UQ Program: Bachelors of Engineering
After hearing stories told by previous exchange students, I couldn’t resist going myself. Birmingham, or Brum as the locals call it, is a central hub to the UK and is perfect if you’ve caught the travel bug. Being the second largest city in England means there are always cheap flights and trains to almost anywhere. Not living in London will save you tons of cash and it’s still only 1 hour away by train which made the Royal Wedding a blast. Birmingham International airport makes weekend trips across to Paris and Amsterdam an awesome cheap possibility. If you’re a bit of a scrooge like me you can take the bus everywhere but beware of the 20 hour trip to Berlin!
The University of Birmingham is a massive campus and has a rich student life. Staying on or off campus are both possible but I decided to rent an apartment with another student from UQ. This was considerably cheaper and it was amazing living in an entire suburb filled with other students. I also discovered that the University accommodation is essentially a small town comprised of colleges around a huge lake which didn’t sound half bad!
Birmingham provides classes that are smaller and more involved. They focus on lectures being central to learning and strongly encourage personal revision. Having a 6 subject equivalency can be hard to juggle at times and the month long study period can be a struggle with so many distractions available!
I met tons of other people and nothing could beat our ‘Sunday Burger’ at the Soak pub every Sunday. The University has a fantastic exchange program where dinners and parties are held where you can meet other people on exchange. I have met friends I will have for life and will definitely keep in touch!