Australia is an AMAZING place! Past Review
By Kayla R (Sociology., Brandeis University) - abroad from 02/17/2014 to 06/29/2014 with
IFSA: Sydney - University of Sydney
I gained a sense of independence from my abroad experience and learned exactly how much our world has to offer. I saw and experienced things that I would never have even thought of doing if I hadn't been abroad ... for example: skydiving, scuba diving and mountain climbing. My experience abroad was 100% worth while.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Courses were MUCH harder than expected and academics, in general, were the most difficult parts of the entire experience. Although, courses were interesting. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
IFSA-Butler was amazing! I highly recommend it. My program advisor in Australia, Fiona, was great. She planned awesome trips and events for us and was ALWAYS there to help. We could email he with virtually any question or concern and she would do all she could to help. I was extremely pleased with IFSA-Butler. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in Urbanest. The apartments were brand new and beautiful, but the staff was not friendly or helpful and there was constant construction from the day we moved in and until the day we left. |
| * Food: |
Food was good, but pricy. A "cheap" meal was around $15-$20. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I was only integrated with the Australian culture at school and at my internship. I lived with 7 other Americans and was in a program with 30 Americans in total. Looking back I was I met and hung out with more Australians. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
The local health clinic was knowledgable and easily accessible. |
| * Safety: |
I felt safe most of the time, but we lived in an area that felt very unsafe at night. |
| 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 VERY difficult to live on a student's budget. Everything is Australia is VERY expensive compared to America. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | at least $200 a week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Buy a lot of alcohol in duty free before you arrive!! Alcohol is SO EXPENSIVE! |
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? | 0 |
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 knew how difficult school was going to be and how expensive it was going to be to live in Sydney. |
