A Snippet of Scandinavia, Hygge in Denmark Past Review

By (Wellesley College) - abroad from 01/15/2018 to 05/11/2018 with

DIS Copenhagen: Semester

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I achieved my goals of being on this program: taking design classes that are not offered at my home institution and living in a Scandinavian country and exploring other European cities. In that aspect, I'd say the four months were successful. However, if I could choose again, I'd choose a full immersion program rather than DIS, where classes were with American students and therefore I often felt like I wasn't getting enough cultural exchange and immersion.

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.

It was a different experience from the education I get from Wellesley because the teachers were not from academia (focusing on research) but practicing professionals. There were pros and cons to that aspect, pros being I was exposed to the professional world of arts and design that I hadn't seen before, and it was eye-opening to see how everyday life as a professional designer works. There was a lot more hands-on work (such as production) for many of my classes, although there were still readings assigned, but not as much as at Wellesley. The good side of doing more production work was that I got to practice using design software and hone my skills, which are required for jobs/positions I am interested in pursuing in the future. Developing technical skill and portfolio is something that is not offered often at Wellesley, so I'm glad I could take advantage of the pre-professional opportunity abroad. My classes took a lot of field studies and visited studios, firms, showrooms, etc (which was quite different from the 100% classroom experience at Wellesley), and I learned so much from looking and hearing from real-world professionals. It was a way for me to really envision a possible future career. The cons would be that professors were not up to my standards academically (ex. giving feedback on essays, presentations, grades, organization/structure of the course, etc). I had to write many emails asking for feedback on my essay and why I deserved the grade I got, and I ended up not hearing back from him. This particular teacher was a first-time instructor and was unorganized and didn't have a clear guideline for grading, and many of my classmates and I agreed that he was being unreasonably tough on grading. Another con was that because students were from various schools across the States and had different academic expectations, I felt like many students were not on par with my/Wellesley's standard for academic rigor.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

DIS was generally good with communication and taking care of the students mostly because the institution is solely dedicated to study abroad students. In that sense, they did a good job of introducing the Danish culture to the American students.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing was wonderful for me because I got to live in a brand new student housing with American and Danish students. I loved that I got to live in a Kollegium, which was my first choice, and had a chance to live with Danes because otherwise my entire experience would've been with just American students. Because I studied with only American students, it was a real cultural exchange to live with Danish students of my age. I would personally want to keep this flat/apartment model at Wellesley where each apartment gets own kitchen, bathrooms, and single and double rooms rather than living in dorm rooms at Wellesley. It was a nice opportunity to build a community with my flatmates.

* Food:

I loved that I got to cook and was given a stipend to shop grocery. It felt like a real adult, growing experience cooking and managing food on my own. I definitely saved a lot more money by cooking rather than paying for insanely expensive meal plan at Wellesley. It was also nice to have the freedom to eat whatever I want, which tends to be a lot healthier than the cafeteria food at Wellesley.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Health care was affordable because Denmark provides free health care to everybody. I just had to pay for medication (which wasn't so cheap), but I'm glad that I didn't have to pay for 2 doctor visits and an ER. But from my experience, I think the free health care system takes away the incentive for doctors to be nice to patients.

* Safety:

The city itself is very safe and clean. However, I got my brand new laptop stolen at a cafe, which was very shocking and unexpected in a city that is so safe and big on social trust.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? No

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)

Because everything is incredibly expensive in Denmark, I tried my best to not spend so much money (mostly on food), so I most often cooked at home with the stipend given by the program. This way, I was able to limit myself to spending as little as possible and going out to eat around 2-3 times a month. Also, the transportation pass was given by the program, so I didn't have to spend so much money on a daily basis. However, when I did have to spend money, it'd be quite significant compared to what I'd spend in the US for the same activity. In retrospect, I spent most of my money on travel costs (to other countries), but regarding spending in Copenhagen only, I'd say it was less than $100-150 per month mostly because I personally limited spending in many aspects.

Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? It's my personal preference/thought, but I think it's worth spending money on and investing in experience rather than buying physical items. But also if you can afford to, don't limit yourself in trying different things because of financial reasons.

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

  • Local Students
  • 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?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • decent communication with students
  • provided stipend for food (grocery) and transportation pass
* What could be improved?
  • more immersion in the local culture
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? I would've liked to know more about the academics (how the reality is with studying with American students from all of over the country) and the affordability of living in a city like Copenhagen. I think study abroad is often fantasized and many people, including myself, don't consider the logistics and reality of living in a foreign city and country, which is very different from traveling. I personally went through one of the most difficult times of my life (health-wise and issues with my luggage and airline and therefore was financially burdensome) while I was abroad, and that added a lot of stress to my overall experience abroad.

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.
The Academic or Linguist
You went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you!