Most challenging and most fun year of my life Past Review
By Nicholas Swope (Temple University) - abroad from 08/31/2016 to 07/28/2017 with
Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen: Tubingen - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I learned a lot of the language, as expected, but what was less expected was how aware of cultural differences I have become, and how many life long connections and friends I made, from all over the world.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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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: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
It's easy to say you would rather go somewhere else when you first get to your location, but you realize that even if you wanted to go to a different location before you left (like I did) you wouldn't trade your experiences for anything, and that you're happy you went where you did. |
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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Not including large vacations, 25-40 Euros |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Do not rent cars when traveling to other countries. Stick to public transit. Most companies will try to take advantage of you because you're young and you're foreign. It happened to me and many of my friends who rented cars in other countries |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | B1/B2 (Intermediate/Advanced) |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Don't only make friends who speak english well/are from you home country |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
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 wish I knew how fast the time would fly by, and how everyday counts when you have a finite amount of time. |
