Trier: Where the old meets the new! Past Review
By Sage C (Journalism, San Jose State University) for
ISEP Exchange: Trier - Exchange Program at Universität Trier
My experience was the best it could have possibly been. I learned a lot from my German classes and English classes, but was never overwhelmed with work. I had plenty of time to travel and make friends. I was able to see the whole of Europe and I can't wait to go back and do it again!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The only difference that I found in the classes was that, since I was a native English speaker in English speaking classes, I would hold back a little and attempt to let German speaking students participate. The grading was similar, as was the workload. I do like the German educational system because they split younger students into a technical tract and a academic tract and that makes students more serious all the way through the system. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The International community at Universität Trier was amazing. We were thrown together with other international students immediately and set up with a German tutor to help us sort out information like Visas, Bank Accounts, Cell phone, etc. I could not have had more support. The only downside was the internet limit in the dorms, which is really hard for international students to abide by because you can not use Skype in our dorm rooms. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian, so eating in Germany was sometimes difficult. However, New Minton's was a life-saver for us and they had amazing student nights where we could eat a whole meal for 5 euros. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Through the international center on campus, we were able to take a trip to Berlin. There were also trips to France, Belgium and other parts of Germany that were available. They also during our orientation program arranged amazing trips and dinners for every student in the program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Trier is an extremely safe city and we were directed to hospitals upon our arrival, just in case. |
| 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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I practice language with both international friends and German friends. I most definitely had to speak German all day everyday, however most young people in Germany do speak English, so if I ran into a problem there was always help available. |
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 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? | Girls: Don't bring heels, you can't wear them on the cobble stone anyways! And everyone: pack space bags!! the type of student that would benefit best from this program is one who is willing and ready to make life-long friends! |
