Past Review

By (Health Policy Management, Providence College) for

Semester at Sea Study Abroad: Make the World Your Campus

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
Yes it was worthwhile. I'm still registering it all.

Personal Information

The term and year this program took place: Fall 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It was academically credible for all the courses and lectures were built by University of Virginia.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

This was the 100th voyage so the program was well established and ready to handle any issues. It could be improved by instructing more on the countries before we ported. (History, etc) However, some courses did focus on this. The program was exptreamly large (500 students plus about 200 administrators / faculty). I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was a more intimate size, but I knew that going into the pogram. It is all personal preference.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived on a boat in a well equipped cabin. The boat was beyond my expectations. In port, I lived in hostels, host families, hotels, huts, riads, etc. <br /><br /> It is a floating campus. It had everything. It took about 1 minute to get to any class. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with their roommates eventhough we never filled out a roommate questionair.

* Food:

I had some of the best food of my life in port, but the ship could have added some more diversity to its meals. Towards the end, with a new chef, this happened.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It was a ship of 500 college students from across the US. Natrually there is a social life.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

The doctor on board gave health warnings before each port. Everyone was required to take a yellow fever vaccination and most students also got a typhoid vaccination and braugh malaria pills.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

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)

Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? save your money for the cheap countries

Language

Language acquisition improvement?

French was the dominant language in Africa and was needed to communicate with locals.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Other
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans