdraw and spend, while my parents can deposit occasional sums incase I start running out. I had been planning to open a High Interest Savings Account soon, which requires me to open a current account anyways, which is where my funds for the year abroad will be mainly stored but it allows me to withdraw/deposit as much and whenever I need. So yea, I can just easily transfer some money from the savings to current account and spend it abroad. However, although the advisor told me Maestro was accepted in quite a lot of places she had seen in California, I'm not too sure. Can someone comfirm this for me please :biggrin:

Reply 9

material breach

I am a physics student at the University of Manchester and I am also considering a year spending my 3rd year at the University of California. I was wondering what people's thoughts on UCLA are? What is it like as a university to attend?
The info on this thread tho has been very useful so I will probably come back with some questions once I actually get my application form to do this.

Reply 10

chidori

Well, from what I have gathered myself, ULCA is very highly regarded along with Berkeley and if you were to apply for 3 or something, then them 2 should be high on your list, as would be on mine if only they would accept Computer Science students!

Anyways, for the past day or so, I have been gathering some data on the 6 universities that I can apply to and so far, my Top 3 choices are (in order) Irvine, San Diego and Davis. Anyways, now I have to get the correct documents and stuff and fill them in.

One thing that I'm confused about though, rather an important issue, is that I have read many people get their year abroad sorted out late November/December and seem to have this 'deadline' in January for UoC applications. However, on all of the UoC websites I have seen so far, the deadline for the 'filling period' is on the 30th November! I hope I haven't left it too late. I'm doing my personal statement now (has to be at least 500 words!) as I speak! And yea, this UoC presentation by their students on Monday 28th November seems a bit late don't you think :confused:

Reply 11

ebonyphoenix

chidori

One thing that I'm confused about though, rather an important issue, is that I have read many people get their year abroad sorted out late November/December and seem to have this 'deadline' in January for UoC applications. However, on all of the UoC websites I have seen so far, the deadline for the 'filling period' is on the 30th November! I hope I haven't left it too late. I'm doing my personal statement now (has to be at least 500 words!) as I speak! And yea, this UoC presentation by their students on Monday 28th November seems a bit late don't you think :confused:

Well, the 30th of November deadline is for people applying to study four years at a UC campus. All my American friends are freaking out right now because they still have to submit their applications! I'm not sure, but I believe in your case, since you are applying for study abroad, the deadline may be different. Surely, if representives are coming to meet you at KCL, then the deadline must be later... they would not come two days before the deadline!

As far as what is most important thing for you to be doing right now; I'd say you should focus on the essay/personal statement of your application. This plays a huge factor in UC admissions. Don't worry about accomdation; usually the schools will give you more forms to fill out for housing after you have been admitted.

I've posted this before and I think it may be helpful in writing your statement:

Keep in mind American admissions essays are very different from those in the UK. An essay for a US college is not the place to wow admissions officers with your knowledge on a particular subject of study or to discuss how you've prepared for your intended major. The best admissions essays discuss subjects completely unrelated to schoolwork or academic study! Colleges want you discuss something that shows how you are a person- try to tell a story about an incident which reveals how well you take risks, how you have learned from failure, how moral you are, how you are a leader, or something along those lines. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that whatever they write about has to be life changing, but don't feel this way. You can write a good essay about how you admire your local gardener because he always found the time to talk to you, and treated you like a person, and how he was always positive about life--- which reveals the values you admire and the kind of person you aspire to be like.

^^
Obviously I don't know what question you have to answer as a study abroad applicant, so if you have a question like "Why do you want to study at University of California" then the advice above is not immediately relevant. But just remember that with whatever topic you have, you need to ditch the mundane, serious, scholarly writing style of UK personal statements. Your statement can be funny, sad, whatever... but you do not want to bore the admission officers to tears! If need more help and want to post the question, I could give you some advice about how to approach it. Or I could give your essay a quick read through if you're really worried about it.

Good luck! :biggrin:

Reply 12

chidori

Thanks for the detailed reply! Well, so far, things I'm thinking of including on my personal statement are:

- excellent opportunity to study in a different environment and meet more people, experience new cultures, tradition and of course, food!
- hope to live abroad in the future so will provide me with loads of valurable experience
- build loads of self-confidence
- promote studies abroad and hope to encourage others who are thinking about it to not miss out in an excellent opportunity. I have noticed that in my year, the number of students choosing to do a year in industry outnumber those doing a year abroad by as much as 20:1!
- US-education highly regarded worldwide, something that I, my parents and friends can be proud of :biggrin:

- make me more attractive and interesting to potential employees, as I firmly believe that grades aren't everything
- I hold a high interest in other cultures. For example, I'm learning Italian at the moment and hope to be fluent in at least 5 languages one day!
- as a person, I can sometimes be too hard-working. I mean, in my first year, I locked away some of my luxuries like my iPod and Playstation 2, and spent the 4 weeks prior to my exams, revising in accordance to this timetable that I created, where I assigned each day to a section of my studies! And yea, I even revised on the night before Christmas Day, lol. I seemed to have developed a thing about creating timetables for a lot of things.

Gonna need to think of more things obviously as most people will have probably written the same stuff :tongue:

On the contrary, I hope I won't end up being too personal and end up writing loads!

Oh yea, would I also be considered a Freshman or Transfer? The definition of a transfer student as I gather is that they have completed secondary school and have doen some higher education before, but I dunno whether this applies to only US education or anywhere.

Reply 13

ebonyphoenix

Well, just remember the personal statement in the US is meant to be personal. Sounds like you have enough to write about. I laughed at the bit about locking away the I Pod and Playstation... I wish I had as much willpower... I am so unmotivated when it comes to studying! I spend far too much time on the internet!

Oh yea, would I also be considered a Freshman or Transfer? The definition of a transfer student as I gather is that they have completed secondary school and have doen some higher education before, but I dunno whether this applies to only US education or anywhere.

Neither. A freshman is what someone starting their first year of study is called (I think what you guys would call a first year?). A transfer student is someone who has generally completed a year of more of study at another college/university, but is unhappy and wishes to finish the rest of their study at a new university. So, it would like someone who spends a year studying at UC Davis, who then goes to Harvard for three years and gets a degree from Harvard. You would say the student transferred to Harvard. There really isn't any classification for a student like you other than "study abroad student" as far as I know.

Reply 14

asar

About the Maestro card... we have none of them on this side of the Atlantic but, if you can use them just as Mastercards (as it happens in Mexico, and I should think, in the US), you'll be able to use it to buy practically anything and to withdraw money in every single ATM machine.

Reply 15

selkie

chidori

- about Berkeley.

Out of those three you mentioned... Santa Barbara is definitely the best. The best academically and in scenery/atmosphere. I actually live in a city right next to Santa Barbara when I'm not studying up here at Berkeley.

Anyway, that's cool that you're going to study at one of the UCs! I wish I knew some British students studying abroad here...

Reply 16

chidori

Just wanted to say after a week away from TSR that I'm still working on my personal statement but I'm still more worried about the application deadlines, lol. The UoC filling period ends on 30th November, while according to KCL's website, it says:

''All documentation must returned to the Study Abroad Office by the stated deadline of December 17th.

Places at exchange destinations will be allocated by a Selection Board comprising academic staff from the sending department and representation from the Study Abroad Office. Shortlisted candidates will be sent an email inviting them to interview. Offers are made conditional upon performance in end-of-year examinations.'' <------- this part I'm happy with

but then:

''All shortlisted applicants will also be asked to complete the appropriate partner university applications by their stated deadlines in early January. In all cases, you will need to provide additional documentation, particularly detailed financial guarantees.

The final decision on applications, however, rests entirely with the host institution.''.

So you can see why I'm confused, in particular the part in bold. Does that mean for exchange students, the deadline is in January or something? I was told by my tutor to visit the Year Abroad co-ordinator again but I dunno whether I should bother because the last time I saw her, she hardly was any help at all and just told me to phone/e-mail other people and look at the website again!

I met a girl yesterday who is currently spending the year here at KCL from Toronto and she says it's usually around January, lol.

Reply 17

schmeeble

Hiya,
I did my year abroad at the University of California, Santa Barbara, so i fyou want to ask me any questions directly about that campus, PM me.

I absolutely loved my year abroad there, and would do anything to repeat it. Best year of my life... the campus is stunning, and it wasn't that expensive either (with the exchange rate etc).

Also, you would be considered an international student. Anyway, i urge you to put down Santa Barbara, I had a friend who went to San Diego and they didn't give her any accomodation and she found it really hard to find somewhere to live, so if you want to live in halls i'd definetely put somewhere else down. I had a friend who just got back from Davis, and that is, as far as i know, primarily an Agricultural institution, but she had a wicked time there.. not sure about Irvine though.

But yeah, really.. think hard about SB.. it's party hard, but it's also a great institution... :smile:

Reply 18

chidori

Well, here's my personal statement, all 848 words of it! Lol.

