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If you’re considering studying abroad in the next year or so, you probably have many questions around what it is like on campus at the moment. How do you apply? What are lectures like? How do you make friends?

Well, we bought together a few international students, some of whom are studying from home and some who are staying on campus in the UK, US and Canada, to answer some of these questions. They cover many topics, including making friends, the application process, how to choose the right university for you and how to handle homesickness. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has redefined the typical college experience for international students. As a first-year international student at the University of California, San Diego, I have not yet had the chance to visit the campus, nor meet any of my classmates in person. Instead, I learned from home in Canada.

I’ve studied at various international schools in the Middle East for the past 15 years, from primary education all the way to A level. I later embarked on the exciting journey to study at the University of Reading in the UK. It’s been a rewarding experience.

For the million foreign students who study here in America, it has been a long, testing four years.

From threatening to deport those whose classes were moved online, to banning students from (mostly) poor countries from obtaining the necessary four-year student visa, to cracking down on Chinese students and researchers, the recently ejected president Donald Trump spent much of his time trying to push international students out of his country.

Life under the Covid-19 pandemic is hard for everyone, but it is particularly so for many international students who are studying far away from home. As international students studying and working at universities in London, we have found it challenging to be away from home at the moment. 

ApplyBoard ia a THE Student trusted partner. ApplyBoard provides prospective international students with the information and advice they need to study aborad in Canada. For more information on ApplyBoard and how they can help you, you can visit their hub here. 

I am Jian Feng, the first ever international student executive officer at the University of Leeds’ students’ union. I want to share with you my journey during the coronavirus pandemic. 

As with everything in 2020, the world of higher education has been forced to adapt to the impact of Covid-19. 

Students the world over have had their studies and university applications interrupted and transformed, as classes and admissions interviews went online for the first time. 

I studied at Loughborough University in London from September 2015 to December 2016.

When I first arrived I could smell new carpets and see glossy reflections on the recently polished glass walls. An ambitious road map of the city’s emerging hub could be seen in the ongoing construction work in Here East, east London, where the campus was located. We were its very first students in the very first year and everything was so shiny and new. 

I chose to study in the UK as an international student because of the global reputation of its universities, the prospect of an excellent education and the chance to widen my experiences and meet people from all over the world.

More precisely, I chose the University of Liverpool for my undergraduate degree because of its research excellence and ranking, availability of international tuition fee scholarships and its location in a cost-effective city.