An unorganized adventure Past Review
By Claire Douglas (Virginia Commonwealth University / VCU) - abroad from 09/20/2018 to 02/01/2018 with
ISEP Exchange: Msida - Exchange Program at University of Malta
I gained experience volunteering with refugees in Malta, I made friends from all over the world and had amazing experiences. I'm glad I went to Malta but academically speaking, it probably was not the best decision I made.
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. |
Classes were cancelled almost every other week, professors never gave assignments and we were basically graded on only our final exam. Communication was awful. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Communication was awful and super slow. If you ever have a question, you'll end up asking one person who says "I don't know, ask this person" and so on because no one seems to know what's going on. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living arrangements were great. I lived in a little townhouse community with a pool and canteen and all international students. It wasn't the nicest house but it was such a great social experience. It could've been in a better location but all the major points in Malta are accessible by bus so it wasn't that big of a deal. |
| * Food: |
I got a meal stipend every month so I went to the grocery store and cooked in the house a lot and also went out to eat. Local maltese food is so good, I miss it. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt like it was kind of hard to get completely integrated with Maltese culture because I lived with all international students. I learned so much about other cultures. We all as a group would go to Maltese events and would explore the island together though. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Health care was great. I didn't have any personal experiences but my roommate broke her nose and I went with her to get it repaired at the hospital and they did it all for free. Yay free healthcare! |
| * Safety: |
I never felt in danger in Malta. My friends and I would walk around late at night and always felt safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I love Malta and the all the memories I made, people I met and places I saw. But the administration is terrible and caused me way too much stress. |
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) |
Living in Malta is very laid back and inexpensive. I saved a decent amount of money before I went to Malta and was able to live comfortably and travel to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, London twice and Paris. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $65 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Try and save up as much as you can before you go so you can comfortably buy souvenirs, meals, and cheap RyanAir flights and hostels. |
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? | To not expect credits to transfer correctly, that classes would be unorganized and graded unfairly... |
