Living the dream! Past Review
By Wesley K (Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering., Arizona State University) - abroad from 05/28/2014 to 07/26/2014 with
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Sydney, Australia
I gained so many personal skills and really became more independent while I was abroad. It was absolutely worthwhile and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
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. |
It was a Summer program so the courses moved very fast, but it was all balanced and managed well by the faculty and staff. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The on-site CAPA administrators were amazing! They were always so nice and eager to help us since Day 1! They definitely made the transition to Sydney-life were smooth. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I chose to do a homestay so I lived with a family in Sydney. It was a perfect match for me and met all the requirements I asked for when I filled out the housing survey! The house was outside the City so I got to see parts of Sydney that most students did not! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I feel like most of my culture integration came from the homestay part of my experience. The classes were taught by Australian professors, but all the students in the courses were from the United States. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had no healthcare issues, but from the moment we arrived, we were explained the coverage we had and not to worry about anything which was comforting! |
| * Safety: |
I am a very nervous person, but there were several nights where I was walking through my neighborhood alone at night or in the City and never felt in danger. I would caution any future students to just use common sense when traveling and maybe use the buddy-system whenever possible. |
| 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) |
As a note, Sydney is a very expensive city to live in. Meals and activities were very expensive so it was tough to stick to a budget. Fortunately for me, I lived with a family so my breakfasts and dinners were always covered. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $250 would be a very rough guesstimate. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | A major way to save money would be to live with a family and do a homestay! Other than that it is tough to save money while you are there because you take it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and want to do anything and forget about money. I would consider maybe doing a quick evaluation on how much money has been spent every 2 weeks while in a program. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
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? | I wish I knew how amazing it would be and how fast the time would go that way I didn't panic before I left for Sydney! |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Nearly Native or Trail BlazerCraving the most authentic experience possible, perhaps you lived with a host family or really got in good with the locals. You may have felt confined by your program requirements and group excursions. Instead, you'd have preferred to plan your own trips, even skipping class to conduct your own 'field work.' |
