Comments about Manchester Business School from Past Participants

for more complete comments, please check out the binders in the student lounge, 215b DKH

Useful Advice

"The most valuable thing I learned during my time there was learning to embrace the cultures of others. During my time in Manchester and my travels throughout Europe, I was able to meet and become friends with a wide variety of people from all over the world and being able to not only hear about, but experience the cultures of many other places on a first hand basis was a tremendous experience that I will not soon forget. I had a great time during my study abroad experience. Manchester was an excellent location with a lot of things to do and since your are on an actual campus, there are many ways to get involved with the university. And since the main city portion of Manchester is relatively small, it is very easy to find your way around. Despite the frequently bad weather, I really grew to like Manchester, and in the end was sad to leave. I would highly recommend the Manchester Business School if you want a fun study abroad experience that will end up teaching you a great deal about unique areas of business from a different standpoint than what you normally get in the US and also the varying cultures of other areas." - Michael Greene, Fall 07

"Out of the millions of things, the ability to be comfortable and confident in any situation.  
Overall, I give my experience a 10.  I traveled for 58 out of my 110 days abroad, have no money to my name, and finally figured out a career path that I want to pursue.  I could not ask for anything more." - John Bastian, Fall 07

"Studying abroad is one of the best things that a student can do. This semester has been on eof the greatest experiences of my life. I look back on this semester and think of the places I have been and things that I have done and it simply amazes me. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that every college student should take advantage of. Just as a sample, here are some of the things I have done in the last half a year.
-Ultimate Frisbee National Tournament in Cardiff
-Skydiving in Barcelona
-Gyros in Greece (Twice as good as Geovanti's)
-Gelato in Italy
-Haggis in Rome
-Scooters in Rome
-Escargot in Paris
-St. Paddy's Day in Dublin
-Traditional Irish Music in Galway
-Football (soccer) matches everywhere
It was an amazing time and if you are simply thinking about going, take the initiative and enroll yourself in a program. I guarantee you won't regret it.
-Jeff Star, Spring 07

“My experience studying abroad in Manchester was life changing. I am glad that I chose Manchester, as it is a city in the heart of England with a style, personality, and accent of its own. A great music scene, friendly people, and a lot of nice pubs and clubs are only a few of its attractive features. Manchester was especially worthwhile as it provided both state-of-the-art education at MBS and a trendy metropolitan setting to explore in my free time.” –Ross Barry, Sp 06

“Overall, I had a great time in Manchester. The business school is in a beautiful, new building. I was able to meet and interact with students from all over the world, from France to Hong Kong, as well as become friends with English students. Manchester is a comfortably-sized city, not overwhelming if you’re not used to living in a city. Everything is easily accessible by the double-decker buses.” – Gwendolyn Gatz, Sp 06

"I give the highest possible rating to an overally study abroad experience that I can. The program going to Manchester is absolutely phenomenal. You live in an incredible social residence area (along with thousands of kids), you can actually make close knit friends because there is no real language barrier, and you can travel all over the world because England is such an easy departming spot. I was able to acheive everything I wanted to during my study abroad experience. You get help moving in the right direction through the international society run through the school that will take you out of the town and feed you drinks. They are well organized and social and have trips planned that you can join that go all over the U.K. and other places on weekends. You get a month off for Easter break where you can travel wherever you want. When I came back I had been gone for almost 4 (amazing) weeks straight of backpacking. I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was relax. I was able to come back and focus on meeting new people and enjoying a vibrant social life. I couldn't recommend this program more and would be more than willing to meet up with and talk to anyone who has an interest."
-Jeremy Smith, Spring 07

"Using the site hostelworld.com can really make a difference when traveling because for the most part, the high rated hostels give a really unique feel and experience for each place."
-Jeremy Smith, Spring 07

“Overall, Manchester was amazing. The whole study abroad program was unforgettable. I was able to see parts of the world I only dreamed about seeing. I would do it again in a minute, and I encourage every business student to go abroad. For any potential students studying abroad: Be aware of where you are, because it isn’t the U.S. It is important to learn what is appropriate for the country one is visiting.” – Jon Morton, Sp 05

