Getting to know a completely unique city! Past Review
By Morgan B (Brandeis University) - abroad from 02/01/2016 to 05/23/2016 with
CIEE: Budapest - Business + European Studies
it was absolutely worthwhile - I became much more adventurous and self sufficient
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. |
Not as academically rigorous as my home institution |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
for the most part overwhelmingly positive |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in a triple, which I wouldn't necessarily have chosen myself. However, I lived on a hall with everyone else on my program which was a ton of fun. So so so freshman year though so be prepared for that. |
| * Food: |
get ready for some eastern *ehem, central european* food. It's a ton of meat and potatoes and not a lot else. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The dorms were mixed, so even though I lived on a hall with americans, most of the people living in the dorms were Hungarian which was awesome. The professors also played a huge role in furthering our cultural integration. My Hungarian teacher taught us to cook some traditional Hungarian dishes and the rest of the professors came with us on field trips and were always happy to answer as many questions as they could. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any health issues while I was away, so I didn't really interact with the healthcare system at all. From what I heard from friends, it is similar to other healthcare systems they'd encountered - tons of bureaucracy and long lines. |
| * Safety: |
Honestly, the city is much safer than I imagined it would be. Don't walk around at night alone if you can avoid it and don't clearly be drunk and/or American. The only advice we were given was that you're MUCH more likely to get mugged that way. But to be honest, none of my friends had any issues whatsoever while they were there. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I love Budapest and thought that the program was overall really great |
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) |
This city is much cheaper than what I was used to. It is very easy to keep to a budget there, and the lower cost of food made travel much more possible. I could have gotten by on less money than I spent - It would have been easy to do on 50 dollars a week. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | around $50-$100 a week; probably less |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | It's going to be tempting to eat out for most meals (you can get dinner for less than 10 dollars if you're looking in the right places, and my normal lunch spots were all less than 5 dollars) but it's so budget friendly to pack a lunch and make plans to cook dinner. While the dorm kitchen isn't a super cooking friendly space, it would have helped me keep to a budget had I taken advantage of it more often. |
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 |
Our trip to Romania would have been impossible without a couple of words in Hungarian, and the cultural component of our language class definitely made the experience much richer. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | None |
| 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? | Don't be afraid to use Hungarian when you're out - they love it when you try to use the language and although you're mispronouncing 80% of it, it's impossible to learn otherwise. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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'd known I wouldn't be doing an internship - with the choices, it wasn't really feasible. the program is mostly built for business majors |
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.' |
