Barcelona Changed My Life Past Review
By Natalie T (Journalism, Quinnipiac University) - abroad from 01/01/2012 to 03/30/2012 with
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Barcelona, Spain
I liked living in an apartment rather than a dorm. It made me more independent and forced to try harder to meet people which was challenging at first but worth it in the end. Going to the food market really helped my language skills.
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. |
The workload is much lighter throughout the semester but the last two weeks they cram all the work in at once which makes it difficult to complete. The grading methods are much more strict. They don't care about overall understanding of knowledge. They look for specific names, dates, facts, etc. If you miss one thing your grade drops significantly. The teaching methods are about the same; lecture, powerpoint, videos. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They didn't do much to get all the students together to get to know each other. There was a welcome dinner and that was it. No goodbye dinner, no events throughout the semester. They could have done more to bring us together as a group. It was like they weren't there. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
ask teachers for good local places to eat, avoid the tourist spots. It's not good food and it's too expensive |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Madrid was a fun weekend excursion with my program. I wish I got to go to the soccer game they hosted as well. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I never felt unsafe in Barcelona, especially where I lived in Eixample. When I broke my wrist CEA got me a doctor's appointment immediately and the medical clinic was very helpful. |
| 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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | An outgoing student who likes to have fun and meet people |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Spanish Civilization and Culture |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Anonymous |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This class was not about Spanish civilization and culture. It was a history course which all of us were unaware of. We were expecting to learn about Spanish culture to better understand our surroundings and assimilate into the culture, but instead we learned about Spain's history. This wouldn't be a problem, except most of us were enrolled in other courses that covered Spain's history, so the classes overlapped each other. The teacher was horrible. Very unclear teaching method, strict grader without any explanation for grades, and always came to class unprepared looking like he just rolled out of bed. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
