Copenhagen: The Happiest City in the World Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The architecture and design department was very organized and used a fair and holistic grading system that met the standards of American students from different universities in the country. The teachers within the department as well were very insightful and were never difficult to understand (they had very good English) and taught things in the classroom both inside the classroom and out in field studies. I cannot express enough how organized the program is. As far as I can tell, the architecture and design program specifically is the most rigorous and challenging program in the school (in a general overview). I highly recommend this program for a design student who is interested in working with an advanced caliber of students and is serious about design and architecture. Scandinavia is a great place for any design student with these ambitions.

On-site administration of your program

The DIS program overall is very organized, like I have mentioned before. So, it is a very easy transition for any student to re-adjust into the Danish culture with the help of the staff and organizations through the program. DIS does a great job sending preliminary material for parents, organizing housing, and arranging orientation trips that there is absolutely no excuse for any student NOT to give the administration at DIS a perfect rating. This is definitely a luxury that I know many, if not all, study abroad programs do not do.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My choice in housing was deliberately made because of the importance of proximity. Be forewarned, that if you do not wish to commute for long (ie: 1 hour or more), try not to choose the Folk High school, and sometimes Danish families are located very far from the inner city. It is really a matter of priorities for each individual student, but I wanted to be close to the studio to maximize my work hours.

I had no dietary restrictions, but I know it is a bit difficult for vegetarians to find food in Denmark.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Danish is an incredibly unusual language, and it is only used by such a small percentage of Europeans. It is normally advisable (from fellow Europeans) to not take a Danish language course unless you are fully intending on staying for longer than 1 semester. Unfortunately, I never had the course room in my curriculum to take the Danish course offered at DIS. But there are opportunities for students to take them outside of the school as well throughout Copenhagen.

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• Local Students