LONDON -- If student interest in off-campus programs has been declining recently, then someone must have forgotten to tell the participants on this term's History foreign study program.
The 16 students and one professor who are spending the next three months living and studying in the capital of England have given the program rave reviews thus far -- and they encouraged other Dartmouth students to take advantage of the many opportunities offered to them to study abroad.
So far, so good
Having been in London for just over two weeks now, most of the History FSP participants were reluctant to unilaterally endorse the program, but virtually everyone agreed that the experience has been wonderful so far.
Susanna McFadden '98 called London "an exciting city" and Jay Zimmerman '98 went further, saying London is "the greatest city I've ever been in."
Mark Hoagland '98 praised the city's night life, which includes bars, clubs, pubs and theaters -- a little different than Hanover. "I like how at 11:30 at night, the streets are packed," Hoagland said.
Not having a language barrier to overcome made coming to London more attractive than going to other international cities, Elizabeth Mawn '98 said. "It's not really much of a culture shock," she said.
One of the more popular aspects of the FSP has been the housing arrangements -- the 16 students are split up among several flats and residence halls at University College London, and everyone is living either with or near British and other international students.
The Dartmouth students "don't spend every waking hour together, and we've had the opportunity to meet lots of other students," McFadden said.
She said she likes the History FSP better than the Language Study Abroad program to France, which she participated in earlier this year, because in France the people on the program spent virtually all day together.
Michelle Lundeen '97 agreed it was nice "not just to be cooped up with a bunch of Dartmouth students."
In the past, the History FSP in London has heaped some inconveniences on its participants, such as having to live in bad neighborhoods or being forced to take the bus or subway to get to class.
But the 1996 program seems to have eliminated many of these problems. The participants are living in a safe area of central London, and virtually all of the housing accommodations are no more than a 10-minute walk from classes.
In fact, just about the only thing students on the program have complained about is the sub-par telephone service and the lack of personal telephones in student rooms.
Many students are living in residence halls where incoming calls are screened by a reception desk and then transferred to a public phone in a hallway, where students must run to pick up the call. Other students are living in flats and must share a phone with several other people.
And to make outgoing calls, the FSP participants must go down to a basement and call from a pay phone, or in some cases go to another building or down the street.
Reminders of home
If the phone service has been a sore point for the students, the availability of e-mail has been an extremely pleasant surprise for most.
At the beginning of the program, everyone was faced with the chilling prospect of having to actually live three months without BlitzMail.
However, thanks to the presence of three Macintosh clusters at University College London -- and Hoagland's bringing a copy of BlitzMail with him to London on a disk -- the students have been able to check their e-mail up to several times a day.
Simone Swink '98 was checking her e-mail one night and apparently got locked into the building, which was beginning to close down for the day.
In order to escape the building, "I climbed down the fire escape and over a concrete embankment," she said. "The lengths Dartmouth students will go to check BlitzMail is astounding."
Marisa Howe '98 claims she had vowed not to use BlitzMail, but once it became available, "I'm just as obsessed as I am at Dartmouth."
Being able to check e-mail so often no doubt has made the students feel that despite being on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, they are tuned in to what is going on in Hanover.
Most people are happy "as long as we're part of the virtual Dartmouth experience," Swink said.
Becky Rottenberg '98 offered another parallel between London and Dartmouth.
One night while at a pub, Rottenberg said she and a few friends observed a gentleman, apparently having had a bit too much to drink, fall face first into a table.
"It makes you realize there are certain commonalties wherever you go," she said.
A disturbing trend
The Dartmouth contingent in London expressed disappointment that several off-campus programs have recently seen a marked decrease in student interest.
McFadden termed the trend "really sad" and Hoagland said students who failed to take advantage of opportunities to study abroad were "really losing out."
Participants on the History FSP -- which has always been an extremely popular program since its creation in the early 1980s -- speculated that a number of factors, from financial concerns to inflexible deadlines, could be responsible for the decreasing student interest.
History Professor Charles Wood, the on-site program director for the FSP, said many might be dissuaded from applying for off-campus programs because of economic concerns, especially since the living costs in many international countries "were significantly less coming from the U.S. 15 to 20 years ago than they are now."
Joy Lisi '98 said the early application deadlines for LSAs and FSPs -- Feb. 1 of the year before the program actually takes place -- may also turn a lot of people away.
"It's too hard to decide by February what you want to do the following September or even April," she said. "It's too far in advance for some people to plan."
Lundeen agreed that the deadlines were "ridiculously far in advance" and noted that in the months after the deadline passes, a lot can change in the student's life.
"To plan that far in advance is very difficult," she said.
Others said the furious pace of life at the College could prevent people from giving thought to studying abroad.
"People are becoming more and more pre-professional," Swink said. "Maybe studying abroad isn't as important to some people as getting that internship."
Mark Franklin '98 also thought many students seem to be too focused on what they are doing at Dartmouth to worry about studying in a foreign country.
Words of advice
The History FSP participants urged more students at the College to apply for LSAs and FSPs, and they said studying abroad can be a valuable experience.
According to Julie Chilton '96, Dartmouth students often get so involved in what they are doing at the College that they forget their college years can only be made better by going away for 10 weeks and getting a different perspective.
Howe said, "I hope people recognize what an incredible opportunity Dartmouth gives the students. I think more people should take advantage of them."
Lisi called studying in a foreign country "a great learning experience and growing experience."
Wood said Dartmouth has always been known for its high numbers of students who have gone on off-campus programs, and he said he expected this would continue despite the recent trend.
"Instead of an entire student population that spends its whole student life in Hanover, N.H., we have always had people going out and seeing the world, and sharing it with friends," he said. "I think this has made Dartmouth a more cosmopolitan place."
