Hungary: You Only Live Once! Past Review

By (Mathematics and Biology, Wartburg College) for

BSM: Budapest - Budapest Semesters in Mathematics

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was awesome and I would love to go back. I learned a lot about math, life, friends, and branching out on my own.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It was hard, but well worth it. I was able to take a lot of classes there that aren't offered at my home institution. I learned a lot.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

The program is well organized but sometimes hard to understand because they use a different style than us. It was good though, becuase they had many resources for us and had it fairly well organized the entire semester (including before we got there).

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived with a host family in the suburbs of Budapest. It was a long commute to school, but otherwise I loved living there. My host family spoke English, but also taught me Hungarian. It worked out well.

* Food:

I gradually came to love the food. Some of the spices were different than what I was used to, but overall I liked it a lot.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It offered different options for the students, but not all were timed well so I participated in what I could, but then had to miss some of them.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

I felt safe and if I had a problem I could go to the office of our programs and they would take care of anything I needed.

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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? The cost of living is about the same as over here, so I spent around 25.00 per week on food and personal expenses.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? It was all laid out for us very nice. They told us before hand how much we should expect to spend (depending on the 'type' of spender you are makes a difference of course) but I managed just fine.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? None
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? I had none.
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Language acquisition improvement?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? The program is good. The country is neat. I absolutely loved it, so I encourage you to branch out and go, even if you don't know anything about the country, the language, or what you're getting yourself into. :)