Almost Everything I Wanted, But In a Different Way Past Review
By Grantis P (Health and Medical Administrative Services., Providence College) - abroad from 01/09/2012 to 05/01/2012 with
IFSA/Alliance: Manipal - Global and Public Health
I learned to be a healthier person, not get so concerned with things that wont matter in the end (cause I miss out on opportunities), live to LIVE not merely Do to live, take more chances, just have fun! This program was so worthwhile for those who make it what they want to make out of it. I got to do almost everything I wanted to do, but in a different way then it was planned out in my head.
Review Photos
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Most of the workload was just busy work. Most of the time we did not discuss the readings. I am not even sure about the grading system, but they do have one. We get grades back and we can only guess what our final grade will be. Great people, very experienced in their discipline but most are just bad teachers. Bad at teaching. Things are not blatantly said here, they are just inferred. Like you should know what they mean. Overall I did learn a lot so that was the point. The way they had us learn just was not efficient. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Alliance did a great job trying to get what we needed, but there was very much a language and a culture barrier. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My room was very dirty looking and just old. The warden was nice and room cleaning was pleasant. No good electric planning though. WiFi was bad sometimes. People down the hall kept to themselves. My roommate was placed there just because but we had no connection, so barley any interaction. |
| * Food: |
I loved the food court and the small canteens around campus. Very inexpensive and great tasting!!!! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I made some fantastic Indian friends there. But if you do not belong to a students major/discipline they wont think you have much connection. I integrated myself and the people are warm. Personally you have to be open and somewhat outgoing to have a good time. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Healthcare was soooo cheap but confusing. It took me forever to get test results, but just as good doctors. Since it was so inexpensive i did not mind the wait and confusion.I got so much medical stuff done like dental, and vaccines that saved me much money than getting them in the US. I loved KMC! |
| * Safety: |
Apart from Road Traffic... i felt safe. Security guards are always around |
| 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) |
Everything is sooooo cheap in India than in the US. I saved enough to use enough. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Maybe like $40 average to do a lot of stuff |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Dont buy many presents for back home. Only a bit for close friends and family. Spend all for yourself and have fun, but keep a record. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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| 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? |
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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? | I would have just brought one very small suitcase of clothes that I wear at school in the US (most importantly underwear). Everything else can be bought there. I should have taken more photos and videos. I should have just went out more and did more social things with my Indian Friends. I wish I made up my own project and explored the county more. Lastly I would have stopped being on Facebook as much as I did and I would have stopped hanging around so much with the other people in my program. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Contemporary Indian Society |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Virginia Van Dyke |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was taught by and Alliance staff. But she had to leave half way through. Indian professors came in to fill in. Sometimes good, but often horribly boring. We did wayy too much political stuff, and the readings were just long and too much. A 10 page final paper at the end and some presentations. Needs to be improved a lot more. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | SOC |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Cinema In India |
| Course Department: | Communication |
| Instructor: | Maitreyee Mishra |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Not so challenging in work but more like waiting for assignments. It was really like a film theory class not a "Indian" Cinema class. Wish we could have discussed more Indian films. The teachers were not that well prepared but they were knowledgeable. Timing of the class was an issue. Classes usually went over time because of a movie viewing or the professor(s) were late. Two big papers, much in class discussion, and film watching |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Fine Arts |
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Ayurveda and Indian Traditions of Healing |
| Course Department: | Ayurveda |
| Instructor: | Dr. Kamath |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This class was challenging at the beginning because its a totally different thought process to get their traditional medicine. Very holistic and very interesting. This was the most put together class out of all of them and everyday was mapped out for us and planned accordingly. It was hands on and intriguing. Multiple Choice Questions every so often and long papers but made us learn. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Public Health System and National Health Policies, Systems and Programmes |
| Course Department: | MPH 205 |
| Instructor: | Dr. Derek Lobo |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was primarily to get valuable info from a man who had worked in Public Health for many years with the Ministry of Health and the WHO. Informative and kinda fun to attend. |
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