I learned a lot, just not what I expected. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This program was rigorous, not due to the demands of the professors at the Freie Universitaet (FU), but due to the time restraints imposed by Middlebury College. At the FU, domestic students go to classes during the semester and write their papers during the summer, and winter breaks. In comparison, the Middlebury program requires that exchange students work on their papers consistently throughout the semester with the help of a tutor in order to turn in their final drafts on the last day of classes. This system creates more problems than it solves, in my opinion. It requires students to choose the topics of their papers extremely early--3-4 weeks into the semester, in other words after three or four class sittings, from which the student can only begin to get a taste of what will be covered in the course. There is also pressure to stick to a topic once chosen, because any significant alterations could mean starting from scratch or reworking sections of a paper that took a long time to write in the first place, given that it was written in a foreign language. This pressure to find a topic fast and stick with it hinders the growth, and development of a sophisticated thesis. The tutoring program was not as helpful as it could have been, because it was not made clear to me that attending weekly tutorials is optional, not mandatory. This misunderstanding added unnecessary stress, time pressure, and frustration to my experience. I was under the impression that I needed to prepare written work for my tutor every week of the semester, although I would have preferred to delay writing in depth until after I had completed more of my research, and formed a better idea of the direction my paper would take. As a result of the pressure to constantly work on my papers, I spent most of my year abroad in a library instead of exploring Berlin, or improving my German by building friendships with native speakers. I think a good study abroad program is one that allows students plenty of free time to immerse themselves in a foreign culture and speak with natives in many different situations, not just on campus. It’s true that Middlebury clearly encourages its students to engage in cultural activities while abroad, but in my experience, the pressure of deadlines made it difficult for me to spend much time away from my work. Some students may react positively to the program’s structure, but I’m describing my experience and I know that at least two other students in the Middlebury program ran into similar problems and felt similarly overwhelmed this past academic year. It takes time to prepare well for university-level class discussions. It takes even longer when the discussions are not held in one’s native tongue. Since German is not my native language, I naturally needed far more time to prepare for class, and for oral presentations than domestic FU students. The same goes for writing research papers. Given that exchange students need more time to read and write well, it doesn’t make sense to me that they should be expected to turn in their papers months before domestic students. I think full year exchange students should be given the option of turning in their fall semester papers at the beginning of spring semester, just like other students.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The program director quickly, and compassionately connected me to a doctor when I experienced health issues. I found the local healthcare system straightforward, and supportive compared to what I'm used to at home.

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

It's easy to live in Berlin on a student's budget. I only had difficulty in July, when I received my stipend about a month late due to confusion about the end date of my program. There was also a mix-up about the start date. I think the communication between Wellesley's German department, Office of International Study, and financial services could be improved.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

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• Apartment

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• Other

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• Local Students

• Getting to know the Middlebury students in Berlin.
• Cultural opportunities supported by the program's Kulturgeld policy.

• As I mentioned before, it could be made clearer that weekly tutorials are optional, not mandatory.
• I think full year exchange students should be allowed to turn in their fall semester papers at the beginning of the spring semester, like all other FU students.

The Academic or Linguist