A Wonderful Lifechanging Experience - I will be back! January 02, 2025
By A student (History and Spanish, Wellesley College) - abroad from 09/04/2024 to 12/18/2024 with
CIEE: Barcelona - Liberal Arts
It was definitely worthwhile. I gained language skills, more historical and political knowledge, and became even more independent.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I learned a lot from this program, although the courses of course could've been more academically rigorous (but that worked well with while being a new environment and being challenged in other ways) |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
CIEE's administration of their program was great, except for the connections with the other universities (UPF in my case). The communication between UPF and CIEE was a bit poor. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Loved living in a homestay! |
| * Food: |
Homestay was lovely, except our host parents clearly did not enjoy cooking. We were served raw chicken twice which was a bit concerning, but when we noticed it, our host mom cooked it more for us. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt pretty involved and really enjoyed living in Barcelona. Taking a class at a local university and living in a homestay really helped. However, I think I would've felt more connected if there had been opportunities to take Catalan classes. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I got sick and was able to get insured medical care and only had to pay a bit for my medication. My host family was very kind and drove me to the hospital and back. |
| * Safety: |
I felt very safe in the city, even at night as a woman. The only worries I had were trying not to get pickpocketed which unfortunately is a big problem in Barcelona. I was never pickpocketed, but people I knew were. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I loved the excursions, the professors, and the location! Was really grateful that I was able to take all my classes in Spanish |
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) |
Totally depends on how you live. I personally saved up a lot of money so I could travel a lot and visit a lot of museums while I was there. Thus, some weeks I spent a lot of money (hundreds for travel + food) but other weeks I spent somewhere around 100 just on a bit of food and a excursion here or there. Barcelona's food prices are very affordable, so if you think you won't be traveling much you can definitely spend around $100/150 a week, especially if you are in a homestay and eat with your family. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $400 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | If you are in a homestay, try to eat as much as you can with them! You will thank yourself for not spending extra money on food you didn't need. Also, make a priority list for things you want to do, so book the things you know you want to spend money on early. |
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? | A 200 level Spanish course at Wellesley post SPAN 241 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Stay in a homestay, see if there are buddy programs at the university to get matched with a local student, watch/read the local news |
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? | Wish I would've had more of a financial plan for myself in terms of how much I wanted to spend |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
