CIEE ALA Barcelona Review June 15, 2022
By Emily B (Advanced Liberal Arts, Brandeis University) - abroad from 02/01/2022 to 06/01/2022 with
CIEE: Barcelona - Advanced Liberal Arts
Abroad was a great experience that I sculpted on my own terms with travelling, exploring the city, and making new friends.
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff did not treat students respectfully, overlooked and ignored pressing matters that students were experiencing, and placed students in inadequate housing. The protocol for course registration was not at all easy and had too many obstacles and catches. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The shower flooded into the apartment nearly daily and CIEE staff did not care. The neighbors were not happy to be living with study abroad students and caused a lot of hostility in the building and treated us poorly. The appliances did not work as needed and the apartment was not made to hold as many students as it did. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Offered a few fun programs in the city for ALA students that were free. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
N/A |
| * Safety: |
Barcelona has a lot of pick pockets and a lot of theft. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
Inadequate housing, academic requirements were mandated that I had already completed at Brandeis, CIEE staff is disrespectful to students, course registration was very difficult, and the difference in end dates between CIEE and UB was not transparent and caused a lot of issues once we arrived on the program. |
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 |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | HISP 106 was the last course I took that was taught in Spanish. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | To pick a different program |
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 Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
