Tell me more:
IES Barcelona was the time of my life
IES Abroad: Barcelona - IES Abroad Barcelona Center
Program Information
Study abroad in Barcelona—capital of the autonomous province of Catalonia. The IES Abroad Barcelona program provides students with opportunities to learn or perfect Spanish while studying business and liberal arts.
| Provider: | IES Abroad |
| Location(s): | Barcelona, Spain |
| Year Founded: | |
| Website | Take me there! |
Review By:
Will C. (Finance, The University of Texas at Austin) on August 16, 2011
Overall Rating
Personal Information
| * Start Date: | 2011-05-23 |
| * End Date: | 2011-07-09 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I had two great professors in Barcelona. They knew how to get everyone to work yet understood we had a lot to do. It was not easy by any means, however, everything was simply taught proficiently. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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| * Housing: |
We thought the apartment was great. I would, however, never recommend a friend who is going on the same trip to go through IES abroad in selecting housing. Putting a residence assistant in your apartment is ridiculous and they need to make that explicitly clear before people sign up. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Trip to Mallorca, and Costa Brava were so much fun. IES also took us to the Dali Museum which was absolutely amazing. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Barcelona is just a mess when in comes to safety. By the end of the trip out of my 9 friends 7 of them had their phones stolen at some point. We saw countless numbers of people get robbed on the Metro or beach. It really teaches you to look after yourself and be responsible though. We had no health issues. |
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* Home Institution Advising:
How well did The University of Texas at Austin 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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Really wish I got some advice on not spending a lot right when you get there. We figured out how to save a lot of money by the end. Supermarkets are so much cheaper than anything else that they are a must. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
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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
| * If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? | Yes |
| * What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? | It was an amazing time that went by too quickly. I learned a lot of Spanish and about the political science of Spain all the while having the time of my life meeting new people and going new places. |