3rd Year Abroad - Thread I

Original post by number23

How is Granada? I am thinking of applying there this year :smile:

The city in itself is fabulous, but beware, it gets quite cold in the winter :tongue:

I really love the mixture of the cultures (Spanish and Arab) and thus I enjoy living here and getting a sense of living in two worlds...

Which faculty are you considering? I'm at the Faculty of Arts. I'd say the actual education is a downside, because it has really low stadards compared to the UK. Most of my classes are overcrowded and there's little interaction with the tutors. The content is very easy to learn and although I have 4 contact hours per week for each course, I don't spend more than an hour revising for it. There are no essays to write, you'll just be asked to write resumes, sometimes with other students in a group. This all can be confusing at first, because you don't have anyone to guide you, to advise you and you don't get that extra support you'd get in the UK (or at least what we were given at UCL - rules, marking, etc. explained thoroughly).

However, I do not regret having gone here. I've got a chance to observe the local education and to get to know interesting people. I also write a year abroad project for my home university, so I still have a sense of hard work I'm used to :teehee:

Reply 63

Original post by Lemonade13

Hey guys. Im also on my YA but i have a couple of questions:

1. How do you cope with boredom? Specially this time of the year where everyone's is revising for their exams.

2. Im in a relationship back in England and i wanna go back already (i know it sounds stupid). Anybody feeling this way?

3. Has anyone felt homesick?

Thanks

Posted from TSR Mobile

1. I'm not revising yet :tongue:

(It will come in a week though...) You should pursue something that will occupy you. You can do sports, you can have a look if there's a leisure centre, you can go travelling to interesting places, you can subscribe to a local library...

2. Can't help, no serious relationship at the moment.

3.Yep, it comes to me at times, but I go home once six weeks or so. I also do enjoyable things here, so if I'm about to come back to Granada, I know there's something to look forward to. I think that most people feel this way, they just don't let it become obvious.

Reply 64

super_kawaii

20

Original post by Lemonade13

Hey guys. Im also on my YA but i have a couple of questions:

1. How do you cope with boredom? Specially this time of the year where everyone's is revising for their exams.

2. Im in a relationship back in England and i wanna go back already (i know it sounds stupid). Anybody feeling this way?

3. Has anyone felt homesick?

Thanks

Posted from TSR Mobile

I'm on my year abroad too!

I've been going out with my friends here and I've been trying to improve my language ability. I've even started learning Dutch, even though I'm in China! Try and find something to do-maybe your uni has some clubs you could join, or just go and get dinner with your friends.

I feel similar with my best friends-they're all still back in the UK and I miss them loads. We're already planning on things to do when I'm back so I've got things to look forward to, although I'm trying my best to enjoy my time here. I'm also possibly heading for an LDR with a guy I met out here who's unfortunately gone back to the Netherlands already (hence learning Dutch), although we have kept in touch which is good.

I do get homesick occasionally, everyone does. You just need to keep yourself busy, but if it gets too much, organise a Skype with your parents or your friends back home! That always helps me I find

Where are you on your year abroad then?

Reply 65

number23

Original post by Ivanka

The city in itself is fabulous, but beware, it gets quite cold in the winter :tongue:

I really love the mixture of the cultures (Spanish and Arab) and thus I enjoy living here and getting a sense of living in two worlds...

Which faculty are you considering? I'm at the Faculty of Arts. I'd say the actual education is a downside, because it has really low stadards compared to the UK. Most of my classes are overcrowded and there's little interaction with the tutors. The content is very easy to learn and although I have 4 contact hours per week for each course, I don't spend more than an hour revising for it. There are no essays to write, you'll just be asked to write resumes, sometimes with other students in a group. This all can be confusing at first, because you don't have anyone to guide you, to advise you and you don't get that extra support you'd get in the UK (or at least what we were given at UCL - rules, marking, etc. explained thoroughly).

However, I do not regret having gone here. I've got a chance to observe the local education and to get to know interesting people. I also write a year abroad project for my home university, so I still have a sense of hard work I'm used to :teehee:

Ive only ever been in summer and got to like 40c haha.
I am a maths student so would be in Faculty of Science. I thought Granada would have been alright as a uni since its in like the top 5 in Spain but I guess the UK has really high standards.

