Life Changing Experience! Past Review
By casey.locey (PSYCHOLOGY., The University of Texas at Austin) - abroad from 05/24/2012 to 07/06/2012 with
DIS Summer in Scandinavia
I learned a lot more about Denmark, and about human trafficking and positive psychology (the two courses I took). Definitely worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes were not very rigorous, and it was easy to enjoy being in a new country and still do well in the classes. Resources for navigating about Copenhagen/figuring out the DIS program could have been a little better (I arrived a day late due to flight cancelation and felt totally lost the first couple days... the worst part was figuring out how to get to my housing. I also called the after-hours emergency number once in the very early hours of the morning- about 4 or 5 a.m.- and no one answered. However, someone did call back about an hour later.), but resources for the courses were well defined and easily accessible. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Food is very expensive in Copenhagen, and the less expensive options were sometimes not the most tasty. However, there are many good sandwich and shawarma places that are not too expensive and are very yummy. Food at the grocery store is much fresher, but it seemed to also be filled with less preservatives and went bad faster than food in the U.S. seems to. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I always kind of felt like an outsider in Denmark, but that was probably due to the language barrier and social differences between Danes and Americans. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any experience with the healthcare system so I can't really give it 5 stars, but the Danes are pretty proud of their healthcare, and it seemed reasonably easy to access. I do not know of any prevalent health issues in Copenhagen, and I did not need any vaccines to travel there. |
| * Safety: |
I felt safer in Copenhagen, especially as a woman, than I have in cities in the U.S. Copenhagen has a very low crime rate compared to the U.S. |
| 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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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| 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? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I don't know. |
