CMRS: Oxford is a wonderful place, but CMRS is not the best program. Past Review
By Brian F (ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE/LETTERS., Middlebury College) for
Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies - Oxford
Yes. Great experience to be abroad, see England.
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Good professors. Workload: very heavy, but not very valuable. Grading was very fair. CMRS seems very focused on intimidating its students with workload. The work was less difficult and less substantive than Middlebury's. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Poor administrative organization, especially at the beginning. The program was in transition with new leadership and a new home college (Keble). Frequent delays in sharing information with students. Understaffed for dealing with 30 students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Far from Keble, but in the heart of Oxford, which was great. Everyone had a double. Clean, new rooms and furnishings. Sharing a single kitchen with 30 other students was difficult. |
| * Food: |
Preferred town to dining hall. Plentiful options. Expensive to buy food though, given conversion rates. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Field trips to cathedrals were interesting, but a few too many. More flexibility for travel would vastly improve this program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Safe place, be smart. Small city. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
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Language
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Look elsewhere first if you want to go to Oxford. Go to a program where you are living at one of the colleges, not downtown with Americans. |
