Prague Past Review
By Paige B (Political Science and International Development, Tulane University) for
UPCES - Study Abroad in Prague (CERGE-EI, Charles University)
YES!!! best experience of my life and amazing opprotunity
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Because the teachers are from different countries and backgrounds, each of their teaching and grading styles varied greatly. However, the program directors and the Czech language teachers were excellent and very helpful in making the transition to living in the Czech Republic and dealing with problems so much easier! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program staff were amazing! So friendly and helpful! They knew how to answer every question, help us out with any problems, plan and organize appropriate orientations and trips, and were so understanding of our expectations! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The program helped us find a great realtor who knew the kinds of flats we would like and found us one in a great location -- super close to school, all the major tourist sites, shopping, and nightlife. The flat was fully furnished and provided us with linens, cookware, etc. Super easy to adjust to and great for a short-term lease. |
| * Food: |
Even though traditional Czech food is not very vegetarian-friendly, I was able to find plenty of restaurants which vegetarian and vegan options! Also, the falafel place right off of the bottom end of wenceslas square heading toward old town square is the most amazing falafel everrr.. go there on your way home from the clubs/bars! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
go on everything that is organized by the program that you can.. they're all such great events and trips! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
prauge is one of the safest cities ever! it was great! i suggest bringing some cold/flu medicine and emergen-C with you, because when you travel a lot you are bound to get sick, and it is such a relief to have the day-quil in your drawer when you wake up and feel sick instead of having to figure out medicine labels written in czech |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | i spent about $50/week in prague -- the conversion rate is amazing for the US dollar and groceries are so cheap but i spent a coupe hundred dollars every weekend that i traveled to another country (hostel/hotel, food, site seeing, transportation passes, etc) -- i spent about $7,000 total while abroad for a semester, but I traveled every weekend and decided to use all of my savings for this trip and to not hold back... so if you want to stay on a small budget you absolutely can! |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | living in prague is cheap. the major expenses come from traveling, so if you want to spend less money than plan your trips carefully (compare airfare and hostel prices) and/or just pick a few places that you really want to go and spend your other weekends enjoying all of the amazingness of prague! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The (czech language) teachers were so amazing!! |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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? | PRAGUE is amazingg!!!! despite some flaws with the study abroad office and one or two classes that could be improved, the program is amazing! the program staff is amazing! and the city is amazing! especially if you are worred about money.. go to prague! the us dollar to czech crown conversion rate plus the cheap groceries, etc in prague make it so much easier and less stressful than living somewhere that uses the euro! it was so nice to be able to go out to eat and out to clubs without worrying about money at all vs. my friends in paris who were stuck eating a bagette for dinner because tehy ran out of money |
