Florence: Travel and See The CIty in all it's Glory!! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The work load of the class I took was definitely manageable. It gave plenty of information with enough time to enjoy the city you were in. The grading system was pretty standard with a few tests. The teaching method of the professor that I had was a lecture but he made the information matter and made it very interesting and entertaining. The main difference between the host university and my university was that the host one was in an obviously old building and we had class trips within the city.

On-site administration of your program

I felt that the on-site administration for the school was a little cold. They seemed to have a lot of students and it did not feel very welcoming to me. The program administration was much more welcoming but also had some flaws with not being able to understand or deal with some of the personality problems between the students. If the groups were a little smaller and the people on sight could handle things more it would be better.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The housing situation was the one thing that was a major let down with the whole trip. WE filled out this long questionnaire about how we liked to live giving the indication that the people that were closest to how we lived would be with us. However, the people that I was with were all friends and all came together. There was not really room for one person to be separate and try to jump into a long time friendship of five girls. They also did not respect me and my need for space. There was an abundance of drinking, drug use, and strangers coming in that I was not ok with. I brought it to their attention but nothing happened. I was woken up several times by knocking on the door or yelling and it was not the relaxed and fun environment that I was looking for. The apartment itself was very satisfactory. Everything we needed was provided for us with the exception of food. It was a little scary walking home at night because we were way off the beaten path and not very good lighting but overall a good place and close to what we needed.

From what I could tell the accommodations of dietary restrictions was well met. There were several people on the trip with allergies or were vegetarians.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The best trip that we went on by far was the trip to cinque terre. It was rainy so we were not able to go on the whole hick but out program director found another one that people that wanted to could go on. It was absolutely the highlight for me.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

We were warned at the beginning that women should not walk alone at night so we were all ready for that. Other than that it seemed a very safe city to me. I had a cold near the beginning of the trip but was able to get some medicine and take care of it rather quickly.

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

Select all that apply

• Apartment

Select all that apply

• Americans

• The experience and adventure of the oldest cities on the planet.

• The housing and the person to person basis to make each person feel more comfortable.