good Past Review
By Stephanie P (Business Communcations, Arizona State University) for
ISA Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain
I think I would choose another program if I were to study abroad again because ISA was often very unprepared and hypocritical. They would tell us to be prompt for trips and that if were not there they would leave without us, but half the time we would all be there and waiting for the directors to show up. Furthermore, it was very hard to get answers out of people whenever questions or concerns arose.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I thought the education experience was not very good. The teachers were very unorganized and you were never updated on grades or anything. If you emailed the teachers you wouldn't get a response unless you told them you emailed them. Also, Spanish class was the worst of all and not organized well at all. It was not at a level of ABSOLUTE BEGINNER and was more of a level of intermidiate Spanish. We were expected to know basic Spanish words and how to pronounce them without ever being taught. For instnace, our first day of class we went through the alphabet and numbers in 10 minutes then were suddenly expected to know the words for 'professional jobs' in Spanish without ever even getting a book yet. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
|
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
|
| * Food: |
|
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
|
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
|
| 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) |
|
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Most people spoke English, but I tried to speak Spanish as much as possible out of respect for the culture. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
International Business |
| Course Department: | Business |
| Instructor: | Jorge Mongay |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | He did not test us on what we understood and the concept of international business at all. He tested us based on if we were able to memorize his 300 slide powerpoints word for word (including graphs, where he wanted us to remember every number off of). Furthermore, he never answered emails and could not be bothered helping students. If you ever asked him for help with class work he would yell at you and embarrass you in front of the class and tell us to teach eachother because he refused to reteach anything even if the class could not understand what he taught in the first place. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
