Enjoyable, but was not given as much freedom as expected. Past Review
By A student (The College of New Jersey) - abroad from 08/25/2016 to 12/17/2016 with
European Study Center: Heidelberg - Study Abroad in the EU
I learned how to budget my money, navigate cities I´ve never been to before, and how to travel responsibly.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Dr. Becker´s courses were difficult but the others, not so much. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
People were coming into classes after a two week break and did not know what the schedule would be until the day before classes. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens were fine but a lot of people´s heaters didn´t work and the Wifi was awful but cause it could not handle the traffic of all the people. This was by far the biggest issue for most people. Also the no drinking in the house rule is WILDLY unrealistic for a group of American students, most of whom are old enough to drink here and are excited about it because they cannot in their home country. |
| * Food: |
The food around town and from the stores was very good |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
If you wanted to integrate with other Germans you needed to do it on your own. I was lucky enough to find people to play basketball with at the local university. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I personally did not need medical assistance but others did and it seemed they were well taken care of. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I did not have much of a choice because of my major and school I needed to come here or Ireland and Germany was easier to travel from. |
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) |
It depended on the week and if/where I was traveling but I could have tried harder to make it easier for myself |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | For a week where I just stayed in Heidelberg, €50-70 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Try not to travel abroad back to back weeks |
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? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had taken 4 years of Spanish |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 0 |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Take some kind of short course over the summer for the basics of day to day life but nothing more than that. |
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 had realized how drastic the time changes would be from home. |
