"Go to Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, seriously." Past Review
By Theodore R (Political Science and Government., Carleton College) for
SIT Study Abroad: Belgrade, Budapest, and Vienna - Comparative European Perspectives on Conflict and Democracy
An adventurous student who is willing to see an unfamiliar world and learn for it.
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 various program coordinators and administrators in this program were superlative. They made us feel at home and were very helpful throughout the term. Our excursions were fantastic and we were exposed to a continual array of organic experiences and adventures. There were very few weaknesses on this program. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The week spent in Bosnia was life changing, and I had wonderful, wonderful experiences the entire program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I was well within budget but others, particularly those who travelled outside of the region, spent a fair amount of money. I spent less but I would say that people spent between 1200-1500 dollars on the program. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I didn't run into a lot of money-related problems |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | No course |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
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| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Field Study Seminar (FSS) |
| Course Department: | NA |
| Instructor: | Orli Fridman |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was an excellent introduction into field research and gave us a methodological outline with which we could approach our ISP. The readings, too, were very interesting. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No problems transferring credit. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Serbo-Croatian |
| Course Department: | NA |
| Instructor: | Nikica Strižak |
| Instruction Language: | Serbo-Croatian/English |
| Comments: | Our language courses were outstanding and we improved markedly throughout the fifteen weeks. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | My school did not offer Serbo-Croatian so I could not continue classes there. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Post Conflict Transformation Seminar |
| Course Department: | NA |
| Instructor: | Orli Fridman |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The course was well taught and gave students access to an impeccable array of written and visual sources to enhance our understanding of the region. The teacher was knowledgeable and well prepared. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I had no problems transferring credit. |
