Worth it, I guess. Past Review
By Josh H (Philosophy, University of Tulsa) - abroad from 01/10/2015 to 05/09/2015 with
CIEE: Paris - French And Critical Studies
I'm leaning toward saying it was worthwhile. I learned a lot about myself, got to see a lot of Europe, and greatly improved my French.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The courses were reasonably demanding but not difficult, and I improved my written and spoken French a lot. However, I found much of the course material to be uninteresting and pretty superficial relative to courses at my home university. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was pretty streamlined and everyone seemed to know what they were doing. My only objection is that they were not very effective at keeping a welcoming and respectful environment among the students at the Center. In fact, the social atmosphere of the Center was actually pretty toxic in many cases. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host family was absolutely awesome. My only problem was that they lived a half-hour metro ride from both the Center and the local university. |
| * Food: |
This has nothing to do with the program itself, but more with the city. Food can be expensive in Paris, so using the local CROUS cafeterias (3.20 euro per meal) is a must. Most students in this program are too rich and/or lazy to go here, but if you're on a budget like I was, it's quite the deal and not bad. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I was personally very integrated with the local culture, but the CIEE program itself was not at all conducive to this. Nearly all the other students formed American cliques, and their only serious contact with locals was with their host families. The only reason why I made local friends was because I found the social environment in the Center to be too toxic, not because of any CIEE encouragement. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
N/A |
| * Safety: |
I personally had no safety problems. If you look working-class and local, you're unlikely to be pickpocketed, so dress cheap and speak little. Women are often verbally harassed in the metro. Oh, and drink responsibly. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
Paris is expensive. I usually managed to stay within $100 per week, but most of my classmates spent a lot more than that. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eat at CROUS. Shop at Dia, H&M, and Decathlon. Fly RyanAir. Get your booze from the grocery store. Don't buy everything that looks cool. |
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 |
All the classes were in French, and we were encouraged to speak it with our hosts, but apart from that very little. The Center's language rules were almost never enforced. |
| 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? | 300-level |
| 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? | Get out of the Center and make friends with locals. |
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 had been prepared for the kind of students that were in the program. I had naively expected a diverse range of backgrounds and viewpoints. However, most of the students were ostentatiously rich, and in their ideas were very unified, self-congratulatory, and intolerant of dissent. |
