The Washington Semester: Only Worth it if You Know What You Want to do in Life Past Review
By A student (Middlebury College) for
American University: Washington D.C - Washington Semester Program
I gained work and Hill experience and research experience. It has confirmed my academic interests and future plans, and will be a great thing to have on my resume as I search for summer internships and future jobs.
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. |
The strictly academic experience was wholly unsatisfying, and I imagine it would be to most Middlebury students. Despite my Professor's passion and knowledge of the subject we were studying, International Law and Organizations, my peers' lack of motivation to work and lack of ability to communicate effectively in English forced him to teach down to his audience. I was able to get something out of the course by doing all of the readings and discussing them individually with my Professor during office hours, but the classroom environment was nothing like at Middlebury. This was by far the least satisfying part of my time in DC, and I was frustrated that I didn't come away with a more in depth knowledge of international legal concepts. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Fairly unorganized and unhelpful - fired the Dean of our program in the middle of the semester and did not communicate well to the students. My expectations were not met by the administration of this program. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Dorms were fine, but I was housed in a triple with two girls I didn't particularly like, making for a fairly miserable living situation with absolutely no privacy. I felt perfectly safe there. |
| * Food: |
If you can afford it, get the smallest meal plan possible and eat off campus more. The food at the dining hall is not good and the selection is extremely limited. If you have dietary restrictions it would probably be very difficult. I got the middle of the road meal plan and had tons of meals left over at the end, and didn't enjoy eating in the dining hall beyond the convenience of it. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We went to Europe for 16 days - Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Belgium - to visit a wide variety of international organizations. There were way too many people on the trip (40 students - 2 classes) which took away from the effectiveness of it, but overall it was a good experience. We also went to NYC for a weekend to visit the UN, and various places throughout DC to visit organizations and hear speakers. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The part of the city we were located in was very safe. DC is very safe a lot of places and very unsafe in a few, but it was easy to avoid those places. I never felt uncomfortable beyond being overwhelmed by living in a city for the first time. I didn't have any experiences with healthcare while there. |
| 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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Language
| 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?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Students who know they want to work in government/politics/law would benefit the most from this because they would get the opportunity to network in DC for a semester. If you are looking for a program with academic rigor (like I was), the Washington Semester is not for you. For me, it was the best option I had, and I would probably do it again, but the day to day life was extremely frustrating. Overall I'm glad that I went to DC because it will pay off for me in the long run, but don't just go because it's something to do for a semester. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
International Law and Organizations (I & II) |
| Course Department: | SIS |
| Instructor: | Shawn Bates |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was not challenging academically despite the difficulty of the material. Understanding of only very basic concepts was needed to succeed in the course. The teacher was extremely knowledgeable and well prepared, but unable to teach to his full potential given the apathy of the other students in the class. We had many relevant field trips around DC and in Europe, some more high quality than others. I participated in class about the same as I would at Middlebury, maybe a bit more often, but we were in class a lot less than I am at Middlebury. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Have not attempted to transfer credit yet. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
International Law and Organizations - Internship Course |
| Course Department: | SIS |
| Instructor: | Larry Moody |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | No, this course was not challenging. It was utterly pointless. It was helpful in the beginning for people who were still searching for internships, but once we had them, the in class portion was completely unnecessary. We had a few writing assignments to reflect on our internships, but meetings in class were not useful at all. I would absolutely eliminate or make optional this aspect of the program. My internship itself, by the way, was great. This is only a comment on the American University-led course part of it. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Have not tried to transfer credit yet. |
