The application process is really straightforward because you get great support from Contact College. Questions are always answered quickly by the person responsible, which is why the entire application process is relatively quick.
I also found the description of the university provided by Contact College very helpful, as well as the many testimonials from previous students. Within a few weeks I had my acceptance and could look forward to my semester abroad without having to dig through tons of paperwork beforehand 😉
Studies and courses in York
I can really recommend everyone to do a semester abroad at York St John University. The university really blew me away 😉
First of all, it’s really beautiful and in some buildings you really feel like you’re at Hogwarts. The library is also well equipped. All floors are equipped with Apple or Dell computers, so that everyone can always find a workstation with a computer. The 2nd floor is also a resting place, which I mainly used.
I spent my lunch breaks almost every day in the cafeteria, where there is a great range of dishes every day, which are varied and delicious! In my opinion, you can’t complain about the prices.
Regarding my studies in general, I can say that I really appreciated the personal atmosphere. I find lectures and associated tutorials very anonymous at my university in Germany and nobody is really interested in whether you are there or not. In York, on the other hand, each of my tutorials had a maximum of 20 students, so you could actively participate and really learn something! (Don’t panic – you weren’t just asked to answer questions when you didn’t really know the answer… ;-))
I also thought it was great that every lecturer knew my name and that you could just chat with each other after the lecture. The lecturers’ interest in me really motivated me to work with them and deliver good results. The grades are really fair and great! I had studied Business Ethics (Year 3), Human Resource Management (Year 2) and Travel & Tourism Management (Year 2), and I can recommend each subject (although there is now a new lecturer for HRM who I don’t know…).
On-site support
Apart from the extremely helpful lecturers, the university staff are also super nice. Especially on the first few days, when you are still new and don’t really have a plan where to go, you get so much support that in the end you feel really in good hands. Especially for international students there are plenty of contact persons who listen patiently and also speak clearly and slowly, which I found very pleasant, especially at the beginning of my stay abroad. The “student advice desk” is open every day from morning to evening, so that you can always be helped if you have any questions.
For the international students, there is a welcome package on arrival with helpful information about visits to the doctor, York in general, the university and contacts, or even a SIM card with which you can make calls in England very cheaply. In addition, calls to Germany are really cheap, for example I had a “giffgaff-SimKarte” with which I can get around 4 or 5 cents a minute to Dtl. have paid!
Accommodation
For my semester abroad, I was not in the dormitory, but in private accommodation as this is a little cheaper. However, I would not recommend it. I had great roommates, but you have to keep in mind that you look at ancillary costs completely differently if you have to pay them yourself. So in the dormitory you pay a fixed price, where electricity, water, etc. are already included. However, we had to pay the basic rent to the landlord and the ancillary costs directly to the responsible authorities. Because heating is really expensive there, the problem with me was that I was constantly freezing because my roommates (all English people) just didn’t want to heat. It has to be said that the houses there are really old and not really isolated. The English are used to this condition and have a completely different relationship to the cold. While I sat in my room and could see my breath because it was so cold the others just jumped around in the house with a woolen hat and thick jacket, without finding it “funny” in any way. I think a cultural difference came to light here, which after a few weeks really bothered me, especially because I was there in winter.
My friends in the dormitories didn’t have the problem, which is why I ended up regretting not having just spent a few more euros on the dormitory. A friend of mine was in “St John Central”, which is pretty new, really nice and everyone has their own bathroom… 😉
York and general
In my opinion, York is the perfect city for a semester or two abroad! It’s not a huge city, but York is a real eye-catcher! According to Andyeducation, York is a beautiful historic city that is also very popular with tourists. You can really count yourself lucky if you can live there for a few months. The little streets in the city really have their own charm, and if you ever feel the need to see something “bigger”, you can be in Manchester in a short time by train, or in London in 2 hours! The location is really great. You can also take a trip to Scotland, Edinburgh for example. Can be reached in 2.5 hours by train.
If you plan to travel a lot during your stay abroad, be sure to get the Railcard ! It costs 30 pounds once, but you get a third of the price on every train journey, which really pays off! I really used my map a lot and I can only recommend everyone to see as much of England / Wales / Scotland as possible, as the landscape and the people are unique!
