Florence: The Experience of a Lifetime Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The teachers are very laid back, you have to motivate yourself to come to class and do the work. The lecture style is also very different. In most but not all cases it's mostly listening to the teacher lecture for 3 hours.

On-site administration of your program

The administration faculty were very helpful and friendly. They were always willing to help with academic and non-academic concerns.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The apartment was beautiful, spacious, and in an incredible location. It was in the heart of the city, next to all of the city's most important sights and nightlife. It was also a short distance from school. The biggest issue that I had was that our wireless internet would go out pretty often.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The weekend trips that my program took were enjoyable, but besides that they did not offer much socially. I would have liked for the program to have more activities to get to know local people.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

As far as my experience went, Florence was a very safe city. I walked fairly often by myself at night and never had a problem. I did not have any health issues while abroad, but a couple of friends did and the program took good care of them.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I practiced mostly in my Italian class and very occasionally with random strangers. It's hard to improve your language skills with the Arcadia program in Florence because your classes are with all Americans and you live with Americans. Also, most people in Florence speak English, so you have to be determined to speak Italian with them even when they speak back to you in English.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

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• Americans