“My experience was awesome! You’ll definitely make new friends and there are tons of opportunities to meet people. The study abroad office at Manchester sets up its own events for students. They even partner you up with Manchester students to help you learn more about Manchester. There are also trips available to take, such as the International Society. I got involved with the Community Action which is a volunteering organization. Through that I was able to meet people from the community and enhanced my time in Manchester.” – Christina Villanueva, Sp 03

“Studying abroad was the best decision I have ever made in my life. I was able to travel and meet all sorts of new people that opened my eyes to the rest of the world. I was also able to take classes that gave new perspective to many of the principles I was learning at UIUC.” – Kathryn Hurie, Fall 03

Location

"The location of Manchester Business School was very good because it is located within walking distance of the main city center and there is always something to do and the nightlife is great. In addition, there are many train stations and two airports near the school, which makes traveling very easy. The downside of Manchester is that the weather is pretty gloomy. The sun was rarely out and it tends to rain or at least sprinkle almost constantly" - Michael Greene, Fall 07

"Manchester was a great English speaking location in Europe.  First, considering that the low cost airlines make flying cheaper than trains many times, it really doesn't matter that you are on an island separated from the rest of Europe.  In addition, it was a great location to see the rest of the UK considering it was closer to Scotland and Dublin, and only two hours north of London. There was nothing bad besides the constant dreary weather and rain." - John Bastian, Fall 07

"Manchester is a very good location for anyone looking to study abroad. You can go anywhere in the U.K. in a matter of a few hours (about 3 down to London, and a little more if you want to head north to Scotland.) It is amazing for travel because there are a multitude of low buget airlines that can take you anywhere in Europe for cheap. The location of the school is very close to the downtown and is easy accessible by buses that come literally every few minutes."
-Jeremy Smith, Spring 07

"The location was great. Manchester is a very easy city to get around. There i one main road which is where you pick up the bus to go to classes and the dorms that you stay in are right there. There are also lots of food spots and bars in the area since it is a huge student living area."
-Jeff Star, Spring 07

"The social life was great; there is always something going on around Manchester. There are student-sponsored nights literally every night of the week and people are always going out. I always had a fantastic time; there are so many venues that accommodate all tastes of music and all atmospheres. I also loved how close I got with the local students due to the fact that we lived together and took classes together. I know some programs taht keep the exchange students seperate/isolated but, the MSB program allowed us to integrate and actually become part of the local scene. They also organized activites for us early on, so we got to know everyone in our exchange group. It's great that I actually have made long-lasting friendships with people from England and beyond. Studying abroad in Manchester was an amazing experience where I made friends and memories that I will remember forever.
-Alaina Mazewski, Spring 07

"It rains a lot and is almost never sunny. Other than that I can't complain."
-Jeremy Smith, Spring 07

"The location of Manchester as a city was a slight invonvenience as it made traveling to Europe difficult."
-Brandon James, Spring 07

"I loved my experience abroad in Manchester. It was really easy to get around the city as well as travel to other cities throughout England and Europe. I liked how Manchester was only a couple hours away from London - so I was able to go there multiple times during the semester. Manchester's airport was also very easy to get to so I was able to travel all over Europe."
-Alaina Mazewski, Spring 07

“Another good thing about the city was that it is very easy and cheap to travel out of. The budget airlines in England are great. If you look ahead of time you can find flights as cheap as $30 or so to go to Italy, for example. London is about a 3 to 4 hour train ride and about a 6 hour bus ride.”

“There were only a few things that I wasn’t too fond of being in Manchester. First was that it's pretty bad weather. Second, England itself is very pricey. I would have liked to have been in a place where I was a little less stressed about money.” –Nicholas March, Sp 05

“My location in the city of Manchester was amazing. I stayed at Fairfield Hall. The dorm was right across the street from the Piccadilly Train Station, the biggest train station in Manchester. It was nice because there was a record store and a lot of fast food restaurants inside. There was a pub on my block, as well as a bar open for students to use with permission in the dorm. Fairfield Hall was right next to the City Centre and the Gay Village. It was also nice because it was close enough to campus that I could walk to class.”

“The only real negative about the area where I lived was that it was close to the red-light district.” –Jon Morton, Sp 05

“Manchester was the perfect location because it was located in the central portion of the country to the north. I went on my day trips all over England, and the duration of travel was always relatively short. I was an equal distance from London, Edinburgh, and Wales.”

