I had the best experience of my life studying abroad in Rome! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was fairly easy, the grading system was fair, and the teaching methods were very hands on i.e. on site classes, trying food and wine in class. This allowed me to learn the material quicker than just sitting in a classroom like I would be back home.

On-site administration of your program

The CEA staff was very friendly and personalized. They knew everyone by name and all you had to do was stop by their office if you needed any help. The front desk intern was very nice and organized and answered any of your questions. They knew a lot about where to go within the city for whatever we needed and took us out a few times for local activities i.e. crepes, pizza, gelato, etc.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We were housed close to CEA, however our second university, John Cabot, was about a 45- 1 hr bus ride away making it sometimes difficult to get to class during strikes. We lived far from the main night life as well, always having to take a 25-45 minute bus ride to the center of the city or Trastevere. We needed to buy hangers, extension cords for extra plugs, a few cooking utensils (sponges, towels), and trashcans. The neighborhood we lived in was safe, however we lived in the middle of a busy piazza so it was always noisy til all hours of the night, making it sometimes difficult to sleep and study. The furniture and decorations in the apartment did not go together and were extremely cheap. In our living room we had a tiny couch and did not receive other sitting chairs until the end of November, almost at the end of our program. Because of this, my room mates and I rarely hung out in the common room and stuck to our bedrooms. This slowed down our bonding process and we only began to become good friends towards the end. We did have a large flat screen TV which was nice. A lot of stuff broke down in the apartment, and usually YPR was quick to fix it, although sometimes they were very rude about it and made us feel uncomfortable reporting anything else that needed to be fixed. Everyone in the program lived 15-30 minutes away from each other making it more difficult to hang out with more than your room mates on a daily basis.

Italian food is amazing, get ready to eat a lot of pizza and pasta- there are parks nearby where you can run so you don't gain too much weight. As far as the variety of food goes there's Italian and Chinese and that's about it. You can find gluten free products and dairy products that are for lactose intolerants at the supermarket which is very convenient.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We took a trip to the Amalfi Coast which was a lot of fun because most of the people in our program went. We also took an Italian Cooking Class which was a lot of fun as well. We visited a Wine Vineyard and had lunch in Tuscany as well which was extremely educational and interesting about the process of wine making. We went on a pizza and gelato crawl where they showed us the best pizza and gelato places in the center of the city. We also got crepes which were extremely delicious too.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

In orientation the school had a police officer come and talk to us about safety- this was very thorough and prepared us very well. The city was safe and I only felt threatened once when I went to Testaccio- not the nicest part of town. If you were sick you just went to the pharmacy and they could give you what you needed very easily. There was an emergency number through our program you could call if you were deathly ill and needed to go to the hospital, but I never needed to use it. Be smart about where you put your belongings when you go out to make sure that you don't get pick pocketed. Healthcare was different from America in that you just went to a pharmacy to get what you needed instead of making a doctor's appointment and pharmacies were all over the city- easily accessible. There were no vaccines needed for coming to Italy.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I used Italian in everyday interactions i.e. going to restaurants, cafes, sightseeing, etc. I could practice Italian with locals that I met and most people spoke Italian where I lived and interacted, forcing me to use Italian more.

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• Apartment

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• Americans

• Traveling
• Nightlife
• Food

• Location of housing- proximity to all schools and other student's apartments in the program