5 Tips After My Arrival To Study Abroad in the UK

These also apply for almost any destination/host country, so read on!

Having mentally prepared myself for some things to go wrong, I'm very relieved with how smoothly my arrival and first week at Oxford Brookes University for my study abroad semester went (and hopefully it continues this way!).

So, here are just some quick tips I have about things I did before and during my arrival for anyone else doing a student exchange!

Send plenty of emails

If you have any questions at all, your host institution will be happy to answer as long as you find the correct email address for your concern (accommodation, student services, etc.). Make sure you always mention that you are an exchange student so that they can best support your situation. Some examples of things you might ask about are:

• Specifics about your modules/course scheduling
• Special accommodation options
• Questions about what's included in your room

Map important stores

Find some grocery and household stores near where your accommodation will be, because you will probably need to buy many things in the first few days that you are there.

Have diverse (and good) payment methods

I'll make a separate post about the specifics of this, but you might want to make sure you have cash, Mastercard, Visa, international money transfer, etc. with good exchange rates and plan which ones you'll use in different circumstances.

Switch your 2FAs and plan for the worst

Many banks, email addresses, and other accounts require you to have a two-factor authentication method enabled (such as university logins!) and most people use SMS for it. Of course, SMS doesn't work great when you move countries and get a new SIM card...

To avoid roaming fees and situations where you are locked out of accounts, make sure to switch them to an app like Microsoft Authenticator or another method that can be accessed worldwide.

In addition, you can either take your home country SIM card with you to put in your phone in case you do need it for something (if you are willing to incur big $$$ charges when it happens), or you can give it to a trusted friend or family member in your home country who can put it in a phone to receive messages/calls when needed.

Research SIM Cards

Look for student deals and find out which SIM cards allow you to pay with a bank account from your home country (it can actually be pretty rare). Alternatively, if you know anyone in your destination country, you could consider giving them cash in exchange for them to order you a SIM.

In addition, during the first week some universities give out SIM cards with a 1-month free plan, you can ask your own university about it which would give you some more time to prepare.

Get excited

Plan out a few fun days and attractions to visit so that you don't get overwhelmed with planning while you're also settling in. Personally, I like to favourite places I'm interested in on Google Maps to see where I could visit at a glance!

Thanks for reading and hope at least one of these helped. If you have any of your own tips feel free to comment them below :)

Until next time,

Ana