Left my heart in Denmark Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Studying at DIS was a welcome break from the academic intensity of my home university. The DIS curriculum is much more directed towards experiential learning (i.e. visiting companies, field studies, guest lecturers) than intensive tests, laboratories, or outside assignments. For me, this was some welcome breathing time and allowed me to focus on the "real world" applications rather than detailed studying. I had the chance to visit some biopharmaceutical companies I would have never had access to through a class in the US, and this proved very helpful in directing my future career decisions. As far as study abroad programs go, I think DIS is on the more rigorous side. But they (wonderfully) recognize that you're not in Denmark to study five hours a day and you have plenty of time to explore the city and travel even with a full class schedule.

On-site administration of your program

The DIS adminstration does a good job of taking care of the hard stuff for you- they submit your "visa" applications and make that process very straightforward, and do a great job of pre-arranging a variety of housing options in a city where good student housing is often a difficult thing to find.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I absolutely, 100% recommend living with a host family while you are in Denmark. One of the downsides of DIS is that because it is an American program, all your classmates are also Americans and it can be hard to become an "insider" in Danish life and meet Danes. I was incredibly lucky with my host family, who were nice and welcoming beyond all belief, and even dropped my phone off in the airport when I left it in their car departing for a week in Italy. Danish family life is a really wonderful thing to get to experience, very "hygge" and I wholeheartedly recommend the homestay experience.

Another benefit of living with a host family is the home-cooked meals. Obviously you may have to participate but it was always so nice to come home to a delicious meal and a family dinner. Danish food is the good stuff- meat, sauce and potatoes, so vegetarians and vegans may have difficulty if their host family isn't familiar with that diet. However, if you're cooking for yourself produce is relatively easy to find and you shouldn't have a problem.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Living in a homestay made me feel integrated with the local culture in a way that no other DIS living arrangement could have provided. I got to meet the extended family, the neighbors, attend long dinners where only Danish was spoken, watch Danish TV every night etc. Obviously I was not entirely integrated to the local culture as Danish proficiency in one semester is nearly impossible to achieve, let alone knowledge of everything there is to know about "Danishness". But I felt I had a surprising amount of local culture for being an American student in an American program.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Denmark, being the fabulous country that it is, even allows DIS students to get a CPR (like a Social Security) number and register in it's universal healthcare system for the majority of your stay there. I personally did not have to use this, and there are some caveats, but just the fact that this is an option is pretty incredible.

Copenhagen is overall a pretty safe city. That being said, it is a city and students who haven't experienced a city before should be a little more on their guard. But overall, I had no problem walking down the streets of Copenhagen alone either in the day or at night. At the end of the semester, there was a terrible boating accident where jetskis rammed into students small boat on the harbor and two students died. The entire DIS and Copenhagen community was shocked by what was essentially a tragic accident and ralled together in the student's memory. Unfortunately, there are risks no matter where you are in the world and I certainly would not let fear for safety be a factor that deters you from experiencing Copenhagen.

Being in Denmark gave me an honest break for the first time in my college experience- it gave me the chance to spend some time in a country without intense career expectations and enjoy each moment of my experience. My host family showed me what a family really can be and I am so grateful to them for taking me in to their lives. Sometimes I entertain the thought of moving back to Denmark to work there because I just appreciate the atmosphere there so much.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Living with a host family definitely helped here. If you're in a collegium or learning community with a food card, almost everyone runs out by the end of the semester and is buying their own food. Copenhagen is in general an expensive city, and I avoided buying any luxury items or going to eat at fancy restaurants. Your budget also depends entirely on how much outside traveling your doing. If you're in a different city every weekend, those plane tickets are really going to start to add up. I personally feel like I was a little too conservative with my money and should have traveled more, so you have to find your own balance.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Yes, we took Danish class, but Danish is HARD. While I could understand the topic of conversations by the end of the semester, the average Danish reaction to an American speaking Danish is (in English) "wait, what? Sorry?". There's not a lot of room to practice because everyone is so fluent in English that they just revert to it automatically.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• My host family
• Freedom to travel
• Study tours

• Local integration
• Instrumental Music at RDAM
• Social life with Danes