CIMBA: Overwhelming, But Best Time of My Life Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The academics were far more difficult than I imagined. I personally had too much homework for the amount of time available to me. I had wonderful professors, but felt as if too much was expected of me when taking travel, class, homework, and sleep into consideration. Six semester hours in 17 days was too much.

On-site administration of your program

All staff of CIMBA were very helpful and knowledgeable about the program and travel in Europe. If they did not know an answer to a question, they promptly figured it out for us. The campus was very nice, but very much isolated. It would have been nice to be in a bigger town with a little more to do and see in free time, but Paderno del Grappa was charming and nice nonetheless. My expectations were very much met. But like I said earlier, I felt overwhelmed often and completely swamped with school work. I think the program should be 1 course in 4 weeks, or 2 courses in 6 weeks.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Friendly staff with a fairly limited selection. We had pasta with red sauce almost everyday and got pretty boring, but it was good quality.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The program offered field trips to local towns around our campus, and I took every opportunity to see one of these places. They were neat trips because I will never visit those places on future trips to Italy. It was nice to see things "off the beaten path" and experience some Italian culture that has largely been untainted by outside cultures.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

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

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• Dorm

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• Americans
• Local Students