Intro
Regent’s American College (RACL) is one of the schools at Regent’s University London and a branch of the American Webster University. Therefore, the semester starts two weeks before the semester starts for the rest of the schools, which was very nice to get used to in peace. In addition, mostly American students do their semester abroad in the RACL. Sometimes it was almost difficult to find regular students.
The Regent’s University campus, where most of the schools are located, is located in the middle of Regent’s Park and is therefore always very quiet compared to the rest of London. The park-like campus was almost a spot of relaxation from the sometimes quite hectic London.
The application process
With the planning for the semester abroad at the Regent’s University London, I started only three months before departure. With the help of MicroEDU, however, it still worked even with this short lead time. The application was fairly easy compared to other universities, needed was merely a letter of motivation, a transcript and an application form, in particular, was not a language test is required. The requirements for the letter of motivation did not appear to be particularly high. In the application form, it was then necessary to select which Regent’s University school you would like to attend and which courses you would like to take. However, this choice was not necessarily binding, courses could still be swapped in the orientation unit. The application documents had to be sent to MicroEDU, and a short time later the acceptance came from London. By the time you arrive, you will receive a lot of information on how to get there, the orientation week and how to book excursions. Booking these should not be postponed too far. Some offers sold out very quickly.
The accommodation
The university is very helpful in finding suitable accommodation. There is a newsletter from the university, which arranges private apartments for rent. The university also offers two options for accommodation. On the one hand the Reid Hall, the classic student residence of the university, which is located directly on the campus, and on the other hand apartments in North Gower Street. Most of the Reid Hall is noisy, but is located on the quiet campus area. In addition, the room in Reid Hall has an allowance for the cafeteria, while the apartments in North Gower are self-catering. The Reid Hall has single to triple rooms. My apartment, which I had in North Gower, consisted of two twin bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and an open kitchen with living room. We were four students from 4 continents which led to interesting conversations on so many evenings.
Education
The courses at Regent’s University are very small. A general maximum limit of 20 students is seldom reached, so it was usually also possible to make the lessons interactive. There is a general compulsory attendance in the courses. In general, the structure of the courses was significantly different from what I was used to, which is probably due to the American study model that prevails at the RACL. At the RACL, calculations are based on the American credit system. There were four exams in each subject. Mostly this was a term paper, a presentation, a mid-term test and a final exam. There was a lot of help and support to cope with the formal requirements, some of which were slightly unfamiliar. The Lectures were generally very practice-oriented and were mostly also given by practitioners. Unfortunately, the lessons were sometimes a bit superficial and a few times did not go beyond the recommended books, which was a shame, especially in view of the immensely high tuition fees. However, the university offered much more than just the lectures. Numerous lectures by renowned guests were the order of the day. In addition, the in-house Career Center offers support for applications and helps with finding internships. Read more experience for studying abroad on Localcollegeexplorer.
During the semester I completed four courses: International Business Law, Business Law, Human Rights and the Environment and International Law. It was very noticeable in these courses how differently they were rated and how different the general requirements were. Sometimes it was enough to write down the information on the PowerPoint slides for the housework in two courses, while in other courses you had to do your own research. While in the simple essays it was then easily possible to get an A for your work, this was apparently impossible for most of the self-developed essays.
Conclusion
The semester abroad was definitely a good and lasting experience. Living in London for a semester alone is an unforgettable experience. London is an extraordinary city and as such always has something to offer. It is not for nothing that it is said “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”. In addition, there are numerous exciting contacts with fellow students from all over the world and friendships that arise and hopefully last for a lifetime. However, you should possibly choose another university if you want to do the semester abroad primarily for academic reasons. The advantage of Regent’s University is its small size and the associated small classes, regardless of the high tuition fees, everyone has to decide for themselves.
