Hungary: You Only Live Once! Past Review
By Kylee F (Mathematics and Biology, Wartburg College) for
BSM: Budapest - Budapest Semesters in Mathematics
It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was awesome and I would love to go back. I learned a lot about math, life, friends, and branching out on my own.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was hard, but well worth it. I was able to take a lot of classes there that aren't offered at my home institution. I learned a lot. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program is well organized but sometimes hard to understand because they use a different style than us. It was good though, becuase they had many resources for us and had it fairly well organized the entire semester (including before we got there). |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with a host family in the suburbs of Budapest. It was a long commute to school, but otherwise I loved living there. My host family spoke English, but also taught me Hungarian. It worked out well. |
| * Food: |
I gradually came to love the food. Some of the spices were different than what I was used to, but overall I liked it a lot. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
It offered different options for the students, but not all were timed well so I participated in what I could, but then had to miss some of them. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt safe and if I had a problem I could go to the office of our programs and they would take care of anything I needed. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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? | The cost of living is about the same as over here, so I spent around 25.00 per week on food and personal expenses. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | It was all laid out for us very nice. They told us before hand how much we should expect to spend (depending on the 'type' of spender you are makes a difference of course) but I managed just fine. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had none. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
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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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | The program is good. The country is neat. I absolutely loved it, so I encourage you to branch out and go, even if you don't know anything about the country, the language, or what you're getting yourself into. :) |
