Past Review
By Eric T (Mathematics, Physics, Tufts University) for
BSM: Budapest - Budapest Semesters in Mathematics
I not only got a chance to challenge myself academically, and take mathematics classes which interested me greatly, but also allowed me to travel to countries and places i would normally not have gone to, such as, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Fall 2008 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The academics were almost graduate level. As such, they were very challenging, but this was quite a good experience. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The co-ordinator was very good, but sometimes it would take a little time to get a response from the head professor. However, overall, they were quite helpful. They were quite knowledgeable about the country, as they were, for the most part, citizens and residents. Also, the program was quite small, so that allowed us to get to know the professors and administrators quite well. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had an apartment in the Buda hills. The view was quite nice, and the rent was quite reasonable. <br /><br /> Along with the above, I had quite a nice room, but it was quite far from the center of town. It was easy to get into the center, but it did take quite a bit of time. I felt it was a safe area, and it was easy enough to get groceries, and so on. |
| * Food: |
We mainly ate out, and it was easy to find good, and reasonable places to eat. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
School work took up quite a bit of my time, but there was time for me to hang out with friends at restaurants, as well as to travel to other countries in the area (Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Austria) and farther (Denmark). |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I did not, at any time, feel unsafe. However, Budapest does have its unsavory side, but so long as you kept your head about you, and had common sense, it was not a big issue. The program also helped us with some of the local pickpocket's customs. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | My rent was about 300 dollars, and food ranged from about 5 to 10 dollars per meal, on the whole. The monthly bus/metro pass was around 20 dollars. Prices were quite reasonable. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | We were warned that rent is done in cash, but I was not aware that most transactions were conducted in cash. That would have been useful to know. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Foreign language was not a requirement of the program, as it was not a language program, but a mathematics program. Thus my language skills, while improved, were outside the scope of the program. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would like to strongly recommend this program for any math majors, and would like to stress "math majors." This is quite a challenging program and would also suggest that those interested not take it lightly; some courses are almost graduate level mathematics courses. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Combinatorics 1A |
| Course Department: | Math 241 |
| Instructor: | Dezso Miklos |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was a good overview of Combinatorics. However, it did not keep my interest as well as the other classes did. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I did not. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Differential Geometry |
| Course Department: | Math 365 |
| Instructor: | Balázs Csikós |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was a very challenging but excellent course on Differential Geometry. It covered quite a wide range of topics, and the instructor was very knowledgeable, even on topics not covered in the course. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | There was some issue as to whether this was to be considered as one or two semesters of Differential Geometry. So long as you start the process early enough, there should be no problem. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Theory of Computation |
| Course Department: | Math 380 |
| Instructor: | Gyula Katona |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This was a good course covering Computational theory, from Turing machines to a discussion about P and NP. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No |
