Paris is an amazing city, but the program could use some work. Past Review
By Mary C (Barnard College) - abroad from 09/03/2012 to 12/14/2012 with
Columbia University: Paris - Reid Hall
French language skills. Learned a lot about different cultures. Yes worthwhile. Great break from Barnard. Refreshing experience.
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. |
The Reid Hall courses, Paris en contexte (histoire) with Professor Dequeker, Arts à Paris with Professor Baudouin and Practicum/Academic Writing with Professor Rouquette Orio were wonderful. The university course at Sorbonne (Paris IV) in Geography was not a great experience. The resources for doing research papers in all the above classes were not available. It was almost impossible to find a library to get the required resources. I felt limited to what was available through my home school online. The intensity for Reid Hall was a little more than I would have liked. University was okay. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Severine is absolutely the best. She really cared about students being comfortable in Paris and in their classes. She helped me a lot with adjusting to the french university system. Laurence was helpful as well. I had a great experience with the administration, which I think was not the case for everyone on the program. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Lived with a family friend. |
| * Food: |
France has amazing food. There are ways to eat cheap and well. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Taking a seminar with french students would have helped me have more interactions with french people in an academic setting. I did make friends in my university class, which proved useful and to be a great experience to speak the language. Going out was how I integrated the most and ended up meeting some great french people! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
NA |
| * Safety: |
I had no problems with safety... Others did. |
| 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 pretty expensive. There are ways to be savvy though. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 150 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | EU citizenship helps and your Reid Hall card to get into museums etc. Go grocery shopping to save money. |
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 |
They encouraged it a lot. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| 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? | Intermediate II and Advanced Oral French |
| 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? | Read Le Monde in the morning to get adjusted to speaking french. Make french friends to practice with! A lot of the times they want to speak english so go get coffee, you speak in french and them in english. You do not get a lot of speaking time in class at Reid Hall so take advantage of resources outside the school. |
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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| 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? | They gave you cell phones. How the french university system works (I still do not understand it). How many hours of tutoring you get and with which tutor (some tutors were not so great I heard, mine was). |
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. |
