DIS: A Well-Rounded Program Past Review

By Caitlin W (PSYCHOLOGY., Carleton College) for

DIS Copenhagen: Semester

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

definitely. i have learned a lot about myself and grown as a person both academically and socially. i've confimed career interests as well as other goals. plus i have had a really really fun semester.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Definitely not equal to my workload at home, but I think that is good for a study abroad experience--you don't want to be so busy studying that you don't get to see the place you're living in. DIS does a great job of integrating the places we visit (both in Copenhagen and on the long and short study tours) with the curriculum and making sure we take advantage of the great location we're studying in.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	overall fairly organized as abroad programs go because it is such a big program. there are offices to deal with all your problems, and although it can get a bit bureaucratic at times, overall they are very good at responding to your issues if you bring them up in a timely/polite manner and helping you resolve any problems you may have
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I loved my host family they were wonderful. I had two host sisters and even a host dog! My commute was pretty long (took me about an hour or so to get to class) but I actually enjoyed my train ride quite a lot.
* Food:	My host mom was a great cook! Also on study tours DIS feeds us very well at nice restaurants, sometimes with extra treats.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	loved the DIS social opportunities. lots of activities and events to sign up for, and lots of opportunities to meet new people (among 900 total enrolled per semester). one of my friends now I met on the plane here, whereas somebody else I met through one of my classes.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	copenhagen is a very safe city, I haven't heard of any problems
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	if I wanted to I could have spent basically no money because my transportation and food were covered (Food by host family). I went shopping a lot but did not "go out" much on weekends and only occasionally bought food in town. So probably about $10-$20 a week on average. But obviously I spent a lot more on traveling.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	I know with others who are not with host families the DIS stipend for food is a bit difficult to stretch through the whole period. So be prepared to spend a little more if you choose one of those options. obviously it depends on how much you want to go out to eat and go to bars and go to museums and buy things. Food is very expensive here though and an average meal out is easily $20 a person.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	None
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure?	none
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	Taking Danish is optional although most students do it. I lived with a host family so when they spoke Danish to each other I could practice comprehension. But EVERYBODY speaks English in Denmark so you have to really work to practice learning Danish. My host family speaks English to me and mostly to each other when I'm around.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Other Dorm Apartment Host Family
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Host Family
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	my host family travel opportunities organization of DIS
* What could be improved?	more opportunities to learn danish
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	someone who would like to take classes in many different areas, is motivated to immerse themselves in an unfamiliar/not very "popular" culture (i.e. not a usual study abroad destination

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Applied Psychology
Course Department:	Psychology
Instructor:	Carla
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	it was challenging but very fun... different from a lot of other classes in that it's more experiential. we practice therapy exercises and roleplays in addition to lecture. tests and essays are graded fairly--not too easy, but reasonable.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Positive Psychology
Course Department:
Instructor:	Gitte Vonsild
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	could have been an interesting class but did not turn out to be that way. our long study tour was fantastic, but unfortunately the regular coursework did not progress very much and we only scratched the surface of the topics we discussed.
Credit Transfer Issues: