Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Scotland is AMAZING Past Review

By (Business Marketing, San Jose State University) - abroad from 01/11/2012 to 05/15/2012 with

Edinburgh Napier University: Edinburgh - Direct Enrollment & Exchange

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned how to live on my own and in another country. I learned how easy it is to travel on your own and how friendly people can be in other countries. How it is not scary to experience other parts of the world. How much history is in Europe and how plan to see as much as you can in short periods of time. First time for me living in a hostile while traveling, definietly learned how to choose better ones and how awesome some are to meet other young travelers going abroad. SO MUCH I LEARNED I CANNOT LIST IT ALL. It is a once in a lifetime experience that shouldn't be taken for granted!!!!!

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

Stipend that didn't quite match what is received in San Jose.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Our friend got injured when going out one night. Was taken by the ambulance, then had to wait in the ER for 3+ hours.

* Safety:

Never felt unsafe in the city. Clean and safe, and everyone was nice and helpful if in need of help.

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)

As everyone already knows the pound is worth more than the dollar. Felt like everything was double so money went fast. But I properly planned out my spending and survived.

* Was housing included in your program cost? Yes
* Was food included in your program cost? No
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? Well we got a 600pound stipend for food, on top of that a lot of money because it felt like food was priced higher than the states. Also, it didn't have as long of a shelf life and food would go bad faster.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Buy as you go. Don't bulk purchase because food overthere has no preservatives and are imported so they do not last as long.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? Exchange

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Other
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?
  • The city of Edinburgh and the entire country as a whole. The people are friendly and the country is historic and beautiful. I was there for 5 months and felt like I didn't see everything it had to offer.
  • How close the country is to other countries and the inexpensive ways to travel.
  • The international parties, we made a lot of our friends through the get togethers of all the international students.
* What could be improved?
  • I think that they should incorporate more local students into the international program. I felt like I met more people from Germany than from Scotland
  • Housing, they need to intermix students. I love the friends that I made and who I was living with, however, it would have been nice to meet people with different backgrounds.
  • Communication with the advisor, sometimes we couldn't get ahold of the advisor for a while, and we had some issues with housing and our flats falling apart and they had low response levels.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Nothing really, I feel like the experience went amazingly I had so much fun.