Lancaster University

Accomodation: more expensive than in France and food: because you often buy products you are used to in your home country however it is not the same price at all !!!

To discuss the content and aboce all methodology of the course with the teacher in charge beforehand.

An overall concern was the lack of case studies, reality based classes compared to the academic lectures all based on theories.

Student life is very different to that in france - get talking to people that have lived it already

Lancaster Management School is on of the top in the country - a real plus for your CV

Compared with France: the UK is hugely expensive. Lancaster (which is a small town) is as expensive as Paris !!!! A room in Lancaster costs a little bit more than a room in Paris. The food is VERY expensive especially if you want some fresh food (vegs, meat, etc). Travel is not so expensive but for the same price you get more in France. To sum up, the only thing which is cheap is clubbing and beer (in Lancaster, not in London) and overall you constantly have this feeling that you spend too much money. However, it is easy to get a student job to get pocket money and the UK is worth the expense.

This is where I am forced to give a lot of low marks. When I came, I was told I'd take the same classes as the UK students took and have access to everything they had. NOT TRUE! I was fairly advanced in my studies but was placed in a beginner's class taught by a master's student. The only students in my studio class were either foreigners like me or from the nearby teacher's college. If you are serious about studying art, do NOT go to this school! One day I noticed a visiting artist was giving portoflio reviews, but when I requested one I was told I was unable to because of my 'level' -- the same level assigned to all foreign students. When we asked to be placed at a higher level, we were discouraged and told to give it a chance. By that time, we were told it was too late. I also took classes in languages and those were top-notch, but again, if you want an art education, look elsewhere. You can get a better education taking week-end classes at a local community college.

Regarding studio art classes, my professor was simply another student at the school. So how could she give good critiques, when this was probably the first class she'd ever taught?