Denmark Past Review

By (Biology, General., Wellesley College) - abroad from 01/14/2013 to 05/17/2013 with

DIS Copenhagen: Semester

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned that I should be grateful for the opportunities I have had education-wise, because clearly many other American students are not nearly as well-informed as me. I know this sounds elitist of me, but when someone, for example, asks if Margaret Thatcher was an actress (and believe me, comments like that were very common in this program) I feel well justified in saying so. I also learned that it doesn't matter in the end, because those students probably did better than me overall in the classes and were succeeding more at their chosen life trajectories despite their lack of knowledge.

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.

The courses were much lighter than at Wellesley.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Living with a host family was good for cultural integration, but the fact that it was a program entirely for American students made it easy to not integrate if I so chose.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Denmark provides healthcare, though it was not relevant to me. Also, DIS provided decent counseling resources.

* Safety:

Safety was good for the most part, but there was one incident in a bar that made me feel unsafe for the rest of my time in the city.

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

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)

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How much did the program encourage you to use the language?

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

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? None
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? Beginner
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? Intermediate Chinese for Native Speakers
How many hours per day did you use the language? 0

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* 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 trip to Greenland
  • The trip to Iceland
  • The accessibility of many of the professors
* What could be improved?
  • The Creative Travel Writig professor (who, unfortunately, is also the director of teaching and learning) was very unapproachable and difficult to deal with.
  • The lack of integration
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? None