I arrived with zero expectations and was never disappointed! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I attended James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, during my study abroad program, and I loved all of my courses and the school was modern and student orientated. ISA was very helpful with selecting courses and supplying educational council.

On-site administration of your program

My on-site administration included my program host available at my abroad University as my study abroad advisor and school advisor. She was like a second mom and always took the time to listen. She understood our individual scenarios and always gave the best advice. My program was her largest group yet (about 30 students), so she was sometimes busy with other students, but I'm sure that if we were a smaller group we would have received a lot more emotional attention.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My study abroad program, ISA, helped set up my housing. I was given options of where to live and which living style/dorm best suited me. My dorm was apartment style, but was located a bit further from campus than I would have liked, but my program had nothing to do with that and they did advise me that there was up to a 20minute walk.

My study abroad school, James Cook University, began the first 2 or 3 weeks with really great food (delicious desserts). However, after that the food went downhill. We had an "option" of white rice every night and some combination of meat. This situation was school specific and not program specific.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Automatically, I was thrown into another culture and, unfortunately, the only thing I knew about Australia were all stereotypes. Therefore, I had to let all of my prior knowledge escape me so that whenever I experienced something it was new and welcomed. There was an extremely laidback and respected atmosphere wherever I went. People were friendly when approached, and most people kept to their own business.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

My health care program was explained thoroughly and if I had any further questions they were all answered by my study abroad program advisor (she even offered to come with me to my doctors appointment if I felt uncomfortable going alone; that was very comforting). Fortunately, I never had to see a doctor, but I knew that I would be well taken care of and that my health care plan took care of a lot of scenarios. However, I made sure to call and discuss with the program's health insurance to tell them what I would be doing in Australia. They did not cover "water activities like scuba diving and snorkeling", which I did a lot of. Therefore, I purchased separate travel insurance for water activities and some transportation (like plane travel).

I felt 100% safe on my school campus. My program gave me all of the emergency numbers for local law enforcement and for the study abroad program (those numbers came in handy when I traveled outside of my study abroad country). However, after talking to local citizens in my University town I found out that it wasn't that safe of a city which made me a little uncomfortable, but I was assured by my program that everything would be okay. I only had one close encounter with danger, but thankfully I was with a group of 6 with both girls and guys and a security officer helped us safely return to campus.

My program always did its best to support and encourage me to put myself out there and experience new things in a country that I never thought I would ever visit.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I came to my study abroad country with all the money I would need for my time abroad and I made sure to be responsible with my money. Australia is a very expensive country and my program was expensive as well but everything was financially rewarding. If I ever needed extra money it was to pay for separate trips outside of my program excursions.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• My study abroad program advisor
• the friendships I made with other program students
• being able to travel to new places without feeling nervous

• host university relationship with program
• program side excusions
• money required for the program

The Academic or Linguist