I Probably Should Have Gone Abroad.. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Compared to my home institution, I found Spelman classes to be considerably less rigorous in their expectations and grading. However, the number of classes available to me that complemented my major and academic interests balanced out my need to be challenged. There are also a considerable number of academic and career-related resources at Spelman, so the experience is academically what you make of it.

On-site administration of your program

While Dean Neely, the exchange student Dean, was a great, caring, and responsive resource, I feel that other departments could be more accommodating to exchange students. For example, I still have an issue with Financial Aid and Student Accounts being slow to deal with my Financial Aid office, which means that I still have not received my transcripts, although I have paid my bills. That being said, some departments and professors were responsive to my special needs as an exchange student without knowledge of Spelman's resources or work-study approval, but I hope that a work program/office intern program can be developed for exchange students, because I lost a lot of money not being able to work for an entire semester.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Exchange students are normally housed in the second-nicest dorms on campus, but I believe the experience would be better if they were placed in the Suites together, as putting us with students who don't necessarily want to be paired with an exchange student puts us at a social disadvantage and often in an uncomfortable situation. Many of us were placed with students who were rude to us and not empathetic to the discomfort that can come from being a guest studying away at a different institution. On top of that, the RAs were more like patrol women than resources, and I didn't feel that I could come to them to discuss my needs as I can at my school. I knew one exchange student who had her phone stolen by some of her roommate's friends and when she told her RA, the RA sided with the Spelman student, saying that she couldn't believe her friend would be involved in something like that. These kind of experiences can really make your living situation hell, and not having other students there to help you only increases the frustration. My initial unhappiness at Spelman stemmed largely from my discomfort in my rooming situation.

I only had a stomachache from the food in the dining hall. Spelman only has one dining hall and sometimes lines can be entirely too long. Additionally, Fried Chicken Wednesday and Fried Fish Friday got old real quick. That being said, their healthy options were consistently good, but the long lines and short service periods made them less enjoyable. Finally, the fact that meals don't roll over means that you can't pop in and out of the dining hall if you have an evening or afternoon class, which meant that I ate a lot less than I would have at my school. Often, I only was able to eat one or one and a half meals. I'm also used to being able to study and spend time in my dining hall, but with the meal plan stipulations, I could only be in the dining hall for a certain amount of time. Don't even get me started on the noise level in there at times. These issues eliminated one of my primary studying spots.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

If I hadn't had friends that I knew at Morehouse and Spelman, then I would have been totally lonely during this experience. There's not much that Spelman can do about this without a long-term change to the campus culture, but the AUC is an extremelyyy clique-y environment. I found that I could really only spend time with exchange students, because the student body was not all that inclusive.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Health care was easily accessible, and I really appreciated that they have their own pharmacy. That being said, I wish that Health Services would make contraceptives more available and convenient to take. My biggest issue was with the extensive health care requirements that went beyond what my school required. I had to get all new health care coverage to avoid paying for school insurance. Also, their policy would have made me pay for a year's worth of insurance, although I would only be at Spelman for one semester.

Atlanta's not bad, depending on where you go and what time of day, but the area between Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and the Woodruff Library is considerably pretty dangerous, as there have been multiple gunpoint robbery reports. The openness of that area and the amount of technology that college students are known to have with them on their way to the Library makes for a vulnerability that West Enders sometimes exploit.

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

Without work-study, I was flat broke during my entire study away experience! I had to get money from my parents every month. Having only one dining hall that closed at 8pm on weekdays and even early on weekends, I had to spend a lot of money on fast food. This was a really experience semester for me. Please do yourself a favor and save money for expenses. You will need to also pay to get into parties, buy clothes at Market Friday, and buy food in the Grille once your measly $25 is used there.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans

• The African-American focus in the classroom and on campus
• Southern hospitality and the Atlanta area (including the weather)
• Being considered a full fledged student and able to participate in all activities

• Communication between Financial Aid offices at Spelman and home institutions
• Rooming solutions for domestic exchange students (we should live together in the suites, not with sophomores in LLC2)
• Communication to students before they enter the program: things like visitation policies and dress code aren't commonplace for students from non-HBCUs