Forca Barca Past Review
By Brittney B (Advertising., The University of Texas at Austin) for
IES Abroad: Barcelona - Study Abroad with IES Abroad
ABSOLUTELY.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Professors were very good about relating grades from the Spanish system to the American system. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff was really friendly and always helpful (setting up doctor's appointments, helping you fax things home, etc). The only real disadvantage for me was the Friday classes. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with a friend from school with a host family in the Exiample area (Passeo de San Juan 84). The location was PERFECT, very very nice area really close to school and the main areas of town. A little far from the beach nightlife scene but I wouldn't trade the location for anything it was perfect (on the purple/yellow metro line). My host family experience was really amazing, I got a perfect family - so nice, so warm, so inviting, I truly loved them. |
| * Food: |
|
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Barcelona nightlife is unreal, too much fun to be had. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
I visited a doctor, Dr. Saval, he was great and IES was very good about setting me up with him. |
| 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) |
|
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Worth the money, absolutely. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had completed all of the undergraduate level courses before Barcelona. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I lived with a host family so I spoke to them at home every in Spanish and my conversational skills really did improve a lot. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Barcelona is incredible, best four months of my life. If you're thinking of studying in Spain you gotta do Barca without a doubt. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Leadership in a Cross Cultural World |
| Course Department: | IB |
| Instructor: | Jay Moran |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | BEST CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN IN COLLEGE. This is honestly the most useful and interesting class I could ever take in my life. The class is set up with an almost 100% discuss based lecture. Although this may sound intimidating, it is far from it. You participate when you want, and listen when you don't - he will rarely call people out to respond if you aren't raising your hand. The readings are very interesting and worthwhile. All of the tests are AT HOME essay, which means minimal note taking in class. Show up, listen to what others have to say, and you will have plenty of things to respond to when he gives out the essay topics (you always get at least a week to work on the essays at home). I cannot say enough how amazing this class was. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
European Television in Comparative Perspective |
| Course Department: | CM330 |
| Instructor: | ? |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. The material was extremely boring and way over my head. The professor expected the class to have a background of the European Union, which no one did, and that made the class almost impossible to understand. There was a tremendous amount of material to be learned and the method of teaching was horrible. I honestly learned nothing in this class - a semester's worth of notes in this class was about five notebook pages of drawings (and I usually take thorough notes). The tests were not that hard, however, but were not even worth studying for because out of more than a handful of notes she would pick 5 questions. The amount of time you would study for a test would not determine your grade. I would pick another class if you can. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
