A pleasant break from NYC Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Good selection of courses and overall the workload was very consistent, so besides the normal finals crunch I never felt overwhelmed by work. It's suggested that we only take 5 courses, but I opted for 6 and didn't feel like it was too much. In the Columbia-Penn room there were only 4 computers and frequent printer difficulty but it was never a catastrophic problem. Just a general problem in France that the libraries are not as accessible as the ones on campus in the US, but there's nothing that a study-abroad program could do about that. There is a very nice reading room in Reid Hall that is available.

On-site administration of your program

One of the nicest administrative teams I've ever worked with, I definitely felt cared for and like I had the support to deal with any potential problem. They were always willing to drop whatever they were working on to help resolve an issue.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Had to commute 30 minutes to get to Reid Hall every day, but the trek was totally worth it. My contract was to eat dinner with my host family 4 times a week but that was easily the minimum since the family asked me to think of myself as another member of the family by helping myself to whatever is in the kitchen and joining for any meals that I'm available for. The host father was an amazing chef and very interested in helping me learn about wine, cheese, and french cuisine in general. The house was very comfortable and felt like a home away from home.

It's France. The Columbia-Penn program provided cooking lessons in the intimate setting of a Parisian woman's home, a couple of cocktail events, a buche de noel tasting, and amazing wine-tasting experience which was one of my favorite experiences from this semester. There was also a pastry-making workshop and pastry tasting that I wasn't able to make it to.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The joint seminar experience was very helpful, and I attended a french-speaking church, but beyond that didn't make a huge effort to make connections. The host family was the best aspect because it was a daily opportunity to speak french, ask cultural questions, and be integrated into the daily rhythm of another culture.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had a cold that I didn't take care of and developed into a few other symptoms. The Reid Hall administration was super-helpful and connected me to a doctor, it's just the french health system that I found a little strange.

Never had a problem, although I don't stay out later than was suggested by the reid hall staff. However I miss the feeling of being on a campus on which I know there are security guards, but that's not really possible in France where living on campus is rare.

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

$313 per week to stay with my host family and have most of my meals with them (though by contract technically only 4) Metro pass costs about $80 per week, and other food expenses were like $25 per week. I did minimal traveling this semester and still spent much more than I had expected to.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

They encouraged us very often, had signs everywhere, and the administrators always spoke french with us, but the student dynamic was not good and english was almost always spoken in student spaces. There was no language contract, so I don't know what else the program could possibly do to encourage french-speaking.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans

• Host Family
• Program events
• The food

• Reid Hall needs more computer resources
• The french banking system is archaic and complicated
• Paris is expensive.

The Academic or Linguist