Barcelona review. Past Review
By Keyavash H (Business Administration, Austin College) for
ISA Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain
Yes. I gained greater insight all over my European travels and improved my Spanish.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Spanish and Ecommerce was great. Economics was a joke. The teacher couldn't explain any concepts well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They did well with managing most things. But some of the policies they had were silly. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Despite practicing, the food was absolute shit. My roommate had worms in his stomach from all the undercooked pork our host gave us. He would buy cheap food and pocket money for himself. All our peers seemed to be getting lavish meals. |
| * Food: |
Our host gave us terrible quality food. We got worms. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
They took us to cool places. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
A friend of ours got sick and ISA helped him immediately. He only threw up and despite them saying do not call for vomiting, he did and they helped. |
| 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 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Not a lot. Food over there is expensive though so if you want to eat out once a day prepare to spend like 400$ a month. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Nothing was really unanticapted. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 236 in college and IB Spanish in highschool. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I practiced with my teachers, roommates, and spanish friends we made. I used Spanish in everyday interactions. Many did but I didn't hang around my classmates. We made better local friends. |
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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | None |
