Past Review
By Alyssa L (politics and philosophy, The Catholic University of America) for
Institute of Public Administration: Dublin - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
Study abroad experience was completely worthwhile, I was just not a fan of the program. I liked the faculty but there wasn't much else to it. I loved, loved, the people I interned with in the Dail, that was a great experience, but I wish they put us out more into the Irish culture.
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. |
Workload, although they mashed a lot of information into classes, was not overall difficult. IT would just have been better to process if it was a little slower. Grading system was fair and decent; teaching methods were good, sometimes boring (literature was AWESOME); but there was really no real difference between the educational systems except I felt my professors back at my American school were more helpful. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Strengths: learning about Irish history, culture, etc, but not a very good "hands on approach at all." Fair grading and such, but I wish that the program helped us with trips to other places, especially around Ireland. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Bad: VERY VERY far away from class and internship. Great: family was amazing, so nice, helpful, and made great food. <br /><br /> again, transportation made it hard to really appreciate irish culture since we were in the suburbs, class, and internship. |
| * Food: |
can't complain, just a lot of potatoes which was expected. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Nothing was arranged by my program. My awesome times were made through me and my friends. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Host city was safe, just be alert and be smart. I didn't have problems with healthcare, and if i felt ill, my host family gave me medicine. But other people went to the hospital and had a horrible experience.I did not need ay specific vaccines for the program, but I went to Honduras before this, so I had already had everything. |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Food and personal expenses including transportation each week: 60 euros (not including extra travel to other areas whether by bus, train, or place---this is just to and from class, internship, back to host family |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | transportation. i think i spent 200 euros more on transportation just to and from class and internship than i anticipated |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
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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