Every day was great until I had to go back to my dorm January 28, 2024
By Rostyk Y (Psychology, Middlebury College) - abroad from 09/11/2023 to 02/09/2024 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Berlin
It was worthwhile, but I do wish everything was on the same level as the quality of the program itself. The number one thing I learned is that I will never live in a dorm ever again
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The program itself was great. The university and the coursework were not challenging at all. I was bored most of the time |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Amazing, responsive, and understanding |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The room was ok, but everything else about the dorm was terrible: state of the kitchen, hallways, laundry, overall noise, and safety |
| * Food: |
I cooked for myself, so it's 5/5. The meals we had with the school in restaurants were also great |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I'm European, so I'd say pretty well. I get the culture a lot better |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had a few problems, but all were solved quickly and effectively |
| * Safety: |
Not the program's fault, but the dorm was not that safe |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Yes, because of the friends and memories I have made -- and because everyone involved in the program was great. The university and dorm were pretty terrible, so overall I would not go back for a second semester |
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 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
I had to budget a lot, since the money dedicated for food was very very scarce. For instance, at Midd I receive around 5.5k$ per semester for food, which is about 15$ per meal. Here, I received about 1.5k$ for food for a semester(which is also a month and a half longer). Most of the time, I only ate twice per day and/or had very little for breakfast. Considering the kitchen situation and how dirty it was, this was an extremely unpleasant 5 months. I would never recommend this to anyone else |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I often had to use personal funds to keep up a good nutritious diet |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Go to Turkish bazaars, they are really cheap. But my overall tip is to not be as poor as me, I guess |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
We had the language pledge |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had completed an Academic Writing Course |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Use it even if the other person talks back in English |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
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? | I would need to save up a lot more money to eat properly |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Personality Psychology |
| Course Department: | Psychology |
| Instructor: | P. Müssel |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | Overall, it was a great course in a lecture format. The professor is very lenient and was very helpful. Hard to complain |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Work, Org, Economic Psychology |
| Course Department: | Psychology |
| Instructor: | Jona Wölk |
| Instruction Language: | German |
| Comments: | A class about diversity in the workplace -- not really anything interesting or something that we don't learn at Middlebury. The professor is great though -- it's just not targeted for a Middlebury audience(we already learn about all of this) |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
