Scottish travels with the Edinburgh Frisbee Team Past Review
By Sarah F (Neuroscience, Trinity University) - abroad from 01/17/2014 to 05/24/2014 with
IFSA: Edinburgh - University of Edinburgh
People are similar everywhere, but culture plays a really important part in the personalities of the people you meet. There is always something else to see.
Review Photos
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. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
IFSA-Butler is the best. Period. They are ridiculously nice and friendly (I became good friends with Danielle and Deirdre), and they do a fabulous job of organizing fun trips for us to go on. I loved our trips to Western Scotland and the Isle of Skye. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My housemates were wonderful and I still keep in contact with them! The bedding was not the best - I would recommend buying your own sheets and duvet when you get there. |
| * Food: |
Grocery stores are extremely accessible - there's almost always a small Tesco or Sainsbury's just down the road, but the vegetables aren't always ripe. I do recommend the curry they sell at the stores - it's the unofficial food of Scotland! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Very much so. I have not been to a more welcoming country. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
NHS is awesome! I tore my MCL playing ultimate frisbee at a tournament, and my program director called me a cab to take me to the physical therapist - it didn't cost me anything. |
| * Safety: |
I always felt incredibly safe walking around the main streets in Edinburgh, even if I was alone. The streets are well lighted, and since it is such a pedestrian city, there were nearly always other people walking around too. |
| 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) |
It was manageable unless you liked to eat a lot of pub grub. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Just above $150 a week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eat out sparingly, and buy your own alcohol if you can, rather than buying it at bars. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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? | It is always worth it. You will not miss out by being away for a semester. If you can't be away from your significant other for 5 months, you probably wouldn't have lasted anyways. We made it through just fine. :) |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Jesus and the Gospels |
| Course Department: | Religion |
| Instructor: | Dr. Helen Bond |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The course was not overly challenging, but extremely engaging, even for a science major filling in common curriculum credit! Dr. Bond is eloquent, understanding, and very passionate about her area of expertise. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Developmental Biology 3 |
| Course Department: | Biological Sciences |
| Instructor: | Dr. Val Wilson |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Dev Bio was interesting because there were about 6 different professors that gave guest lectures throughout the semester. This was nice because it mixed up the lectures, but meant that there was a lot of variability in the difficulty level of the lectures. All in all, a good, solid course. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
