Madrid: Already makes me sad to think about leaving Past Review
By Christina G (Spanish Language and Literature., Illinois State University) for
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Madrid, Spain
so far yes!
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. |
Workload is fine, grading system depends wayyyy too much on attendance in my opinion, teaching methods overall I really like, some differences include how much they interact with the students here which I do like. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Very helpful, great that there are group excursions really helps to make friends. I wish we had more planned weekend trips. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
At first I wasn't sure if I was happy with my homestay option only because we are a bit farther from the city than all the other students who are living together, but after we settled in we became very happy with it. Much better for practicing the language, and saves a lot of money on food etc. |
| * Food: |
If there are any specifications with your diet, you can easily tell your house mom and it shouldn't be an issue! But you'll definitely save money in a homestay. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We have yet to do a lot of our trips but I already feel so involved with everyone in my program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I got sick the first week, told one of our site directors and she immediately made me a doctor's appointment and it was so easy. |
| 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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I've only been here a few weeks but as of right now, try to hold off on buying all the foods and everything right away because you'll soon realize that you have more than enough time to experience everything. Try to space it out according to how much money you have. My roommate and I decided to start sticking to eating at our homestay and saving our eating out money for traveling (as much as we can). |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| 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?
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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 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? | Be open minded and allow yourself time to adjust and realize how lucky you are! I know and have heard of too many people who take advantage of their experience by worrying too much about anything then when they return home, they wish they could go back and soak it up more. It will change you in ways you wont even realize until later, and change your outlook on life. |