“Although I loved the Manchester area, getting to other parts of the city was sometimes difficult and costly. There was no means of underground transportation, and if you wanted to leave the university area, you would have to take a taxi, which is somewhat costly.” –Kathryn Hurie, Fall 03

“Manchester has a high student population since there are four colleges in close proximity. Therefore, it is somewhat similar to UIUC, where the businesses target mainly the student population. The public transportation system is in abundance. There are plenty of buses, trains, or taxis accessible.”

“Since Manchester is located northwest of England, it gets pretty cold at night. Other times, the rain is rather unpredictable and makes it rather inconvenient to get around.” –Sarah Chen, Fall 03

“I loved being in Manchester. It gives you a different perspective of England than most people have simply by visiting/living in London- the Northwest has a very different feel to it. Manchester is very industrial…it is great because there are so many universities there; it is literally run by students, it seems! It is also one of the biggest centers of night life-tons of clubs are opening each day, and it’s the biggest spot for the British music scene.” Meredith Meier, Sp 00

“Manchester was not as central as I would have liked, especially because I ended up spending many of my weekends traveling to London.” –Andrea Scheffler, Sp 00

“England is situated in a good location where I could achieve one of my goals-traveling in Western Europe. Its proximity and easy access to other European countries allowed me to visit their famous attractions. The trains there took me to all cities in the United Kingdom and from country to country in Western Europe I wanted to visit.”

“There is nothing undesirable about the location I chose.” –Kristi Pui Ki Tse, Sp 00

Courses

"The good thing about the courses is that they typically meet only once a week, with the exception of a few that had discussions every few weeks. It was also interesting to learn about business from another standpoint than what you normally receive in the US. The teaching style at the university is much more hands-off than I was used to here at Illinois. The professors mostly just talk at you for two or more hours with very little class participation. This made certain classes seem extraordinarily uninteresting, even though the actual course material being covered was interesting." - Michael Greene, Fall 07

"Manchester Business School only allows you to take five business classes/no electives.  Consider this when choosing where to study abroad.  MBS is ranked very high in the UK and in Europe as one of the top business programs.  Finally, I went overseas an accountant and came back a consultant.  Their lectures are very interesting and interactive, and I ended up learning more overseas than I ever have in a class here (I still love U of I though!)" - John Bastian, Fall 07

“The five classes I took met once a week for two hours and only a few had an additional seminar which met once a week. So I had plenty of free time to travel and explore the city. The courses are taught in lecture format with about 40-100 people in each class. There is no homework in the classes, besides studying, and 100% of the grade depends on a 2-hour written final comprised of two essays at the end of the semester. I had about 10 weeks of classes, 3 weeks for Easter holiday to travel and then about another 3 weeks to study before taking my finals.”

“I loved my courses and that I didn’t have to do much work for them. I like all my professors and the course content and felt I learned a great deal from taking the classes. The only thing I could go either way was that 100% of my grade was based on the final. On one hand I didn’t have to do any homework, but on the other that’s a lot of pressure on one exam when you are unfamiliar with the grading process.” –Gwendolyn Gatz, Sp 06

Only one of the courses offered met any of my accounting requirements so that was difficult, an d you are only allowed to take classes in the school of business, so you cannot take any classes that meet general education requirements.
- Laura Golightly, Spring 07

"The courses offered were probably my least favorite part of the experience. We only had a limited number of classes to choose from, so it was hard for me to find ones that really interested me. The style of teaching was a bit different than what I was used to, but it was easy to adjust to only having each class meet once a week. I only had classes 3 days a week, which was good because it allowed me to travel during the semester. And we got 3 weeks for spring break! But the examinations were very different, which I didn't like as much. I'm not used to having my exams be 100% of my grade. I prefer having coursewokr and quizzes/exams throughout the semester. I would have liked to get some feedback as to how teachers graded the exams, etc. It also took some time getting used to the independence of Manchester's teaching system. It was essential to learn that you had to motivate yourself because there was no 'check-ups' like quizzes along the way to keep you on top of your students. I also didn't like how there wasn't just one textbok per class. Each class had multiple readings from dozens of different textbooks and journals."
-Alaina Mazewski, Spring 07

“Courses at MBS all required the attendance of lectures once per week and a seminar most likely every fortnight. Much less in-class time than that of schools in the United States. This system requires much more independent study and personal reading time.”

