study abroad in london

[toffeestillidie]

so guys, i was accepted to a study abroad program with my school, washington and lee university, for this coming spring. its for a course on british politics, we spend 3 weeks here in the states learning about british politics (which should be easy since I already have some knowledge, and your average american has little to none), and 3 weeks actually studying in London.

i haven't been to england since i vacationed there when i was very young (had to be 5 or younger), so i am extremely excited to go there. the only problem is the trip is a bit pricey. the program costs $2,500, not including food or airfare. some students have told me that the spring term abroad trips are basically the school's plan to make more money, as my tuition room and board payments already cover my spring term on campus, so its essentially like i'm paying for everything twice.

that being said, I'm also at the school on a full scholarship, and since im saving a good amount of money, i guess i could stand to spare a bit. at the same time though, i don't have much money saved up myself, so i'm not sure if the scholarship would entitle me to take what may amount to a luxury trip on my parents dollar.

i've always wanted to study abroad, especially in england. also, on the trip i would be given a few travel days to go wherever i want in england, and I've never seen goodison park in person before. but the price is extremely high for a 3 week trip, so i really don't know what to do. anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

tell em you have relatives to stay with and you want to book it independently.

 

[Desaparecido]

For 3 weeks, I think I'd postpone it and go there on a holiday, would that not be a lot cheaper? And just as fun I imagine!

Also London is a very expensive city to live in.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

you may find its not a bad deal though tbh as accom in london will be expensive, you'd be staying in halls of res probably so no travel when there, it doesnt look too bad a deal really for 3 weeks, just noticed it doesnt include a flight so not that good.
try to workit all out then sell packages to other students to fund your trip and factor in a trip to g.p.

 

[toffeestillidie]

you may find its not a bad deal though tbh as accom in london will be expensive, you'd be staying in halls of res probably so no travel when there, it doesnt look too bad a deal really for 3 weeks, just noticed it doesnt include a flight so not that good.
try to workit all out then sell packages to other students to fund your trip and factor in a trip to g.p.

what do you mean?

 

[Nebbiolo]

You'll love London. It must rate as the best city in Europe, and quite possibly the world. If you're there for just three weeks, you'll have a ball. Of that I'm sure.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

what do you mean?

find some cheap flights to uk
contact a uni in london to ask about renting some rooms in the halls of res. or find somewhere cheap and block book.
sell the places to the other students who no doubt would want to save money too.
have flight leaving from northwest so you can get up to goodison
you should be able to cover all of your costs without adding too much to their prices if there are enough of you.
look up flights on trailfinders or sta travel.
http://flights.trailfinders.com/Economy/Washington-D.C.
london - d.c. return is £279 ($500 ish)

that leaves $2000 ish to cover accom. £1000 for 3 weeks.

a b & b taking say 15 of you for a 3 week booking would rip your hands off i reckon, alldepends on which area i suppose, there are loads of backpacker type places in london as well though.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=budget+hostel+london&meta=

hostel near st. pauls cathedral £15 a night ($600/ 650 ish for 3 weeks)

we are saving about $1.5k so far.

 

[Philw]

find some cheap flights to uk
contact a uni in london to ask about renting some rooms in the halls of res. or find somewhere cheap and block book.
sell the places to the other students who no doubt would want to save money too.
have flight leaving from northwest so you can get up to goodison
you should be able to cover all of your costs without adding too much to their prices if there are enough of you.
look up flights on trailfinders or sta travel.
http://flights.trailfinders.com/Economy/Washington-D.C.
london - d.c. return is £279 ($500 ish)

that leaves $2000 ish to cover accom. £1000 for 3 weeks.

a b & b taking say 15 of you for a 3 week booking would rip your hands off i reckon, alldepends on which area i suppose, there are loads of backpacker type places in london as well though.

budget hostel london - Google Search=

hostel near st. pauls cathedral £15 a night ($600/ 650 ish for 3 weeks)

we are saving about $1.5k so far.

Reidy == travel agent?!?!

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

no ......locksmith

self appointed g.o.t. travel advisor.

i spent 7 years travelling though, to maintain a traveller lifestyle you have to do it on the cheap, i never go full price now.

 

[toffeestillidie]

sounds like a good plan for independent booking, but i'm not sure if the program will let me do it, because that price supposedly also includes tuition for the program (i have no [Poor language removed] idea why it'd be higher, since i'd be taking some class through the school either way if i went abroad or not), and money to pay guest speakers etc.

the hostel deal sounds good, but i'll need to look into where we're staying to make sure i can find one nearby

also, should i decide to go on the trip, since we book travel independently, and after the term is over we have summer break, I'm free to stay in europe as long as i want (provided i can pay for a place to stay)

just how liveable are those hostels (is it the kind of place i'd want to remain in for more than a week?)

this school is extremely expensive to attend, but since i'm there on scholarship my family is not quite at the income level of your average student there. since most of the kids there are loaded to begin with, i think the school is banking on kids simply brushing off the cost of this kind of program as negligible, even though $3000+ is a lot of money to me (and i would say it is to your average person)

 

[toffeestillidie]

oh and thanks for all the advice Reidy, i don't know much about accomodations in the area so this is really helping me out

any chance of a GOT get-together should i find my way to liverpool? would be nice to put some faces to the name's on here

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

anyone making a trip to g.p. from afar will have the blue carpet put out, most go for an ale before/after games so you'll have no worries there.

apart from chico who nobody seems to be arsed about.

that hostel looks good to me, looks far better than a lot ive stayed in when travelling. that one is the old choir school for st.pauls cathedral so i'd imagine it'll be pretty old as well. tbh the $3000 is looking a decent deal if it includes all the fees as well, if its spring break you could maybe book your return flight for a later date, i'd imagine most will want to do that if they dont have to rush back, you may even experience an election whilst here. we have the most boring election lead up of anywhere i can think of, no flag waving and razz. here

 

[toffeestillidie]

just thought i'd let you guys know, i decided not to take the study abroad trip. paying that much for 3 weeks in london doesn't seem worth it. i think i'm going to try and do it in the fall though, if i go abroad in the fall i can apply my scholarship money to it, so the trip will be close to free, and will probably be for a longer period of time.

anyways, thats that, atleast the ground move doesn't seem to be going forward so i may still be able to see goodison.

 

[TX Bill]

...and meet up with the local degenerates, also known as GOT Forum members.