Oak Ridge Science Semester - One of the best science research facility in the world Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I usually spent about 7 hours working on research everyday (it could be a little less or a little more depending on your personal mentor). Research needs a lot of your involvement and although you will receive help in research, you'll still be expected to do a lot of work independently. It won't drain you out if keep on top of things and don't slack off at work. The post important part of the program is research, so work hard on it! The course can be expected to be like a normal course at DePauw (class size could be really small). The seminar is pretty in interesting and you get to know a lot of different fields of research going on at ORNL and also do some visits to some labs and things like that.

On-site administration of your program

The program administrators really make themselves available to you (email and cell phone) for anything that you might need. You could need some help in the beginning while you are moving in but it's pretty good once you are all settled. I was worried about transport to and from the lab because the lab was about 25 mins away from the apartments. But the administrators help us make carpooling groups and then you start figuring it out yourself. Carpooling works really well, you save on gas and you also get to know all the other students on the program. So transport ends up being pretty easy to go the lab, for groceries, or for weekend trips, etc. The program size for me was 12 people (6 Amricans and 6 International). However, you will find 4-5 more Undergraduates that will be a part of the Interdisciplinary seminar that come through some other program. They would hang out with us too. All the academic facilities that you need, will be surely met at the lab. Some things can take a little time sometime (it's a government facility after all) but it wont be too big of a problem. All in all, everything is administered pretty well. Keep in mind that the lab is really trying hard to have you there and sometimes they have to face some problems but they are always working to make everything easy for you. Just be patient sometimes.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing was taken care of for us by the program. We all got to stay at apartments (3 people in each apartment). One of the rooms was a single and there was a double. You are left free to work out things with your flatmates to decide who gets the single and things like that. We all lived at Rolling Hills apartments and it was a very safe neighbourhood. It looked a little bit sketchy on first impression, but it is actually very safe and the apartments a pretty good form the inside. All the students had apartments not too far away from each other so that helped too! The apartments have pretty much everything you need (furnished). They provide a lot of cooking utensils, plates, silverware, and also, the kitchen is pretty good with a big fridge, stove, an oven, a microwave, coffee maker, etc, etc. The living rooms are pretty good as well with a couch, some chairs, a tv, dvd player, etc, etc. They also provide you with bathroom towels, kitchen towels, etc and your rooms have sheets, mattress, closets, et, etc. So the apartments are pretty good and there is nothing much to worry there. You might need to buy one or two cooking utensils according to your need but nothing big. Also, there is an administrator who lives in an apartment very close to you if you need anything at all at any point. She was very helpful for us with absolutely anything that we needed. Also, there are laundry machines in the basements of your building so that is pretty easy too. You do have to buy your internet if you want it (which everyone does). But you can get it pretty cheap if everyone in the flat buys it together and also buying a wireless router helps. It ends up being $10-15 a month so it's pretty good. I was not really good friends with my flatmates because they were not very social and were working all the time but I got along really well with all the other students in the program and it was an awesome experience. But housing is nothing to worry about at all.

I was very satisfied. I really enjoyed trying to cook different things and it was fun to learn a lot of things. Quality of food at the lab is pretty good too. There are also quite a few good restaurants in Oak Ridge and Knoxville that you can try out on the weekend or something.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I think the program was quite social and a lot of fun. Tennessee is a very beautiful state and one the the best things to do is go hiking or camping with the other students. Some of my best times during the semester were camping with some students. Also, Knoxville is a pretty good town to visit for fun stuff during the weekend. Nashville is also not pretty far away and can be a lot of fun. The program does always have money to organize some events and we always went to some cool places in an around Oak Ridge. We also planned a lot of program dinners to some restaurants and we would also have some dinner parties and stuff like that. It is fun to hang out with students from universities from over the country and I really enjoyed getting to know more about them and their universities.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I did not really have any problems with health or safety. It is best to have your usual insurance that you always do and go to the doctor in case you are sick. The program administrator can help take you to the hospital if you have no means of getting there.

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

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• Apartment

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• International Students

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