La Dolce Vita--Milan, Italy Past Review
By Britton McCurdy (Wofford College) - abroad from 01/11/2016 to 05/13/2016 with
IES Abroad: Milan - Study Abroad With IES Abroad
Having to navigate a new city with people speaking a different language, planning weekend trips, budgeting, and everything else that goes along with studying abroad helped me to become more independent.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
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 |
The IES staff were so accommodating and really cared about each individual student. The professors were easy to communicate with and really got students engaged in their subjects with off-campus field studies and field trips. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The apartment I lived in, which was provided by IES, was in a great location in the city center. |
| * Food: |
Milan has hundreds of restaurants to try. Italian cuisine is incredible--the gelato, pizza, pasta, wine, cheese---were all the best I've ever had. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Milan is a city so full of life with very friendly people. It did not take me long to feel comfortable asking locals for directions. The night life in Milan is like no other--the clubs are unreal! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
IES Milan has a partnership with Cattolica University. All students in IES are given free admission to the health clinic at Cattolica University. I had to go when I caught the flu and the doctors there were kind and helpful and spoke English. It was easy to get my prescriptions from the local pharmacy and because of Italy's National Healthcare System, they were very affordable. |
| * Safety: |
Safety in Milan is like in any other big city. I never felt unsafe but was always sure to keep an eye on my bags and personal belongings on the metro and buses. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I would chose this same program because I enjoyed every class I took and loved the city. |
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) |
Milan is a great place to study abroad if you plan to travel a lot. It's location in northern Italy makes it easy to travel to other cities very affordably. With inexpensive airfares from Milan's centralized location, I was able to take weekend trips to London, Berlin, Budapest, and even Morocco! The train fares to all the other major Italian cities--Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona,etc--are also inexpensive. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $55-75 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Plan out a weekly budget for eating out, going out to clubs or bars on weekends, and create a budget for travel if you plan on taking trips outside your home city. |
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 |
IES Abroad Milan required all students to take an Italian course. This course proved to be very beneficial in building confidence in speaking to locals and navigating the city. |
| 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 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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? | Classes don't begin until three weeks into the program. The first three weeks are devoted to an intensive Italian language course. |
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 Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
