Jet-Setting for a Semester Past Review
By A student (ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE/LETTERS., Fordham University) - abroad from 01/13/2012 to 05/05/2012 with
St. John's University: Traveling - Discover the World, Europe
I gained the confidence to travel to completely foreign places and meet new people, away from anything and anyone familiar. It was completely worthwhile, and I plan on continuing this type of travel in the future.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
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 |
All of the staffs were good, but Paris definitely was the most organized. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Noise problems in the Rome building. The RAs should be more proactive in keeping the noise down late at night. |
| * Food: |
Food in Paris was generally good! Food in Spain was not so good. I liked the meal tickets in Italy! And of course eating out was always amazing. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Definitely felt the effects of being in an island 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) |
Paris and Rome are expensive cities. Sevilla was more manageable. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $200 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cook for yourself when you can. Stay in hostels! There's no reason to ever pay more than $15-30 per night (depending on how popular that week/weekend is in whatever city) to stay in a safe, clean, fun hostel. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | none |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Not the typical study abroad experience-- not better, not worse, just different. It's about traveling throughout Western Europe and getting a taste of many cultures, not living and getting to know any single city in depth. |
