Past Review
By Caitlin S (Classics, Anthropology, Austin College) for
CYA (College Year in Athens) - Semester/Academic Year Program
My study abroad experience was fantastic. I absolutely loved it and I am so glad I decided to go to Greece. I'm a classics major so it was really rewarding to go to Athens, where so many things happened in the classical world. Every day I saw the Acropolis from my school and that made it even more breath taking. This is my 3rd trip to Europe and I loved it before, but now I love being in Europe even more. I want to pursue archaeology and I plan on going back and possibly even living over there. Recently I have decided to go to England or Scotland for graduate school.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The course workload was not as hard as my college, but I believe it was good thing. If I would have had the same workload then I would not have been able to have an international experience as much. All my professors were fantastic, and were very involved with the students at College Year in Athens. They were also very interested in their fields and wanted to help us in anyway possible. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Most of the administration at College Year in Athens was great, but there were some things that were frustrating. They understood about American higher education and have hired great professors to teach us. The program size was about 120, which I believe was just the right size, although it wouldn't of hurt for it to be a little smaller. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had 4 other roommates and we shared an apartment that was located in a higher class area in Athens. Our apartment was great and the neighborhood was fantastic. Our apartment was only 15 min walk away from school, so I walked to school everyday. The apartment was already stocked with cookware, furniture, and appliances. We even had maids that came every week. I was really happy with my living arrangements in Greece. |
| * Food: |
College Year in Athens provided lunch for us everyday and the food was good. And they also had a vegetarian option available. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My favorite thing about College Year in Athens was the two field trips they took us on to the Pelopponnese and Northern Greece. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Athens is great. I felt pretty safe there and walking alone at night was fine. Some people did have their apartments broken into, but this is something you can expect from any big city. If anyone was sick our program would gladly help them out. The demonstrations in Greece are not a big issue either. Most of the demonstrations are located in the Parliament area, and if you don't go near that area, you're fine. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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 do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Go to College Year in Athens, and when you get there get out of your apartment and explore the city. Athens is beautiful and the Greeks are wonderful people, they'll help you out whenever you need it. Any student would benefit in this program but students with interests in classics, history, or anthropology would benefit the most. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Ancient Greek: Homer |
| Course Department: | Classics |
| Instructor: | John Raish |
| Instruction Language: | english |
| Comments: | We translated Homer everyday in class, therefore it was the most challenging class I had this semester. It definitely made use of our location, because we were translating Ancient Greek, in Athens. It was great. John Raish is extremely knowledgeable and he answered any of my questions. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
History of Ancient Macedonia |
| Course Department: | History |
| Instructor: | John Karavas |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The workload wasn't as challenging as the others, but every class was challenging. Professor Karavas proposed us with challenging questions and was a great teacher. He's extremely knowledgeable in Ancient Macedonia and really enjoys teaching it |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
From Contact to Conquest: Roman Greece |
| Course Department: | History |
| Instructor: | John Karavas |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Again, the workload wasn't as challenging as the others but every class was challenging. Karavas liked to make us think, so he would ask challenging questions. He would also take us around Athens to teach class. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Archaeology of Athens |
| Course Department: | Anthropology |
| Instructor: | Caitlin Downey-Verfenstein |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | For this class we were in Athens at the different archaeological sites every day. I really enjoyed this class, because not only was every day a field trip but Caitlin was very knowledgeable about everything that we learned |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