My main motive for going would be to learn the language anyway so not overly fussed about teaching quality.

Do you know how competitive it is to get in? If I apply is there a strong chance for me to get in?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 66

xmarilynx

18

Original post by super_kawaii

I'm on my year abroad too!

I've been going out with my friends here and I've been trying to improve my language ability. I've even started learning Dutch, even though I'm in China! Try and find something to do-maybe your uni has some clubs you could join, or just go and get dinner with your friends.

I feel similar with my best friends-they're all still back in the UK and I miss them loads. We're already planning on things to do when I'm back so I've got things to look forward to, although I'm trying my best to enjoy my time here. I'm also possibly heading for an LDR with a guy I met out here who's unfortunately gone back to the Netherlands already (hence learning Dutch), although we have kept in touch which is good.

I do get homesick occasionally, everyone does. You just need to keep yourself busy, but if it gets too much, organise a Skype with your parents or your friends back home! That always helps me I find

Where are you on your year abroad then?

Strange coincidence, I've started learning Dutch on my year abroad too, even though I'm not in the Netherlands either! Having a Dutch boyfriend or nearly boyfriend must help a lot :wink:

Reply 67

super_kawaii

20

Original post by xmarilynx

Strange coincidence, I've started learning Dutch on my year abroad too, even though I'm not in the Netherlands either! Having a Dutch boyfriend or nearly boyfriend must help a lot :wink:

He's a nearly boyfriend-I just hope we can take it to the next level once his exams are over :colondollar:

Which country you in then?

Reply 68

Original post by number23

Ive only ever been in summer and got to like 40c haha.
I am a maths student so would be in Faculty of Science. I thought Granada would have been alright as a uni since its in like the top 5 in Spain but I guess the UK has really high standards.

My main motive for going would be to learn the language anyway so not overly fussed about teaching quality.

Do you know how competitive it is to get in? If I apply is there a strong chance for me to get in?

Thanks :smile:

That's why I asked you which faculty you're considering - all of them are different. A girl from the same corridor in the student hall studies sports science and she chose Granada because the teaching of the subject here is the best in Spain. Likewise, the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation has really high standards, but we were told it would be hard to enroll for their courses as they're oversubscribed even by their home students.

I think that selection process within Erasmus depends on your home university, but I don't think that Granada is very competitive, if competitive at all. If you want to know what sort of students get in as regular students, check this page: http://www.notasdecorte.info/matematicas-c34.htm#ambit-4 and look for Granada. It shows the lowest Bachillerato (A-level equivalent) average that the uni accepted last year. 5 is the pass threshold and 10 is the highest mark available (there are higher scores though, so I suppose that some universities ask applicants to sit extra exams).

Reply 69

Katie_p

Original post by Lemonade13

Hey guys. Im also on my YA but i have a couple of questions:

1. How do you cope with boredom? Specially this time of the year where everyone's is revising for their exams.

2. Im in a relationship back in England and i wanna go back already (i know it sounds stupid). Anybody feeling this way?

3. Has anyone felt homesick?

Thanks
Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi! I'm also on my YA now!

1. I'm also revising for exams, they make up 20% of my final classification :O But apart from that, getting involved in trips organised by the Uni - went to Strasbourg this week for 2 days, only things I had to pay for were 2 evening meals and a taxi from city to hotel first evening! And off to CERN on Thursday, but that's more expensive, 45Euros for one-day trip!
Otherwise, I watch TV on Iplayer, read books, chat to people from home on FB. I try very hard to do useful things rather than wasting time now though, because I find it makes me feel a lot happier.

2. Definitely feeling like this. Me and my bf aren't superskypers anyway, we chat on FB a bit every day, but don't video very often, and sometimes I just really want to hug him :frown:

I've booked my flight to see him in March though, so now I know that I only have to wait 8 weeks.

3. Felt really homesick the day after I got back after Christmas, because there was almost nobody else here, it was a local bank holiday, and the first time I came out, my parents came too and did some food shopping and exploring with me, so it was really different! But I haven't felt homesick since. I think I'm just lucky that I don't get it too badly.

