The Best Experience of My Life, to date. Past Review

By (The College of William and Mary) - abroad from 01/01/2012 to 05/19/2012 with

Arcadia: Galway - National University of Ireland, Galway

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
It was the best decision of my life and even though the transition back to America is rough, it is still completely worth it. I learned that I really want to go back to Ireland and live there or elsewhere abroad.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

it was very different from the US - extremely easy for the first weeks but then exam period is quite stressful

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

really accessible and willing to do pretty much anything for us! A few of us got mono and they were checking up on us all the time to see if we needed anything, and also contacted the university for us when we needed to miss class.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Great because we lived with Irish students; not so great because the Irish students were overall messy and did not care about keeping the really nice apartments working.

* Food:

totally depends on your own cooking and how much you budget for food/cooking.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Living with Irish students really integrated us.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

there were a LOT of health issues for some reason, but the health center at NUIG is pretty solid and Arcadia made sure we were taking the right steps.

* Safety:

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

* Was housing included in your program cost? Yes
* Was food included in your program cost? No
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? About 50 Euros (65 dollars?) on food/alcohol per week.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Buy alcohol at the grocery store instead of many drinks at pubs. Don't buy plane tix before finding out the exam schedule - it costs a lot to change tickets.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
  • Apartment
  • Hostel
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
  • Host Family
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
  • International Students
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?
  • the living arrangement
  • the program/university's helpfulness
  • the wide range of classes offered
* What could be improved?
  • the mattresses in the apartments
  • the exam schedule
  • the dollar-Euro exchange rate.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? How much extra money (aside from the program cost/tuition) I would be spending on food/alcohol/traveling/souvenirs etc.