Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Great experience academically and socially Past Review

By (Middlebury College) - abroad from 01/25/2016 to 05/21/2016 with

University College Dublin: Dublin - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
So much educational value that I couldn't gain at my home university as well as experiencing a city (not to mention a whole lot of Europe) instead of rural VT. Definitely worthwhile

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

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? Worth taking a bus to cheaper grocery stores (Aldi, Lidl, even Tesco) than shopping at on-campus store all the time. Much cheaper!

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? Direct Enrollment

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • International Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • International Students
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with?

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • Architecture courses
  • Dublin
  • Roommates
* What could be improved?
  • Living with Irish students would have been better perhaps...?
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Work harder to befriend local students

Reasons For Studying Abroad

To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you.
The Academic or Linguist
You went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Music in Ireland
Course Department: Music
Instructor:
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Taught in 4 sections with 4 different lecturers: trad music, medieval, classical, and popular. Some sections and lecturers better than others. 4 long essays and 4 shorter essays (1 each per section) and 2 live music reports after attending two performances. Seeing live music for credit was great! The weekly discussion section after the 1 hr lecture was slow. Students not terribly interested or engaged.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not so far...
Course Name/Rating:

Irish for Beginners
Course Department: Irish
Instructor: Eoin O'Croinin
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Irish is not an easy language to learn from a good professor, but a bad one (as Eoin was) makes it 100 times harder. Worst professor (TA?) I have ever experienced, no organization, no structure to the way the language was taught. Each class was spent filling out worksheets and listening to Eoin read sentences back to us in Irish very quickly which were totally incomprehensible.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not so far...
Course Name/Rating:

Intro to the Building Envelope
Course Department: Architecture
Instructor: Sarah Cremin, Mark Price, and Merlo Kelly
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Wonderfully educational (if a little bit dry at times) course that would never be available at Middlebury. Interesting lecture once per week, often boring but very informative about how buildings are put together. Weekly studio time offered a chance to create highly detailed construction drawings. Excellent practice in hand drawing! Also, visited building sites and had brick-building workshops in the building lab.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not so far...
Course Name/Rating:

Studio II
Course Department: Architecture
Instructor: Peter Cody
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Great studio course! Great system of instruction with two "tutors" (all practicing architects I believe) assigned to groups of students. Wonderful lead in to semester-long project with conceptual assignments and survey work. So much more than I could ever learn at Middlebury even in a first year class. Just brilliant.
Credit Transfer Issues: Not so far...