Studying abroad will give me an excellent opportunity to study in a different environment and benefit from various methods of teaching that I may not receive here. I have enjoyed making many new friends while at university and I’m looking forward to making many overseas friends, who I’ll hopefully still remain in contact with regularly after the year abroad so that I’m always kept up to date about what is happening there.
Hopefully, it will help to further build my self-confidence and also allow me to learn about different traditions or ways you act around people. As it’s one of my ambitions to live abroad one day, it would definitely provide me with lots of valuable experience.

The main reason why I’m interested in studying in the US is because its education is highly rated worldwide so therefore, there should be no reason why I should turn down this excellent opportunity, as I’m looking to make the most of my time at university.
I personally find that the US is an interesting and exciting country with lots to offer, because it’s such a large country with various different cultures, landscapes and weather. Therefore, other than studying, I think I would have a great time over there as from what I have gathered from students studying there, there are many interesting and fun things to do. For example, I started following the weekly NBA and NFL games on television months ago as I found it thoroughly enjoyable and exciting to watch, and it would therefore be absolutely brilliant to take part in such sports over there.
I have chosen to apply to UoC in particular because of it’s reputation, quality teaching and research, commitment to bringing the best out of students, and their friendly and exciting locations. California features the infamous Silicon Valley and is home to many worldwide computer organisations such as Apple and Intel, which I feel would benefit my studies immensely, as a result of being surround by many of the world’s experts.

By spending a year studying abroad, I hope to bring back any new skills I have learnt to broaden my university experience, and to also spread details of my adventures to my friends and fellow classmates. I hope it will also make me more attractive to potential employees, giving me a great chance to put all that I have learnt at home and abroad to work.

I have always held an interest in learning about other cultures. For example, I’m currently doing an intermediate level Italian module and have studied the language and various aspects of its culture for over 2 years. Having been born and raised in England while maintaining my Chinese origins at home and outside via friends and being a member of the KCL Association of British and Chinese University Students (ABACUS) society, I have had the great opportunity to experience many different cultures.
By participating in an exchange programme, not only do I hope it will provide me with the challenge of learning more about other cultures, but it will also give me the exciting prospect of telling people there about the cultures that I have experienced back at home, and maybe encourage some to consider spending some time studying here in the UK too.
As a person, I guess my family and friends would consider me as honest and trustworthy. I believe I’m hard-working and will strive to do the very best at whatever I do, although I may be too hard-working at times. For example, weeks prior to my exams last year, I cut down on some of my luxuries such as my iPod, Playstation and television, and followed a revision timetable that I had created to schedule my revision. I even went as far to revising in the early hours of Christmas Day! Fortunately, it has proven effective for me and I have managed to maintain an average of around 80% on all my exams and coursework. I seem to have a habit of creating timetables for all sorts of things. I have also had the privilege of being picked to be part of a 7-man group for our 2nd year project, which consists of some of the top students of the department.
Outside of studying, I enjoy playing and watching different sports, I go to the gym once a week, I collect and read various factual books on subjects such as astronomy, historical events, civilisations/culture and biochemistry, and watch Italian television whenever I can at home on satellite. It has been another ambition of mine to be able to speak at least 5 languages fluently one day as I feel being multilingual is beneficial and I thoroughly enjoy learning it.

Upon returning, I hope to encourage and provide advice to those considering studying abroad, as I have noticed that not many students are on year abroad programmes, compared to say, year in industry. Having received positive comments myself from those who have already spent a year abroad, I hope to be in the same position one day and tell others about my adventures abroad.

Comments please :biggrin:

Btw, I have found out now that there's a KCL internal application perioid which has the deadline of 17th December, where I have to hand in my form, PS and a study plan, and if I'm one of the selected FIFTEEN, then I go on to the EAP and apply to UoC in January. How did you guys find compiling your study plans?

Reply 19

Evil Muffin

I'm doing an exchange year right now at an American university (I could have gone to the University of California but they cancelled the exchange the year before I started :frown:

). Apparently you need something like 10,000 pounds for the year there and the people at my university found they were very slow at sending them over the required forms to apply for a visa. I think they applied around March sometime.

The most irritating part of the application process, I found, was applying for a visa and the interview at the American embassy you have to attend.

As far as your statement goes, I think its good, particularly all the cultural stuff as they do like you to say what you'd be getting out of studying there and why you're interested in the US. Some of the last couple of paragraphs are unnecessary - remember, you'll have to provide references so you don't need to talk about your character and KCL will give them your grades so you need not refer to them. In addition, I wouldn't be that informal so don't speak about your playstation, ipod etc.

Good luck!