Magic of Paris Past Review
By Sarah S (International Relations, French, Tufts University) for
France Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
YES!!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Obviously a big part of study abroad is learning about culture and in that way the program was fabulous. Through the program, we enrolled in classes in Paris universities (I was at Paris IV), and I was surprised by how much less work I had. Furthermore, I had been warned that the grading was really difficult, but I did not find that to be the case. I think the whole attitude towards school is different in France. Yes, it is true that an average of 10/20 is not uncommon on an assignment, but the difference (I found) was that most of the French students were convinced that getting a 20 was impossible and therefore did not try, but rather tried to get a 10. I tried to do well and despite putting in less effort than I may at Tufts, I still scored above 15 on almost every assignment. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were great! The only difficulties that I am aware of came from the universities and not our program, and the directors were well equipped to handle anything that came up. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My housing was awesome, but for the fact that another American from a different (less language intensive) program was also in my house, and she frequently spoke english with me and around me. The program did not know about this, and has said that they have spoken with my family and there will not be overlap like this again. |
| * Food: |
SO GOOD! My host mom's meals were amazing, but I also really liked a restaurant in the 17th called "Le Relais de Venise: Son Entrecote" |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Too many to count! So much to do and see in Paris. Even though the program does not organize many group trips, I still got to see SO MUCH! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Paris is really very safe as long as you are self aware. Pickpockets are the only problem that I heard of, and even that was rare and occurred only when people were not fully paying attention. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
We were supposed to speak french in the program buildings, and all of my classes were in French at the french universities. We also lived in home stays, but I found that with the other American students, most people spoke english, which really disappointed me. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | There are so many opportunities in Paris that it can seem overwhelming, but try to do something each day. I made a list of 100 things I wanted to do, and I was able to do most all of them (one museum was closed for reconstruction). That may be ambitious, but just getting to know the city is the best thing you can do. It is so beautiful, day and night, rain or shine, and there is literally always something going on so take advantage of it!! |
