Formative July 28, 2023
By A student (International Politics and Economics, Middlebury College) - abroad from 01/13/2023 to 05/12/2023 with
DIS Stockholm Semester
Similar to last answer, it was so worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
My core core was amazing; so impactful, so thought provoking, so cool. My other classes were pretty unexciting |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living in Sollentuna was the primary reason I was really unhappy during this semester. I felt so isolated, like I didn't get the chance to know the city HALF as well as the students living in the city (or the county even) and the public transport was a variable that prevented us from getting to class, social occasions, or to explore on several occasions. We all pay the same for housing, putting some kids on an island in an area that is entirely different from the city and frankly, confused and seemingly annoyed that international students were around was stupid and vastly undermined my experience overall. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
If I was in any other core class, no chance would I do this program again. I hated where I lived, the winter was incredibly long, and Stockholm is an extremely expensive place to be your home base if you intend on traveling a lot. However, my class made it SO worth it, and the personal growth I underwent during this period was probably due to how isolating it was inherently, and how much I had to go out of my way to feel comfortable with the people around me. If I knew everything I know now, I would definitely do it again. If not, I would've made a very different choice. |
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? | Not sure, probably around 100, more if traveling |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Not particularly, depends so much on where you are |
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 wanted us to practice and it was fun to learn in class but nooooo pressure outside of class to practice |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | none |
| 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? | TRY its not embarassing and even if you are embarrassed the satisfaction from communicating with someone in their native language is such a beautiful and rewarding thing! |
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? | 0 |
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? | again, mostly what I mentioned above |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
European Security Dilemmas |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Steve Turner |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I learned how to think in this class. I have never taken a class where I felt the work load, intensity of the professor and relevance of the material was this perfectly motivating. It kept me SO engaged with current events and with the theories discussed in class, I was forced to consider so many perspectives and it all came together beautifully on our study tour. Would recommend this class to ANYONE who's a bit of a nerd for IR. I wish I could take it again. |
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