Rome is a memorable and exciting experience I would recommend to anyone. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Not as challenging as Trinity, but I found the professors were more than willing to add extra challenges to those who were up for them.

On-site administration of your program

At times, the administration was a bit hectic and confusing.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Apparently I lived in the nicer apartments (Alessandro Poerio 4, in Monteverde) but I never had any issues. There was a garden, several bathrooms, and a living room. Our apartment was huge, which was fortunate because 8 of us lived there.

The food was amazing. We lived around the corner from a cafe and a grocery store, so fresh food was always abundant and close.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Living in Monteverde helped a lot (not many tourists and most shop owners speak little to no English), but it also took an extra effort from me that most of my roommates did not take. I went to the same cafe every morning and ordered in Italian. We never had a long conversation, but they knew exactly what I wanted by the end and started making it without me even ordering it. I also go incredibly good at the grocery stores. I'm not fascinated with foreign grocery stores (which is admittedly a little odd).

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I was extremely impressed with how IES handled my stint in the hospital. Everyone from my Italian Student Companion to the office staff was on top of helping me. I was even more impressed with my doctor at the hospital. If every doctor was an 1/8th as good as him, the world would be a better place. He was communicative, kind, helpful. When I was having trouble communicating while paying my bill (a lot of very specific Italian words I don't know) he went out of his way to explain my situation and how I was paying. The hospital was clean, private, and the staff was very kind. Also there was air conditioning which was great. There was an issue with internet. While the hospital had internet, it didn't reach my room. My ISC attempted to get me moved, but nothing came of it. I consider that a minor detail, however.

Although I did have my purse stolen, that was due to my own hubris. I had been in Rome for a while and I thought I was far enough away from the tourist area to be fine. I was wrong. That being said, I never felt even remotely unsafe. Several times I walked through sketchier areas alone (during the daytime) and there was not even an incident to speak of.

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

Rome is...so much less expensive than I thought. I'm still just blown away how inexpensive decent food and wine was. There were a few things I got occasionally that were more expensive (I became deeply in love with stracciatella cheese, which does not come cheap), but general food and life expenses were not great. Also, gluten free food is the same price as its regular counterparts 99% of the time, but significantly better quality.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

If you really do want to learn the language, every single faculty and staff member will teach you. For instance, on my trip to Assisi, a staff member and I stood around eating gelato while she taught me the individual names of dog breeds in Italian. However, if you are very casual about learning the language, you are unlikely to learn much. I heard several students complain that they weren't learning much, but I never heard them trying much either.

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• Apartment

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• Local Students
• Americans

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• Americans

• The professors
• Cooking class!
• My neighborhood

• Organization

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer