The Most Amazing Semester of College Past Review
By Deirdre M (History, The Catholic University of America) for
Catholic University of America: Rome - CU Rome Campus
My experience was better than I could have ever imagined, I wouldn't change it for the world!!
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
the program was overall amazing. I would not have done anything different in terms of orientation because I feel we were taught all we needed to know, and still left to figure out somethings for ourselves which allowed us to build the confidence to travel Rome and Europe on our own that would have been harder to acquire had we been more instructed. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
the most amazing location I ever could have imagined. The best neighborhood in all of Rome in my opinion. The room conditions were someone dirty and the internet left alot to be desired but the location definitely made up for any negative aspects of the living conditions. |
| * Food: |
We were in Italy=AMAZING FOOD!! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
LOVEDDDDDDDD Naples, Sorrento, Capri, TUSCANYYY..wine tasting, Pompeii, EVERYTHINGGGGG |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Rome was extremely safe and I never felt threatened in anyway. The biggest thing to worry about was pickpocketers and as we were all very on guard against it there were no problems. |
| 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? | I used 60 Euros in Food Tickets to eat each week and then spent probably around 50 Euro on other expenses. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Nothing really its just easy to forget that certain things such as water bottles, gum, ect. are much more expensive in Rome than they are in the US. |
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? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
ANYONE! The teachers, in particular those at Italida, were always happy to speak in Italian with students. In addition certain Italian words, phrases, and culture actions were spoken about in all classes helping students acquire a greater handle on the language. Most people in Rome were proficient or better in English so there were some people who would speak back to us in English but also many other people were more than happy allowing us to practice our Italian with them. |
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? | ANY STUDENT!!! If you can go abroad, DO IT. No matter what might be holding you back the experience is worth it. |
