Vienna was sick. Past Review
By Andrew L (Music., Harvard University) for
IES Abroad: Vienna - Study Abroad With IES Abroad
Yes. The music scene there is great. The people in my program were cool.
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. |
Workload - average. Grading system - very fair, not harsh. Teaching methods - different for each teacher. Not fantastic. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Strengths - housing, friendly staff. Weaknesses - not the greatest teachers, things were disorganized. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I let the program set up my housing. |
| * Food: |
KEBAP. Schnitzel. Kase-Kreiner. Heudigens. Beer. Wine. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
the more local trips were great. baden was nice. Prague was too disorganized. Seeing the concentration camp in Terezin made it worth it though. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
when a student was injured, the staff did not do a great job about spreading the news to the other staff members. other than that all fine. |
| 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? | $150 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | bring money. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | None. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I learned some basic German well, but the class was kind of unorganized which made it difficult to know what to study. About half the people in Vienna spoke English but I still got to practice German with vendors. |
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?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Go to the opera house a couple hours before the opera and get standing room tickets. Lots of waiting and standing but worth it, only 4 euros. |