I am studying English / American Studies and Religious Studies in the two-subject Bachelor’s degree and have benefited a lot from the fact that you can freely choose your modules at York St John and that I didn’t have to limit myself to one subject. I have taken the following modules:
Feminist Ethics and Religion
Religion and Globalization
Canonicity: Making and Breaking the Canon
A module usually consists of a lecture and a seminar. I liked this division because it gave me enough time in the seminars to discuss the lecture topics and the seminar texts. The course sizes were also very pleasant with around 20 students per course. I particularly liked the relaxed atmosphere, which is partly due to the fact that the lecturers and students are on good terms. As an exam, I had to submit two essays with 2,000 to 2,500 words each per module. If you structure and plan your studies a bit right from the start, you can do that well.
The University
The university is relatively small, which makes it easy to find your way around the campus and help is available on every corner anyway. I felt very welcome, especially at the beginning. The introductory events allow you to quickly get to know many other exchange students. Despite the manageable size of the university, the campus is well equipped. There are two cafes (Starbucks and Costa) and a cafeteria with a very good selection. But what I definitely liked best was the library (open 24/7!). The working atmosphere there is great, you can bring your own food and drink, and there are plenty of workstations and computers and if you have technical problems, you can always contact the tech support team. The Students Union is also located on campus. There are two bars here that are always well attended by the students in the evenings and where karaoke nights or quiz evenings take place on a regular basis. In addition, the prices here are very student-friendly. I would recommend anyone who goes to York St John to join a society! Especially if you are perhaps a little introverted and it takes a little overcoming at the beginning. Thanks to the volleyball club, I was able to get to know a lot of local students. I was particularly surprised by the very strong sense of community, not only within the societies, but also at the university itself.
York
According to mcat-test-centers, the city is great for students. York is not only a very beautiful and historical city with museums and churches, but also very lively. There are tons of pubs that are definitely where most of the nightlife takes place. I and my friends didn’t even come close to visiting all of the pubs in York, despite intensive efforts. Plus, you can actually walk everywhere. I lived in Limes Court, which is the furthest away from the residential complexes. Nevertheless, you don’t need more than 15-20 minutes from here to the university and the city center. It’s only five minutes by bike.
Living
As mentioned earlier, I lived in Limes Court. You are there with four other students in a small apartment with kitchen and two bathrooms. The kitchen is nice and big and offers enough space to invite friends over. I couldn’t fault the bathrooms either. The rooms are furnished with a bed, desk, shelf and wardrobe. In principle, repairs were always carried out quickly and reliably, but unfortunately we had the problem that our heating did not work properly for almost two weeks in November. The large supermarkets (Sainsburys, Morrisons, Asda) can be easily reached in 15 minutes from Limes Court, but there is also a small coop shop, which is only a 5-7 minute walk away. In the immediate vicinity of Limes Court is also the Heworth Plaice (for me personally the best fish and chip shop in York!).
Leisure and excursions
It is definitely worth starting day trips from York. Leeds is very good for shopping and Whitby and Scarborough (especially Whitby) are lovely coastal towns that can be easily reached by Coastliner bus. The North Yorkshire Moors are also worth a hike. Knaresborough is particularly beautiful, a very, very small town with a beautiful castle ruin and an even nicer railway bridge. Since the place is only 20 minutes away from York, you can only go there for half a day.
The Global Guides team also offers some excursions for exchange students. We had the opportunity to go to Liverpool and Manchester (I highly recommend both cities). The trips seem a bit expensive, but especially at the beginning of the semester it is very pleasant to join a group and get to know other exchange students.
There is actually almost as much to do in York itself. I would recommend visiting the minster and definitely taking a guided tour. In good weather, a tour of the old city wall is worthwhile. Otherwise, it is sometimes enough to just stroll through the city, you always discover something new.
Even if it was a bit expensive semester, I really enjoyed my time in York. I was able to make many new friends from all over the world and the city has really grown dear to my heart. Even the university I can really only recommend. The people of York are very welcoming. And those who are used to the rain and wind in northern Germany will be positively surprised by the weather in York. It doesn’t rain that much.
