Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Broaden your skill base January 10, 2022

By (Wellesley College) - abroad from 09/30/2021 to 12/17/2021 with

CYA (College Year in Athens) - Semester/Academic Year Program

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
How to deal with roommates and city life

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Pretty good academic pressure, could be a bit more consistently rigorous. Some parts of the semester were very mellow and others needed very structured time management to not feel overwhelming.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

Very welcoming and helpful. Would go out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I liked the neighborhood; very quiet. The sleeping schedules of everyone in the apartment were very different so that was slightly frustrating to navigate.

* Food:

very interesting cuisine. Very meet and cheese and bread heavy. The CYA meals were a bit bland

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Because of Covid restrictions not much local interaction/integration

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Had a health issue and was able to treat it through Greece's medical system fairly easily. The insurance navigation was the only tricky part.

* Safety:

Very safe did not experience any problems, especially at night.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

It was very helpful in navigating apartment life with roommates and city life in general.

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)

If budgeted right would work out okay. The only issue was budgeting meals for fall break, and for the field trips that CYA did. Overall everything was fairly cheap, especially if split amongst roommates.

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? $100-$150 because some was lost on conversion
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? give all money stipend at the beginning so students can do the initial withdrawal in cash and not have to do that throughout the semester.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? 0

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • the staff
  • the field trips
  • the out-of-classroom classes
* What could be improved?
  • work distribution
  • meals given by CYA (esp. for those with food restrictions)
  • class times (some ended a bit too late)
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? how to budget and how to not be afraid of confrontation (really make a roommate agreement and stick by it)

Reasons For Studying Abroad

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The Avid Adventurer
The wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal.