US Studies Students in San Francisco Bay The Study Abroad Period

Overview

The BA American Studies related degree courses can be taken as  4-year or 3-year variants. 

On the 4-year courses, students spend the whole of the third year at an American university. 

On the 3-year course, students spend the Autumn Term of year 3 in the United States and return to Essex for the Spring and Summer terms of their final year. 

In order to be eligible for participation in the Study Abroad programme, students must have a minimum average first-year mark of 53%.

Students found guilty of serious Academic Offences may not be eligible to apply for some host universities - contact an Essex Abroad Advisor for details. 

Exchange partners

We have exchanges academic institutions across the United States - from California to New York State, taking in the Rockies, the South,  Florida, and the Hawai'ian Islands.  The list is on the Essex Abroad website.

Choosing your University

Planning for Study Abroad begins at the end of the first year and continues through the second year with the help and support of the American Studies Director and the staff of Essex Abroad. Essex Abroad will hold information sessions for first-year students during the Autumn term of year 1.

Essex Abroad will offer surgery / drop-in sessions to discuss suitability of universities and advice on appropriate courses with the American Studies Director prior to the application submission deadline.

Final Year students who have just come back from their Study Abroad are available to give first-hand accounts of the ups and downs of their experiences, and try to give an impression, albeit entirely personal, of each location. 

It may be possible to meet with American exchange students who are spending their Study Abroad at Essex and get their personal accounts of their home campuses and highlight the main differences they have observed between the US and British higher education systems. 

Students will liaise with their departmental advisor to select 3 universities to which they wish to make an application for a Study Abroad placement by the middle of February of their second year. Students will be required to submit a complete checklist of supporting documents. Once these have been received Essex Abroad will assess the applications, on the basis of which placements will be allocated.

The notification of placements will be made before the end of the spring term in the second year.  Essex Abroad will provide students with information on how  to make their applications to the U.S. university to which they have been allocated.  Throughout this application procedure and right through to pre-departure, students will receive help, advice and support from the staff of Essex Abroad.   By the beginning of the Summer Term students should all have their letters of acceptance from their U.S. universities which will enable them to make travel arrangements and visa applications. 

The compulsory Study Abroad period is an invaluable experience for widening and deepening knowledge of the United States both academically and socially. 

Have a look at the American (US) Studies at the University of Essex Facebook pages for photos taken by students on their year abroad. 

Study Abroad Student Profile

Helen Dyson, fourth-year BA Criminology and American Studies student  

On her year abroad, Helen went to the US to study at Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is now back at the University of Essex where she will complete the four years of her degree.  

I have recently returned from my year abroad in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was truly the most incredible experience of my life, and one which I will never forget. I loved the change of environment and I feel that to truly experience your own culture you must first experience others to enlighten yourself, and my year abroad certainly allowed me to do this.  

I applied for study abroad with the intention of going alone, however it turned out that one of my housemates got accepted to the same university in New Mexico and therefore we went together; this certainly made the process much less daunting. I was in the US for the whole year which I feel was vital to my experience. The first term was really new and exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed it, however it was not until the second term that I felt I truly felt at home. I still regard it as my second home today and feel that I probably always will.  

I spent as much time as I could on weekends and holidays travelling; I was lucky to meet four other English girls out there who had the same attitude as myself and we made the most of the opportunity we had been given. We travelled to places such as New York, Cancun, Chicago, Seattle, the Grand Canyon, Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I feel truly fortunate to have seen so much of a beautiful and diverse country during my year abroad.  

My experience abroad taught me so many things and I learnt lessons about myself and my own opinions, some of which have changed due to the experience. My eyes were well and truly opened to new cultures and different ways of life. I have come to love America not as a country on the other side of the ocean but as a collection of memories and experiences. And as an added bonus I was able to learn to ski in Colorado!