Past Review
By Rosemary H (Economics and Sociology, Rice University) for
Arcadia: Cape Town - University of Cape Town
The experience was extremely worthwhile. I didn't feel like it was very academic, so it didn't change my academic interests, but I wasn't looking for that. It defintely made me more aware of what it is like to live in a developing country.
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was easy, but the differences in the grading and education systems made it somewhat difficult to get really high grades. A lot of the people on my program found that they got worse grades at abroad than they do at their home schools. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The website was really easy to use, and Traci Chupik was incredibly nice and helpful in her emails. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Bollihope 11 <br /><br /> The housing was pretty good. The only reason I gave it a four was because most of the other Americans who weren't doing Arcadia had much nicer housing. |
| * Food: |
Food was fine; the grocery store near our house was bad though. No meal plan was definitely a plus. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
We were very protected on this trip. There was a peer leader who took care of everything we needed. If there was ever a problem, she was immediately there to help. The country itself was very dangerous, however, and I would say at least half of the people experienced some sort of pick-pocketing or mugging. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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? | About $200 a week. It seems like a lot, but everyone was spending a lot of money. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Have back ups in case you lose your wallet. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
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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