Live the Life of a Heidelberger Past Review
By Jenna N (Business Administration and Management, The College of New Jersey) - abroad from 01/07/2016 to 05/14/2016 with
European Study Center: Heidelberg - Study Abroad in the EU
I learned about a different cultures daily life and what it is like to live a different way
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Everyone was really helpful, especially the interns working in the front office, because you had a lot of face to face contact and they helped with any problems that you had and assistance with travel plans |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The house is incredible and my room was the perfect size along with the bathrooms being very nice and new. However, my one issue was that the house is a famous structure, so there are people that try to get into the house, even though the property is closed for our use as residents. This bothered me because I would hope that more doors would be locked in order to prevent strangers from walking into the house |
| * Food: |
We cook for ourselves, and the kitchen would always become very messy, but that is no fault on the ESC |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We became very used to using the public transportation, however, we were not forced into the culture in a scary kind of way. It was up to us as individuals to include ourself into the culture |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Very helpful, once you scheduled an appointment, someone from the ESC would come with you to the doctors so you could know you were getting the proper care and translation |
| * Safety: |
Like I mentioned earlier, this house is very big and very safe. I have not had any personal feelings of being unsafe throughout my time here. However, the only issue would be that people try to get inside the house because they think that it is an open house that they can look around in because it is famous. The only open gate is the one in the backyard. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Everything was perfectly planned, and my school is directly affiliated with the ESC |
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) |
Grocery shopping is much cheaper than America and then a small budget for extracurricular items |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | about 35 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Make a budget for groceries because it will not be a lot and that way you arent spending more money on that than traveling or other expenses |
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 |
There were certain words and phrases that they would teach us, which was very helpful |
| 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? | intermediate spanish |
| 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? | I would definitely use Duolingo to practice words and phrases that you actually use a lot while being in Germany |
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? | I think I knew plenty about the program because of my university. I do know that some of the others students i was with had no prior knowledge about what to expect. So perhaps there can be a bigger program encouraging home schools to better explain the ESC program |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
