Opportunity to grow as a person, see the world, and learn about new cultures! Past Review
By A student (University of Puget Sound) - abroad from 01/09/2018 to 05/25/2018 with
Arcadia: Edinburgh - Scottish History
I learned to problem solve. A lot of times I was put in situations I had never been through before and I had to find a way to solve the problem. I also learned about different cultures and countries. Definitely worthwhile!!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
How much you put it was how much you got out of it. I knew people who took very easy first year classes and never really studied or did anything for their class until right before their final. However, I took some harder upper level classes, and I had to study pretty hard and be on top of my school work. It was definitely a very independent learning environment. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration program in the beginning was very helpful and gave us all the general knowledge we needed to know to be successful for the year. However, as the year carried on, I did not have much contact with them. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Housing was ok, I had a great location but the place I was staying in was pretty rundown. Everything seemed very old, and definitely needed some updates. Lots of things broke in the flat, and even when the bathrooms were cleaned, they never really felt that clean. |
| * Food: |
You could make your own food in your kitchen which was nice. This was the cheapest and healthiest option. Otherwise, going out to eat food was expensive and there was some good places, but the food was not amazing. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I joined the University's women's football club. I met a lot of Scottish people from the area which was cool. I also had a Scottish flatmate, so I learned about local culture through speaking to them. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I never had to use the health care system, but people I knew who did use it seemed happy with it! |
| * Safety: |
Edinburgh is a super safe city. I never felt unsafe even when walking home alone at night. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I liked the program I was in, but I wish we had more excursions together. We had some options to go on excursions but there was not that many and they also filled up very quickly. Other programs had many other excursions and everyone in the program went together. This allowed them to get closer to the people in their program which is something I wish I would have gotten out of my program. |
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) |
Edinburgh is a pretty expensive city. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Around 100 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Make your meals at home, you will save so much money! Also if you do choose to drink, try to avoid buying too many drinks in bars because they are very expensive. |
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 wish I would have known where to go to buy sheets and stuff for my room because the first few days I was wandering around town trying to find the right supplies. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
