Paris est magnifique! Past Review
By John K (Economics, Harvard University) for
Columbia University: Paris - Reid Hall, Summer
My time in Paris was extremely rewarding. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate a new culture and added a certain clarity to how I view my own. After seeing how remarkable Paris was no in so many ways, I am ever more aware of all the potentially wonderful places in the world that I am yet to visit and I want to do so. It also made me appreciate what a gift it is to be able to travel and experience new things something I will never take for granted.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was manageable. The teaching system was excellent. There was almost no difference between the education system at Reid Hall and that in America since it was a Columbia University program. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I felt the tuition payment structure wasn't particularly well explained. For instance we could only pay after the 15th of June(after we had already left the USA). We were not made aware that we could easily use online checks to pay. Furthermore, I had to sign up using my uni id before I could access the billing portal but I couldn't find my uni id as my name had been recorded wrongly. This led to a huge delay in payment, I was charged a late fine and missed a few deadlines at Harvard since my transcript could only be sent after I had paid. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I was extremely pleased with my housing situation. My host family was wonderful and treated me very well. The only drawback was that they had told Host Families in Paris that they would be away during July, but Host Families in Paris neglected to tell me this. I only found out on the day they were leaving. I spent most of July in the house alone, my host brother showed up from time to time but it was not the same. |
| * Food: |
I was very pleased with the meals I had with my family during the first month. Eating out was also wonderful, but very expensive hence the 4. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My most memorable social events organized by Reid Hall were an excursion to Claude Monet's home in Giverny, trip to Normandie and a wine tasting event in Paris. A lot of my social life was removed from Reid Hall though it partly revolved around many wonderful friends I had made in the program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I never had any health related issues(none of my friends had any either). The program gave us basic practical advice about safety in Paris and especially pickpockets in the subway. |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent an average of 150-200 euros each week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Food was more expensive than I had planned for. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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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? | This is a program that you should definitely follow. I found that being matched to a compatible host family was extremely important, take time to fill the hosing questionnaire thoughtfully. The type of student that is comfortable making their own way without having some structure defined for them will love this program. Reid Hall will often just take care of classes which take about 2-3 hours Monday-Friday, the rest is all on you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Second Year Grammar and Conversation I |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Vincent Aurora |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | The class was a good overview of various aspects of French grammar. Field trips were not offered specifically as part of this course but there were social excursions. Vincent was extremely knowledgeable and well prepared for every class. He was also very animated and made every class very interesting. I would say my level of participation was slightly more than it would have been at my home institution since the class was smaller. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Second Year Grammar and Conversation |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Mathilde Cortilde |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Mathilde's class was extremely helpful in terms of understanding grammatical nuances and developing a standard french accent. She was extremely knowledgeable and found a variety of ways to enhance the classroom experience and make acquisition of listening and speaking skills easier. Such activities included listening to news pod casts everyday, debating on a articles we had read, maintaining a class blog where each student had to post at least twice, classroom presentations on various topics etc. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No. |
