Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Barcelona: Fun and Rewarding Past Review

By (Finance and Financial Management Services., Trinity University) for

IES Abroad: Barcelona - Study Abroad with IES Abroad

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
YES

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

super easy!

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

They were very well organized and very helpful. I never felt like I wasn't going to be able to find someone to answer my question. Probably my favorite thing because they were super helpful!

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My Senora wasn't that good. She didn't tell us until that we had to ask her to turn on the hot water when taking showers so we literally took cold showers (like freezing cold) for the first half of the trip. She also limited us to a tiny little roll of toilet paper. She would also feed us moldy bread and we would get the same food every night. It was almost as if she was trying to spend as little money as possible in order to make as much money off of the program.

* Food:

home food was always the same thing so it was weird and i felt like i would get sick after most dinners. but outside of home the food was great!

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

lots of fun

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

well americans usually were the ones that stood out and target for mugging but i felt safe the entire time because i had two close guy friends with me!

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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? pretty expensive.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? keep a budget. don't go all out the first week because then you have nothing left over.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? None
Language acquisition improvement?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • It was rewarding!
* What could be improved?
  • Nothing

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Elementary Spanish
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language: English/Spanish
Comments: It was difficult because she spoke in Spanish 75% of the time in a beginning Spanish class. Luckily I remembered some things from high school but I know others had difficulty.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Barcelona: The Cosmopolitan City
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Easy and interesting class!
Credit Transfer Issues: