AMAZING Past Review
By Margaret Vecchione (Villanova University) - abroad from 01/18/2016 to 04/30/2016 with
Arcadia: Edinburgh - Scottish Parliamentary Program
I learned so much about myself as a traveler and a person. I saw so much of the world in just 4 months. I feel like I matured, and I gained a lot of perspective. The world is a very large place.
Review Photos
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 classes didn't seem particularly fruitful. I learned a lot more from the internship experience than from my classes. Aside from my U.K. Politics professor, I was unsatisfied with the quality of my professors. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The organization was very good. It would have been helpful to have more information about the internship and our schedules in advance so we could make travel plans. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The apartments were fine. Having a single room was nice, but our kitchen and living area was much smaller than some of the other students'. |
| * Food: |
Most nights we cooked for ourselves, we were not on meal plans. Most Scottish restaurants are your typical pub food which was fine. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I loved talking to locals and getting to know other Scottish people. In the parliamentary program, you live with all parliamentary students, and everyone is American. If I were to study abroad again I would most likely choose a program where I could do a home stay. My classes were also only with study abroad students in the Parliamentary Program, so I felt isolated from other permanent students at the university. I would've liked to have had more interaction with Edinburgh students. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I was sick a lot while I was abroad and my program was excellent at making sure I knew which clinics would be able to help me, and how to register with them. |
| * Safety: |
Edinburgh is an extremely safe city. I never once felt unsafe walking around alone, even at night. The locals were extremely friendly, and we had no incidents with security or safety. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Even though my program had its ups and downs, I learned a lot and I LOVED Edinburgh. I miss it everyday, and I loved the other students in my program. The parliamentary program is really small so we were able to become really close in a short period of time. I loved working in the Parliament, it was a really unique experience that very few people are able to say that they've had. Edinburgh is a gorgeous city with so much character, and its a total college town with tons of bars and restaurants and plenty to do. I was in a great area and never used mass transit because I was walking distance from everything. Traveling was really easy because the airport was such a short bus ride away. I wanted an English speaking country and not having a language barrier made it easier to interact with locals. |
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) |
Because Scotland is on the pound and the exchange rate was so high, I thought it was extremely expensive to live in the UK. I also traveled on the weekends and spent money on excursions and experiences so I spent more than other people. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent around 50 pounds on food a week, and if I traveled on the weekends the cost of flights and activities varied between 200-300 dollars. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Book your flights and trips in advance, and if you have a large group of people Airbnb split between everyone may be cheaper than hostels. |
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? | 0 |
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 knew what my hours would be for the internship, who I would work for, and what my class schedule was. Not knowing anything going in made it difficult to make travel plans in advance. |
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. |
