2am Tiramisiu May 26, 2024

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I really liked the professors there and I was grateful to be at a Liberal Arts university even when abroad. But, there was some weird anachronisms between the liberal arts curriculum and the educational requirements of the German government. Because classes are required to assign a certain amount of words written per semester, there would be long stretches of no work, and then a huge barrage of multiple long papers all at once (once during midterms and once during finals). This was a blessing and a curse: it allowed for more time spent adventuring in the city, but that free time would be made up later in the semester when you're writing three 12-page papers due all on the same day. Additionally, I found Bard to be not as rigorous as Wellesley with lower course expectations. Again, this allowed for more city exploration, but I sometimes felt under-stimulated by classes and assignments.

On-site administration of your program

The BCB staff was very helpful. Though small, they were mighty! Germany has a lot of bureaucracy and the staff did a great job helping us exchange students through the many processes. Since the campus is so small many of the administrators knew most of the students by name.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The housing was excellent. I was in a very nice, new, modern flat with a few housemates. I was luckily placed in one of the newest dorms and the facilities were amazing. I really liked the apartment-style housing.

The food was inedible, to be frank. Since the school is so small they didn't have a traditional dining hall, just a cafeteria that was open. Breakfast was humble but it worked; lunch and dinner were provided by a catering company. For 3/4 of the semester you could choose your lunch option in advance, but a lot of the options were pretty gross. Then, at lunch you would pick up a cold dinner meal to reheat later. Unfortunately, this service went out of business during the semester (to no fault of BCB!) but the replacement was awful - one option per lunch (two, technically, one meat and one vegetarian) and you could pick up a salad for dinner. This was really horrible for someone with dining restrictions since the options were so limited. I ended up just cooking my meals for the rest of the semester.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

There's a lot of tension between BCB and the community due to lingering Cold War politics and just general political reasons. The town of Pankow is a suburb of Berlin, generally more conservative and community-based. So many people view BCB as a disturbance and the students as ignorant foreigners. I didn't have any issues, but others had stories of the local high schoolers harassing them. Additionally, I found the campus to be very isolated from Berlin in general. Both literally, since it was far from city center, and literally, since most of the student body does not seem to leave campus much. People will go to the center of the city for protests, but do not really go to other universities or organizations for social or cultural reasons.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had a minor health scare where I had to navigate the very confusing German healthcare system. The on-site staff member, Atticus, was very helpful in helping me find a doctor. There were a lot of hoops to jump through bureaucracy-wise but overall the German healthcare system is very affordable.

Berlin is an incredibly safe city. I never felt unsafe walking alone at night because there were always tons of people around in the city center and because Pankow is such a small, safe community.

Putting yes because there's no "maybe" option, but I'd say maybe. I hated being so far away from the center of Berlin and I didn't love the campus community. If I had another opportunity I would research schools closer to the center of Berlin.

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

Berlin is a very cheap city and BCB offered student jobs. However, buying weekly groceries added up because I couldn't eat the meal plan food.

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