Cambridge University (founded in 1209), the fruit accent on the pain aux raisins of our NAFA-UK journey. The swirl of our travels revealed some creamy, some buttery, and some crunchy institutions -all were delicious to devour -but really (literally?), the Showstopper Challenge was Cambridge. While our first day was spent enjoying its ambiance (boats, bitters, and boys with voices that lifted the rafters of King’s College Chapel), the second day’s takeaway was funding opportunities for postgraduates. Between the two-days of meticulously orchestrated events, from The Fitzwiliam Museum to the Corpus Clock, with invited access to five colleges, Nathan, Emily, and Luke [...]

On Sunday, the International Admissions team at the University of Cambridge, led by the intrepid Nathan Lamb, treated NAFA to a much needed day of leisure and culture. Arriving at the river Cam, which winds itself through college and university buildings, medieval and modern alike, we boarded our punts. NAFAns punting on the Cam River Our cruise along “the Backs,” or the structures that back up to the river, stretched from the Magdalene Bridge to the Silver Street Bridge. Our punter and campus tour guide, Will entertained us with stories about the origins of the colleges and their history: [...]

Ellison Institute of Technology and Oxford University Day 15 started off with a bittersweet goodbye as Jess and Lisa saw us off from Nottingham on our way to Oxford! A huge thank you to the UK-US Fulbright Commission for their amazing work. Lunch at the Ellison Institute of Technology — themed for the fourth of July! Notwithstanding a few traffic delays, we finally made it to Oxford where we were warmly greeted by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) at their brand new facilities! Dr. Laura Lewis, Education and Scholarships Director, treated us to a special 4th of July [...]

University of Nottingham We arrived in Nottingham England UK late in the afternoon on July 2 with a lovely visit to the University of Nottingham campus on Friday, July 3. The University of Nottingham is located in the midlands of England with a student population of 37,500 students. The three UK campuses are University Park (main campus located upon on a hill with 300 acres of trees, vegetation, and flowers), Jubilee (education, computer science, business), and Sutton Bonington (biosciences, veterinary medicine, dairy farm). They have international campuses in China and Malaysia. There are over 150 countries represented on campus with a [...]

The University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield Sparkle! We surprisingly arrived early for our day at the University of Sheffield (this was impressive for our large group!). I’ve framed the day with questions below to guide your reading. To give you a sneak peek, you should know that many NAFAns’ university tour on day 13 was especially engaging and student-centered. How would you describe the Sheffield sparkle? The University of Sheffield featured many appealing aspects for our students. Considering my love of nature, it’s worth mentioning it is the greenest city in the UK for the 6th year [...]

After a sound night's sleep (back in air-conditioned rooms!) and a hearty hotel breakfast, we walked to the University of Manchester and were greeted by members of the International Student Recruitment team. We enthusiastically received the latest addition to our growing tote bag collection, containing an assortment of bee-themed items. The bee is a symbol associated with both the university and the city of Manchester, representing the "worker bee" and reflecting the city's famed industrial history as well as its enduring activity and unity. In addition to being the birthplace of the industrial revolution, we learned that Manchester holds a central [...]

Royal Veterinary College, University of London NAFA Study Tour group photo at the Royal Veterinary College in London Day 11 on the NAFA UK Study Tour started with our group saying goodbye to the University College of London dorms, as our weekend in London quickly wrapped up. This morning, our visit is to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), one of 17 institutions that are a part of the University of London federation. RVC was established in 1791, coming out of the UK racehorse industry’s need for veterinary medicine and research. Researchers in animal physiology were brought over from France, [...]

Two universities and a very full day. Yesterday was a day off and it was finally quite a bit cooler, which meant everyone rolled into the morning buzzy and ready to go which is good because as a double day we needed all the energy we could muster! The combo of UCL and Imperial was dynamic, exciting, and meant that we got to see two world class institutions with wildly different foci. Both left us equally fired up about what is out there for our students. Here is what stuck with me (beyond the desire to read a million more articles [...]

View from the LNER train of Jess organizing us to get off and help each other with bags After an amazing time in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the Northeast of England, we all boarded the train in Newcastle on Saturday morning – headed to London! With so many people to board, and so many large bags, we split up and worked together to make sure all the bags were stored properly. Again, so many thanks to Jess McIvor for coordinating all of us! Delicious Indian food at Dishoom in London A three-hour journey later, and we arrived [...]

Friday, June 26: This was a long day for our intrepid NAFANs as we visited both Durham and Northumbria Universities. Despite their close geographic proximity, the cities and universities are quite different in setting and character—and both full of excellent opportunities for postgraduate study. Durham Cathedral, UNESCO World Heritage site Durham is the fourth oldest uni in the UK (est.1832) and has about 22,000 students (4500 postgraduate). A research-intensive university, it ranks in the top 100 universities globally. It’s located in the northeast of England, in the small historic city of Durham (pop. 42,000). At the city center are [...]