The Arcadia London Summer Internship was just OK Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was reasonable. There were two classes associated with the internship. One course was based around the internship and the only required work was a 3000 word essay on a subject related to the internship. To write this essay, students worked directly with an academic advisor. Personally, I had a great experience with my advisor. She was intelligent, respectful and helpful. Other people in the program were less satisfied with their advisors and complained that their advisors were rude, inflexible and unhelpful. The other course was entitled "Diversity in the British Workplace." I was very unsatisfied with this class. I mostly felt as if it was a waste of time. The teachers did not want to be there, which made the students want to be there even less. The classroom setting should have been one where students could comfortable discuss diversity, but the environment was almost hostile. Many students left offended by other students' comments, and the teachers did nothing to correct prejudiced ideas or shed light on how important tolerance and diversity is. Also, I was unhappy with the organization of Arcadia's staff and administration in London. Most of the disorganization may be attributed to the fact that most of the people on the staff were relatively new. My internship experience was great. I was placed in an appropriate internship, and I loved the people that I worked with. Again, a few other students in the program were unhappy with their internships, and some students did not have internships until a couple weeks into the program, but these students were in the minority. Overall, I have very happy with my internship and its associated course, but I was unhappy with the organization of Arcadia and the contribution that Arcadia made to the growth of the program's students through the course on diversity.

On-site administration of your program

The program offered some interesting extra-curricular activities. However, Arcadia's information did not provide enough information for a few of these events. The organization in Arcadia's office was very poor, and there was a definite lack of communication between staff.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My housing was great. I lived in a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom flat with 4 other female, American students. The flat itself was part of a house that contained 5 other flats and was in a very nice part of London. Other students lived in dormitory style housing and some of the housing were in bad parts of town.

Food was not provided by Arcadia

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

For the most part, the social and cultural experience was what students made of it. Arcadia's contribution was minimal.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

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

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• Apartment
• Hotel
• Hostel

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• Americans