Crazy but worth it! Past Review
By A student (Illinois State University) - abroad from 06/01/2012 to 07/31/2012 with
ICN Business School Nancy-Metz: Nancy - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
The experience was worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
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 |
As part of the program, we we were supposed to have access to internet during our school breaks. Due to administration issues we weren't able to use the school computers until the second to last day of the program! We received our 'school IDs' very late into the program, and I am not sure why we received or paid for them if we NEVER used them. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Cafeteria food was pretty bad, a lot of time we just ate the bread and had to buy snacks or go out to eat so that we can fulfill our hunger. Kind of wish we weren't charged in advance for the cafeteria food, so that we could have spend that money on food that we enjoyed eating and not have to spend even extra money on food. |
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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? |
A girl got sick, and the director's daughter took her to the doctor. |
| * Safety: |
While traveling with the program, we stayed at hostels in really bad neighborhoods. In our residence in Metz, random guys were trying to get into the girls' rooms because the front desk gave them our room numbers when they asked where the American girls were. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $300 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Bring a lot of clothes so you are not forced to buy clothes like most of the students on the program did because of the constantly changing weather. |
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 |
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| 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? | None |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 0 |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Study because you learn more culture than language in the French classes you take. Plus all of the French classes were at the very end of our program, which made no sense. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Weather problems, language. |
