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Australia: The different school life
Australearn: Brisbane - Griffith University
Program Information
Griffith is a young and dynamic university with a focus on issues of global importance and has established a reputation as one of the nation's leading universities. With campuses positioned in Queensland's fastest growing area, the Brisbane-Gold Coast corridor, the University caters for more than 40,000 studen... More
| Provider: | GlobaLinks Learning Abroad |
| Hosted at: | Griffith University |
| Location(s): | Brisbane, Australia |
| Year Founded: | 1989 |
| Website | Take me there! |
Review By:
Nicholas P. (Finance, St. Cloud State University) on December 20, 2011
Overall Rating
Personal Information
| * Start Date: | 2011-02-07 |
| * End Date: | 2011-06-28 |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The educational experience was unique to me, because the classes had one lecture for about 2-3 hours along with a hour of tutorial with a teachers assistant. Lots of students wouldn't go to tutorials, it was scheduled for 20 and usually only 1-5 people showed up sometimes I was the only one. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They had support services and accessibility but they really didn't have a major presence. The people I would go to for questions like the ones listed above would have been the locals that I was living around. |
| * Housing: |
I couldn't have choosen a better place to live during my time aboard. By living in the dorms I was able to live really close to the locals and really get to know them and see the differences between the US culture and that of Australia. |
| * Food: |
I thought the food was alright, all the food was fairly healthy and it gave me an idea of what Australian would eat during a daily week and see how it was different than what I am use to. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
scuba diving the great barrier reef and just seeing the great barrier reef |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The country and the area I was at were extremely safe and I never worried about my safety well I was there. |
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* Home Institution Advising:
How well did St. Cloud State University prepare and support you for your time abroad? |
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 50, I had a food taken care at the beginning of the semester so it was already paided for by the time I got there. The 50 is for snacks and going out on the town. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Spread the money out over the entire trip and look for deals when looking to travel |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I took a third year course which was were I was at with my home university |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? | Yes |
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Be willing to go out of your comfort zones and be willing to meet new people |
| * What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? | yes, it was a really enjoyable experience where I got to know a lot of unique and different people. |