A very eye opening experience August 09, 2023
By A student (Political Science and Government, Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/17/2023 to 04/29/2023 with
Boston University: Dublin - Internship Program
I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to do things on my own. That includes traveling, doing everyday activities in a new place, as well as making friends outside of my university bubble. I think this was really worthwhile because I got to challenge myself in a way that I wouldn't have at my home university. That also gave me the ability to grow as a person.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The academic rigor is very manageable and not a lot is expected outside of class. I had to complete some readings and one or two writing assignments for each class. The professors were very accessible and willing to help you with assignments as well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program administration was good. We meet with both admin once or twice. They also checked in on us often. However, some notifications about things were left till the last minute. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We each had a single dorm which has a sink and other amenities such as sheets and a pillow which was nice. The communal bathroom was cleaned almost everyday. The communal kitchen was already stocked with a lot of cooking supplies. However, the students using the kitchen that were not a part of the program could be very messy, making the kitchen an inconvenience to use sometimes. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt very integrated into the culture when I was not on campus and just a part of the outside community. However, I was housed with a lot of other international students and only took classes with people on my program. So this limited my ability to meet Irish students. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I really liked my program because it provided me with a ton of opportunities I don't think I would have gotten elsewhere. While there might have been a few things I wanted to change, overall, I had a really good time and got out of it what I was willing to put in. |
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) |
It was not that hard to budget when in Ireland because the groceries were a lot cheaper. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100-$150 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Try to eat in most of the week and use all of the groceries you bought so you are not losing money by throwing uneaten food away and money on take out or eating out. |
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? | Take time to enjoy all that Ireland has to offer. You might be really excited for the opportunity you get to travel in Europe while you are there, and you should do that. Don't travel every weekend tho because there is a ton of cool stuff that you can do in Ireland that will help you enjoy your time a lot more |
