Go to School on Campus, do not Live Here Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I truly love being a student here. The caliber of education is so much higher than that of my undergraduate institution back in the United States. The professors are unbelievably qualified with not one, but two out of three of mine this semester having taught at Harvard. But prestigious doesn't make them pompous. They have been nothing but helpful and supportive throughout my time here. I just wish they had kept classes at the Tahrir campus instead of moving us to an elite district in the middle of the desert where there is nothing to do but go to Westernized shopping malls.

On-site administration of your program

Administration was competent once I arrived on campus. They were always friendly enough, but I had numerous problems where no one across various departments would respond to my emails while I was trying to enroll. Even when I would pay to place international calls, I would rarely get an answer and there is no system of voice mail. Luckily, they have an office in New York I was able to call nearly every day until I got some sort of an answer.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I stayed in the on-campus dorms as they were free per my fellowship and I did not want to try to sign a lease from abroad. This was a mistake. The housing office acts like our parents, with a curfew, ban on visitors of the opposite sex (even though contrary to popular belief, premarital sex is not illegal in Egypt), alcohol (even though wine is required for my religious services), and smoking. I had more freedom at the age of 15. Although in all fairness, the majority of residents at the dorms act as if they are much younger. Many have never cooked or cleaned for themselves and the level of entitlement I have encountered here throughout the last 4 months is like nothing I have ever seen before.

I love Egyptian food. AUC has many food outlets on campus, and across the street there are two malls with almost every type of restaurant you can imagine. However, this is a wealthy area in a country where meat is still considered a sign of wealth. Whereas there are vegetarian options, more should be offered on campus especially.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

When this school opened in 1919, the campus was located in Tahrir Square, literally the center of the country. In 2008, they moved to a satellite city about 40 minutes away from Downtown Cairo where real estate prices were set at a minimum literally so that only the upper class could afford to live here. It is very boring. The only thing close by are shopping malls and there is little public transport so getting to "real Cairo" is a challenge. I could literally write a book about how much I hate this district.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I started classes the first week of September and didn't get my health insurance card until December 1. That being said, the clinic on campus did refer to me to a gynecologist at a hospital for an IUD. However, the team at the hospital was incompetent (the doctor asked me if I was married to determined whether "it was possible [I] could be pregnant). There was no knowledge on how to insert IUDs into the cervix of a young woman who had never had children, even though such a thing is simple in my own country. The procedure didn't work, the doctor was horribly condescending, but at least if it had worked, it would have been affordable: $46 instead of the $1800 back in the US.

This campus is too safe. I go through 4 security gates to get to my dorm. It is absurd. As for Cairo, I feel safer walking down the street alone at night here than in America. Egypt has next to no gun violence. What a concept.

I would definitely, I just would get an apartment in the city.

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

Egypt is unbelievably cheap. I worked full time in undergrad so I spent more money here than I should of because I could and I feel like I have earned it. Including all the money I wasted (which was most of) I probably spent like $250 a month. I also have a fellowship, so all program costs are covered.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students
• International Students

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• Local Students
• International Students

• The quality of faculty
• Amount of trips to other parts of the country
• There are a lot of cats

• The dorms could treat us like adults
• International students should be allowed to take a language course for free each semester
• Classes in Tahrir

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer