Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Past Review

By (Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics., SUNY - Binghamton) for

University of Oxford - Visiting Students

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I'd say so - it gave me a great deal of insight into the field I'm looking to enter.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: Oxford University
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Very invigorating and I learned a lot.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

all strengths - great people, very helpful and very friendly.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

224 Abingdon Road, <br /><br /> fairly close to Oxford, although we got a lot of exercise just going into town

* Food:

cooked our own meals, very good.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

didn't really get a whole lot of interaction with the student body

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

no health problems to speak of, we were living in a heavily gentrified area, so it was quite safe.

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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? $100 or more - it was rather expensive.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? 140 pounds extra for housing each term

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
Language acquisition improvement?

Generally just my tutor, a "rather large" proportion of the local population spoke English.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? go for it if you can.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Homer
Course Department: N/A
Instructor: Dr. Maarit Kivilo
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Very challenging, but very educational as well. We went indepth into some very profound literature
Credit Transfer Issues: haven't had the credits transferred yet. I doubt I will have issues though, given the institution I was studying at.
Course Name/Rating:

Greek Tragedy
Course Department: N/A
Instructor: Dr. Maarit Kivilo
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Very challenging, and the teacher definitely knew her field.
Credit Transfer Issues: haven't had the credits transferred yet. I doubt I will have issues though, given the institution I was studying at.
Course Name/Rating:

Latin - Sallust
Course Department: N/A
Instructor: Dr. Maarit Kivilo
Instruction Language: English
Comments: felt I could have learned more from this course, although that is my fault for requesting to use the tutorial system to study a language. The tutor did the best she could and definitely knew the material, but the set-up of the tutorial system is not ideal for studying a language as you don't meet regularly enough to make significant improvement.
Credit Transfer Issues: haven't had the credits transferred yet. I doubt I will have issues though, given the institution I was studying at.
Course Name/Rating:

Hellenistic Politics and Warfare
Course Department: N/A
Instructor: Dr. Rachel Mairs
Instruction Language: English
Comments: very informative, covered what I wanted to learn, tutor knew the material very well.
Credit Transfer Issues: haven't had the credits transferred yet. I doubt I will have issues though, given the institution I was studying at.
Course Name/Rating:

Roman Politics and Warfare
Course Department: N/A
Instructor: Dr. Anna Castriota
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Somewhat informal, teacher gave me plenty of room to decide what I wanted to study and worked with me on that. Great course.
Credit Transfer Issues: haven't had the credits transferred yet. I doubt I will have issues though, given the institution I was studying at.