getting to know Amsterdam February 02, 2025
By A student (Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/19/2024 to 12/21/2024 with
IES Abroad: Amsterdam - Social Sciences & Humanities
I learned that different universities have vastly different teaching styles than my home school. I also gained a lot of independence and confidence to travel/explore on my own. It was worthwhile and a very valuable experience.
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. |
not very rigorous, but felt like a good level and there were plenty of resources available |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
great staff, the only thing was that the students in the program felt very spread out after the orientation since there were different housing locations/universities |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
learned a lot and met a few locals through university classes, mostly only interacted with other abroad students though |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
was in PT while abroad, study abroad center helped me find somewhere to go and the program had insurance that covered it |
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| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | around $80 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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? | I wish I'd known more about how different study abroad programs were structured in terms of courses, interactions with other students, housing, etc |