“Independent study and reading were not a problem for me, I still had to go searching for information-unmonitored. As I am sure this independence will prove beneficial in the long run, a bit more guidance and personal attention from the instructors would have been helpful at the time.” – Ross Barry Sp 06

“It was very interesting to take courses that were taught a little bit differently. Lectures were taught more based on case studies. I enjoyed it that way because we were then able to apply the theory to real life situations. It was also nice to be able to have a little bit more time to travel since there wasn’t work due a lot during the semester.”

“The classes were hard. Most grades were about 80% based on our final test. The finals were difficult because they were mostly essay, which coming from U of I, I was not used to.” – Jon Morton, Sp 05

“What made the classes worth going to were the TAs. They proved to be really helpful when it came to final exam time. The overall best thing about classes over there was the fact that you don’t have to buy books! This saved a few bucks, which was nice...”

“The University of Manchester is definitely different from U of I, which is to be expected. First, registering for classes was a bit hectic at times because of the relaxed nature of how things are done (It took me about 3 weeks to submit my final schedule). When it came to lectures I was not impressed. I found about one professor to be really helpful when it came to final exam time.” – Nicolas March, Sp 05

“The professors are very friendly and readily available. The material does not seem hard but you need to study a lot, especially near the end of the term. I had plenty of time to travel throughout the semester since it’s not like U of I where there are exams every week. Also, most of the books needed for courses can be found at the Precinct or Main Library. Reserve these online ASAP because they go quickly…If possible, buddy up with people from the class and try to share books.”

“Manachester Management is pretty small so the courses available are limited. Most courses require 1 essay of about 2500 words and an exam that counts for up to 70% of your grade.” – Christina Villanueva, Sp 03

“The courses were fine. The 2nd year courses were very comparable to U of I junior level classes…the final year modules were more difficult and demanding. The classes consisted of a lot of reading, one essay and then a final exam. The classes are smaller, so attendance is more important (you’ll be noticed if you’re not there), but the level of work needed throughout the semester is MINIMAL. Essays are a big deal there. The final exams are brutal-essay format, topics are essentially unknown…I took Applied Marketing (great!), Marketing Research (really great learned so much!), Managing Diversity (interesting), and Human Resource Development (good, but demanding).”

“Difficult finals, different system of learning and much more analytical. Difficulty with finals schedule and starting dates of summer internships…the school was completely unwilling to compromise.” –Meredith Meier Sp 00

Housing

"The good thing about the housing is that all of the international students are typically placed in the same area so it was easy to meet many new people who were willing to explore the city or travel. The place where we were housed in Manchester, Moberly Hall, was pretty awful. I think more than half of my ceiling tiles ended up falling out over the course of the semester. The heat went out for a week and one floor couldn’t get any water. But thankfully that building is getting torn down in Spring 08 and the other accommodations on the campus were much better, though honestly anything would have been better in comparison." - Michael Greene, Fall 07

" We each had our own rooms which was nice and Moberly Hall was close to classes.  However, our housing location was with only international students and it was very far from the majority of the rest of student housing. Moberly Hall was old, the heating broke, and it was very far from student housing and student life." - John Bastian, Fall 07

"I loved where I lived. Fallowfield is a great place to be on exchange because the atmosphere was so social and friendly. Since everyone in the dorms were freshmen, as a new student it was easy to adapt to life here because you are constantly surrounded by people/locals. It allowed me to meet British students with ease, and I was close to all of the other exchange kids, so that was nice. It was a close-knit little community where we were all within a 3-minute walk from each other. My dorm was within walking distance of the grocery store, lots of restaurants and bars. However, we did have to take the bus to campus or downtown Manchester."
-Alaina Mazewski, Spring 07

"The dorms were very nice. They were bigger than U of I's rooms and you had them to yourself with a big closet and your own sink. The downside of the dorms is that the walls were paper thin so if anyone was doing anything in the room next to you, you could basically hear everything."
-Jeff Star, Spring 07

"I enjoyed living in the catered residence and found that it was probably a better fit socially than the non-catered. My residence was a social animal and I couldn't have asked for anything to have been better."
-Jeremy Smith, Spring 07

"The campus was located conveniently in-between my dorm and the city center. This made navigating the city very easy and fun."
-Brandon James, Spring 07

“I was pretty satisfied with my housing in Manchester. I lived in student halls in a flat with about 15 people in a place called Wright Robinson. I had my own room and a shared kitchen. The people in my halls were great. I was the only American in the halls, the rest were English, Welsh, Greek, or German, which is exactly what I wanted.”

“I don’t have too many complaints about the housing. The kitchen got dirty at times but that is to be expected when sharing a kitchen with 10 people or so. Also, the elevators failed a lot, which got really annoying.” – Nicholas March, Sp 05

“I stayed at Whitworth Park. These are like apartments. I lived with 8 other girls. We had a 2-floor-flat and shared a common room, kitchen and bathroom. It’s not the greatest place to stay, but it definitely makes meeting people much easier. There was no Internet access and you needed to buy a separate phone card to get an outside line. When trying to call home, I suggest buying a Whitworth Park phone card and then an international phone card. Bed sheets and a pillow are provided and they have minimum house cleaning. I brought my own pots and pans and dishes, but you can buy all of these from ASDA which is about a 20 minute walk from Whitworth Park. I didn’t have any security problems; just remember to lock your door all the time.” – Christian Villanueva, Sp 03

“Woolton Hall was a great place to live. There were single rooms with sinks. The unisex bathroom was a bit odd at first, but it was not a problem except for the toilet seats left up.”

“A downside of living in a single dorm room of a flat is that you have no flat mates so you have to be willing to go out and make friends. Also, in the dorms you can’t cook for yourself.” – Yann Dang, Fall 03

“I had a chance to live with seven other people. There were cleaners that came every other week to help with the maintenance of the flat. The laundry and computer lab facility was accessible and not too far.”

“I lived in Beech Court, which was part of the Oak House. It was considerably far from the UMIST campus. To get to class, I would have to walk about 35 minutes. The bus ride is about 15 minutes, depending on traffic. Getting to the city centre takes about 25 minutes on the bus. The distance makes getting around somewhat of a hassle.” – Sarah Chen, Fall 03

“Oak House in Fallowfield, my second place of housing, was a great experience. I lived with seven other students in a self-catered, university-owned unit. We shared a TV lounge with a kitchen inside. It was nice to have a common room where I had many opportunities to interact with my native “flatmates.” Having a kitchen where I could do my own cooking worked out perfectly for me, especially when I did not like the food that was served in a catered hall. I also had as much privacy as I wanted because the room is secured with its individual lock.”

“Sheavyn House was a very nice flat to live in because it was so new, and each room had its own bathroom and shower. The security was adequate and living in Fallowfield was also good because so many students are in that area.”

“However, Sheavyn House has mostly graduate students, and it is not a very social dorm. I would recommend living somewhere that has more undergraduates.” – Andrea Scheffler, Sp 00

Costs

"I typically spent between 35 and 45 GBP per week on food. Most of it was from eating out, if you buy things from the grocery store you may be able to spend less, but since we only had a microwave and one mini fridge for the entire floor made it relatively hard to buy a lot of food from them. I spent about 100 GBP on books, even though it really was not necessary to spend anything, as all of the books were available from the library. Though as the paper due dates come up, it becomes very difficult to find the books you need, though they do have two-hour loan books that are usually available." - Michael Greene, Fall 07

"The one bad thing about being in England was the exchange rate - it was pretty expensive. I had to get used to paying double for everything. Food probably cost about 50 pounds a week. Textbooks barely cost me anything because you didn't have to purchase books for every class - the library had copies that you could check out instead. I definitely spent the most money on traveling and shopping. (Primark is the best store ever!)"
-Alaina Mazewski, Spring 07

"I spent approximately 140 pounds a week on food, but I was also self-catered, meaning I cooked all of my own food. I spent no money on textbooks as they were available for rent."
-Brandon James, Spring 07

I think I spent between $50-$75 per week on groceries. A few classes required a book, and those probably cost me a total of $125. You can also sell them back for about 30% of the original cost at the end of the year.
-Laura Golightly, Spring 07

"Well, I tried to stick to dorm food as much as possible. I usually got through the week on about 40 pounds ($80) I split one textbook with a girl for about $20. The rest of the books were taken out from the library.
-Jeff Star, Spring 07

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

® Copyright 2005 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign