Barcelona: The Time of Your Life Past Review

By (Aerospace Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) for

CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Barcelona, Spain

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned a lot about the Spanish culture and feel it has had an impact on my life. I will take what I have learned back with me.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: CEA Global Campus, University of Barcelona
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.

I would say overall it was a very educational expierence with a balanced work load. I think the grading system was fair and the teaching methods were very similar with the use of a lot of powerpoint. I took my Spanish class at the University of Barcelona, which was an amazing expierence and was nice to get out of the American dominated classes.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

The front desk people were very helpful with finding things to do in the city.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

Bo de B. Off yellow line at Jaume I next to the enourmous post office.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Barcelona is a great expierence for everyone, you will love the time you spend here.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

Hold your wallet in your front pocket, stay aware of your surroundings.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? No

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)

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Language acquisition improvement?

In the global campus most classes were in english and almost the entire program was from america. My class at UB was only in Spanish and was with people from all over the world.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • Excursions
* What could be improved?
  • Availabilty of classes
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Take Spanish at University of Barcelona if you want any diversity while abroad.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Architecture and Painting

Course Department:
Instructor: Jordi
Instruction Language: English
Comments: The title to the course is a little misleading because its a couple weeks on Gaudi and then the rest on art. It was cool learning about the artist and then going to see the museum. However I felt like i was given a lot of busy work in this class. We had to do summaries of our readings on a biweekly basis, which were very time intensive. Also had field studies and online discussions. My roommate was in the exact same class with a different teacher and it required a lot less busy work, however i feel like we both have about the same knowledge on the subjects. I feel like a lot of the work was unneccessary and took away from my time to study Spanish.
Credit Transfer Issues: