shedreamsimpossiblethings asked: You are soo soo so lucky! I wish I could do exactly what you are doing. If you don't mind me asking, how much did this cost you approx? That way I can start saving my money ha. And also did you get really good grades to be able to get into Glasgow?
I don’t mind telling cost. The plane ticket from Atlanta to Glasgow was $900 (you will almost certainty have a stopover in London). The tuition for classes I paid directly to my College in the US, because I just studied abroad. I go to a private school so my tuition is about $12,000 (I just got next semesters bill). But sometimes (although I think its rare-er) you pay tuition to the University you are studying at. Also tuition at a public school (in the US) is way way less than $12,000 per semester.
I paid for my room directly to Glasgow. That was about £2,000 but can be less ore more depending on where you are staying. I also had to buy my own food as most of the housing is apartment style and you have your own kitchen. But I didn’t mind that because I usually wanted something besides what the dining hall was serving. I would spend on average £25 on food per week. I mostly ate pasta, baked potatoes, fresh fruit/veggies, cooked veggies, and veggie sandwiches. So sometimes my meal budget was more sometimes (if I ate a lot of pasta, one of my favorite foods) it was less. But Wolfson Hall has a dining hall you can eat if you live there, however I caution you from requesting Wolfson. It is kind of awful and far far away from the school, and kind of near a bod neighborhood. One girl I knew got her own apartment to avoid Wolfson. If you go out to eat/drink a lot this budget will be higher so plan accordingly. Also I can be pretty thrifty with meal budgets so you might not want to limit yourself to £25.
Traveling and shopping are the next two categories. And they are the most variable. I highly recommend you travel, I didn’t regret a cent I spend on traveling and you should really at least see more of Scotland/UK. A ticket from Glasgow to Edinburgh is £11 round while a ticket to St. Andrews is ~ £30 with bus. I spent more money when I went about the rest of Europe than in Scotland. I flew to Florence and back to Scotland from Munich but other than that I just stayed on trains. Trains are great because they don’t make yo check bags, go through security, and you can bring food on. I bought a Eural pass but if you want to do that I strongly caution you to check if just buying individual passes would save you more money. Sometimes I feel like the Eurail passes can just rip you off. The expensive train tickets are between countries, there about 100Euro. I did save myself 90Euro because I mis-booked a ticket, due to bad information in the Eurail book. So I recommend double checking everything. Also in Italy (and other countries to be on the safe side, but Italy def) you must reserve a ticket, yes even with a Eurail pass, at the station. Reservation cost money. So check if you need a reservation because you will be fined in Italy if you don’t have one (and then you still have to buy one.. Germany is way more cool about it, but Southern counties are more strict. So yeah, I’m not a huge fan of Eurail passes. And ALWAYS buy your tickets at the train station, no matter in Scotland or elsewhere. Don’t book online because the attendants at the station know what you need/how to book tickets. You don’t. Trust me.
Shopping is another category all together. Glasgow has the best shopping outside of London. So if yo like to shop take your normal shopping budget (or amount spent on shopping) and convert it to £, then add some. Remember if it normally cost $10 in the US, which becomes £6.50, the item will still cost £10. So what I’m saying is that shopping in Europe is expensive. Also take souvenirs into account. Everyone needs a wool scarf and possible a kilt. Even if you don’t want one now you will. It really varies.
Another good tip on the traveling might be to plan out your longer trips (like spring break) now. You can check flight prices, hotel prices, transportation prices, and tourist attraction prices now to get a good idea of what a weekend in London or Paris might cost. Even if it will be a few years before you go. That way you can start saving now with a more accurate idea of price.
And I recommend getting a Historic Scotland membership, you get into a lot of castles and historic sites free or discounted after you buy your membership and get money off at the gift shops. Included are St Andrews castle and Edinburgh castle. There is another membership that covers other castles not on the Historic Scotland plan (sorry I can’t remember the name atm) and if you plan ahead (ie buy them at the beginning of your study abroad semester) and actually want to go to these places they can save you a good bit of money.
And my gpa is about 3.44, but Glasgow will take a lot of students with lower gpas for study abroad. If you want to study there as a regular student check the for website for admission requirements.
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