I am so happy this program exists for premed/biochem students! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The level of academic rigor at Jacobs definitely isn't the same as it is at Wellesley. However, you'll find that you need to take a greater number of classes (I ended up taking 5 or 6), so you do get a wider range of academic studies in areas you might not have known much about before. For example, all of the Wellesley students this year took an art history course, which exposed us to European art and analysis for the first time. The biochemistry course is taught by a Wellesley professor, so there definitely is a level of weekly commitment to doing Wellesley-caliber problem sets and studying for exams. That being said, I felt that the workload was well-balanced between Wellesley biochemistry and Jacobs courses and free time to explore and travel. There is a well-established relationship between Wellesley and Jacobs, so we generally had good access to resources, sometimes more so than the Jacobs students and other exchange students.

On-site administration of your program

Overall, the program was well-run and it was very clear that they cared a lot about the Wellesley students and about providing us with the best possible experience. There were times when it was sometimes difficult to get in touch with the exchange program admin, which was frustrating especially if it was about a pressing matter.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing at the university was great, the dorms rooms were very clean and new. Each room had a shared entryway and bathroom with two singles. The buildings were pretty new and completely functional, which was a change of pace from Wellesley dorms.

Like any university, the dining hall food was ok. It would be difficult to maintain any kind of specialty diet (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, etc.) because there just aren't many main options for food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Jacobs University is an international school, so classes are taught in english and students are expected to be able to communicate primarily in it. That being said, there isn't a ton of cultural integration into Germany culture on campus, except that the student body is very diverse. When venturing off-campus, however, integration into German life was much more apparent in terms of language, transportation, and cultural norms/expectations. I really liked the general respect that German people have for others and for the law, which resulted in a very well-organized and well-managed culture and society.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

In general, German healthcare coverage is great in that it costs 95 euros a month for students and gives us access to a full range of services. So theoretically, it should be awesome. However, the university doesn't have any form of health services or an infirmary for students, so access to care becomes very limited. In the case of emergencies, your primary option is to call an ambulance, which is accessible to everyone because it is fully covered by insurance. However, if you get sick or need a prescription medication, you'd have to walk to a doctor's office during the designated walk-in hours, which are very limited and become hard to plan around given the long wait. Offices close early in the evening (between 4 and 6), so if anything happens after those hours, your options are to call an ambulance or wait until the next day to try to get yourself to a doctor's office. Pretty much every got sick at some point during the program, and I think people had varying experiences with accessing the proper care.

I honestly felt very safe in Germany most of the time, especially on campus and in Bremen, which is a smaller city. The only time I was ever a little unsure was when I was out at night in Hamburg while I was there for the August language program, but even then, I felt safer there than I have in most other cities I've been to in the US. Public transportation is clean and reliable, and police are generally very trusted by the population.

I'd heard some mixed reviews about this program in the past, so I was unsure about how it would go for me. This program enabled me to go abroad, which is something I knew I wanted to do in college. Its location and courses worked out really well, and I was lucky enough to go with a wonderful group of Wellesley and other exchange students :))) It was a much needed break from the stress of my Wellesley classes, and I was able to learn in a different way and spend time traveling and taking better care of my mental health. It was the best experience of my life and I'm lucky that I had this opportunity.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

When we were in Hamburg for the month of August, we were worried that since we'd be paying to live on our own, things would easily get very expensive. However, costs were totally manageable for groceries and we walked pretty much everywhere so we didn't spend much on transportation. In Bremen, you could get away with spending very little if you spent a lot of time on campus and didn't travel much. Getting off campus for meals or drinks was pretty doable, and budget travel was also possible.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Jacobs is an international school, so english was spoken on campus pretty much all the time (except in German class). In Hamburg, we were using German much more, both in the intensive language course and in the city, so I felt like I learned it much faster there. We were also able to use our German in the clinical practicum when we were speaking to patients.

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