A Life-Changing 3.5 Months Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This is, quite honestly, the best program I could've asked for as a Classics student. It's hard, it's tiring, and it feels like an eternity sometimes. You spend hours and hours walking around to sites and standing there taking notes. But there is nothing more valuable and more useful to your memory than being on site while being lectured. There are more than enough books in the library to help you study - more than you probably will ever need. And the professors are helpful, and love to talk mroe about subjects if you have questions.

On-site administration of your program

Everyone was very helpful in getting us settled and always letting us know if there were things we needed to do (i.e. refill our bus passes every month). Franco and Pina are absolute gems - always helpful, always kind. As are the rest of the office staff.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing is small - two small floors with doubles and singles. I had a roommate in a little room with a bunkbed. But it ended up being great - my roommate and I got along really well, and you spend a lot of time outside your room, anyway.

As everyone's already said, the food is AMAZING. Get ready to eat a lot of pasta, risotto, and bread though. Lunch is always vegetarian - generally some kind of pasta or soup. Dinner has three courses - Primo, Secondo, and Dessert. Primo is generally vegetarian. Secondo is meat, and if you're vegetarian, you'll be eating either eggs, friend vegetables, beans, or a hunk of cheese with some vegetables. I was perfectly fine with it, but be aware.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It's hard to feel very integrated with the culture when you spend most of your days around a bunch of other Americans on site. The best shot is trying to converse with cashiers and people at cafes.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I did have one medical issue while I was there, and Franco and the office were very helpful in immediately finding me the right resources.

With any big city you've got worries. As a small female, I never really wanted to go around at night by myself. And as always (especially on the bus), watch your bags and belongings. But I've never felt safer crossing the street in front of a line of oncoming cars - pedestrians seem to have the right of way. And Italian pedestrians are also just fearless and don't care about walking out into traffic.

I say that with one caveat - I would do it again with the same people. It was hard and intense and sometimes I felt like I couldn't get up for another 7AM breakfast. Sometimes I thought I couldn't stand for another second on site without dying. I thought I'd never have the energy to study for my tests and quizzes. I think I'd need a couple months' rest before doing it again. But we all became so close at the Centro - everyone understood how exhausting it was (professors and students alike). We were all there for each other and supportive of each other. When we had the free time we'd spend it together having a good time. Rome wouldn't have been the same without the same people, and it won't be the same now. The memories you get from this experience combined with how much you learn are all worth it, though.

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

Since you get fed five days a week, expenses aren't so bad unless you're buying a lot of souvenirs. I also just don't eat much, so weekend meals were very cheap for me. You have a free bus pass, so that's a good amount of money saved, too. If you want to travel on weekends, of course, that's as little or as much as you want.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Americans

• The people
• Sicily and Campania trips
• Living in the Centro

• First weekend - we were kind of just left on our own to figure things out until Monday when classes started
• Breaks during Art History site visits!!!

The Academic or Linguist