Reply 70

number23

Original post by Ivanka

That's why I asked you which faculty you're considering - all of them are different. A girl from the same corridor in the student hall studies sports science and she chose Granada because the teaching of the subject here is the best in Spain. Likewise, the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation has really high standards, but we were told it would be hard to enroll for their courses as they're oversubscribed even by their home students.

I think that selection process within Erasmus depends on your home university, but I don't think that Granada is very competitive, if competitive at all. If you want to know what sort of students get in as regular students, check this page: http://www.notasdecorte.info/matematicas-c34.htm#ambit-4 and look for Granada. It shows the lowest Bachillerato (A-level equivalent) average that the uni accepted last year. 5 is the pass threshold and 10 is the highest mark available (there are higher scores though, so I suppose that some universities ask applicants to sit extra exams).

Thanks for all the info.. and how I love how that website is translated as spicy potatoes haha

Reply 71

xmarilynx

18

Original post by super_kawaii

He's a nearly boyfriend-I just hope we can take it to the next level once his exams are over :colondollar:

Which country you in then?

Austria!

Loving it so far; just can't wait for exams to be over so I can explore outside of Vienna and have fun. Plus my host uni's organising a three week study trip to the Netherlands/Belgium, so I might get the chance to improve my Dutch too.

How do you like China so far?

Original post by Katie_p

1. I'm also revising for exams, they make up 20% of my final classification :O But apart from that, getting involved in trips organised by the Uni - went to Strasbourg this week for 2 days, only things I had to pay for were 2 evening meals and a taxi from city to hotel first evening! .

Try 33%

I'm really worried my YA's gonna bring my overall degree classification down tbh, and sometimes think that going on Erasmus was a bad idea because of that - but then everything else has been so awesome. D'you reckon teachers are more lenient when marking Erasmus students, or do we need to write etc as well as the native students?

I tried googling "failed Erasmus" to scare myself into revising and didn't find much, which is a good sign I guess :tongue:

Reply 72

tillytots

19

My erasmus year doesn't count, but we still have to pass like in first year, but so far I'm not doing very well. Getting 7/8/9 out of 20 instead of above 10. It's silly because we have to get the 'local' pass rate (i.e 10) which is higher than the pass rate at home and I have to do my assignments in another language and they're much stricter with the marking here! :frown:

Reply 73

Original post by xmarilynx

Austria!

Loving it so far; just can't wait for exams to be over so I can explore outside of Vienna and have fun. Plus my host uni's organising a three week study trip to the Netherlands/Belgium, so I might get the chance to improve my Dutch too.

How do you like China so far?

Try 33% :s-smilie:

I'm really worried my YA's gonna bring my overall degree classification down tbh, and sometimes think that going on Erasmus was a bad idea because of that - but then everything else has been so awesome. D'you reckon teachers are more lenient when marking Erasmus students, or do we need to write etc as well as the native students?

I tried googling "failed Erasmus" to scare myself into revising and didn't find much, which is a good sign I guess :tongue:

Haha, I tried this as well, managed to find someone who failed their year, but that was rare. I need to get 50% in all the subjects I've taken, but it seems to be a piece of cake. I've made a plan for revision and it looks like I'll only spend 18 hours on it all. My revision for the first year took 84 hours and for the second year it was 96 hours. Ridiculous.

I feel a bit guilty about this, I would like to revise longer, but then I look at my notes and go like, "Oh, I've done this before, this is easy and that's all."

Reply 74

super_kawaii

20

Original post by xmarilynx

Austria!

Loving it so far; just can't wait for exams to be over so I can explore outside of Vienna and have fun. Plus my host uni's organising a three week study trip to the Netherlands/Belgium, so I might get the chance to improve my Dutch too.

How do you like China so far?

China's good so far. All my exams were before Christmas so I've got stress free holidays now!

I'm planning on going travelling around China a bit with one of my friends from my home uni! I'm so excited about it! We're planning on going to Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macau. So exciting! More stamps in my passport!!

I guess you're studying German then :mmm:

Reply 75

ihatebrownbread

I was thinking about doing this but I will probably just leave it just now due to money. :frown:

Reply 76

Katie_p