Rome: The Experience of a Lifetime Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I felt the course descriptions for every course offered were completely different than each course. My entire experience with Arcadia was awful and I would never recommend the program to anyone. Half of the teachers spoke English poorly and the other half were just being ridiculous with the academic demands. I went to Rome to learn more about the culture and experience the Italian way of life and half of my time was spent inside completing useless homework assignments. Another issue was that the Italian program was very poorly taught and so it was hard to communicate with the residents of Rome.

On-site administration of your program

I have an autoimmune disease and they did very little to help me find things to eat. Our housing was very far away from public transportation and also from other American students. I felt from day one we were on our own trying to fend for ourselves.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived far away from everything. The neighborhood was very dirty and I didn't feel safe at night. When I brought up this factor to the program director she said that she was surprised because it was the most sought after apartment- other kids in my program had much nicer living facilities in nicer neighborhoods.

I have an autoimmune disease and it was very hard for me to adjust in the beginning. The first two meals were paid for by the program, but even though they knew months in advance I had a dietary restriction they made me feel like I was a burden to them. I had to do all the research by myself and even though I figured it out and eventually found my own places to eat, the program was never helpful. Also, it is way too expensive to eat out all the time. Other programs in Rome have these meal dollars accepted by restaurants that are part of the fee included for the program. I do not know why Arcadia doesn't have them.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Always walk with someone at night and be careful of Italian drivers!

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

I attempted to practice my Italian with my neighbors, cab drivers, people at stores, and people at restaurants. No one could ever understand my Italian and so we usually ended up speaking in English. At times people didn't know English and there was a complete language barrier problem. The Italian language class did nothing to help me.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans