Would have been PERFECT if I hadn't studied abroad through IES Past Review
By emmanouilidou (Journalism., Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/21/2013 to 05/10/2013 with
IES Abroad: Salamanca - Advanced Spanish Immersion
Improved my Spanish, met great people, experienced another culture
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Way too much busy work. The way my program worked was that they had their own classes and then we were allowed to also take classes at the Spanish University (Universidad de Salamanca). The IES classes were a complete waste of my time and really prevented all the students from doing more valuable things because they required so much work! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Aside from one member, the administration was not helpful or understanding. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had requested to live in a residence hall and I was placed in the residence hall. |
| * Food: |
As a residence hall student, I ate one meal a day at the dining hall. The food was really bad. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The only reason I did not feel totally integrated was because of IES itself! All the busy work they gave us prevented us from going out and doing precisely that! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Unfortunately I got sick during my time abroad and had to visit the hospital. One of my program's coordinators accompanied me and that was really helpful. No hospitals in Salamanca accept the CISI insurance (which is what my program provides), so I had to pay out of pocket and then fill out a form and send it to CISI in order to receive a refund, which was kind of inconvenient. |
| * Safety: |
I felt very safe in Salamanca. I was not ever targeted in any way, and neither were my classmates. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
Salamanca is very cheap! |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | about 60 euros |
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? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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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? |
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 had known how many pointless, silly rules IES Salamanca had. Talking to my friends from other programs, no one's program was like this. The biggest complain among students in my program was that we were treated like elementary school students, and it really affected our overall experience. |
