Studying Abroad in Roma was an Excellent Choice! Past Review
By Lucas O (Psychology/Music, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities) for
John Cabot University - Study Abroad in Rome, Italy
I learned quite a bit about ancient Rome through my coursework and through cultural events that I attended.
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 difficulty of the courses was probably less than my home university. There are no classes on Friday, which encourages students to travel and enjoy Italy/Europe. I felt that the school was run pretty similarly to American universities. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I felt that there were a lot of opportunities to take part in at the school and many opportunities to learn about the city and Italian culture. I was quite surprised, along with my peers, to find out that John Cabot is quite small (900 students at the time I studied abroad) and that 800 of those students were study abroad students. Thus, I did not meet any students who were not originally from America. This can have its pros and cons, depending on what you are looking for in a study abroad program, but it would have been nice to know before arriving at the school. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Furniture was minimal and very cheaply made, but as we were poor college students studying abroad, we did not choose to purchase/rent any extra furniture. Also, the floors in the apartment were all tile, so remember to bring slippers! |
| * Food: |
Food in Italy is incredible, obviously. Eat as much gelato and drink as much wine as you can while you are there. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Our program had trips to Florence, Tuscany, Pompeii, and Tivoli. They were all wonderful trips, and you should definitely attend all of them--you already paid for them in your program fees. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
There was only one hospital that we were told to go to that had English speaking doctors. And there was only one hour a week where patients could visit the English speaking doctors. It was very frustrating. There are a ton of pharmacies all over the place in Roma, though. In terms of safety, a lot of students thought that Roma was safer than most cities back home, at least in terms of violent crime. There is a lot more petty crimes in Europe, such as pickpocketing, but nobody ever felt in danger of violent crime. |
| 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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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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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? | If you are looking to study with other Americans at an English speaking school with not too much immersion in the culture, this would be a good school for you. There are a lot of cultural events that you can participate in, but you won't really get to know any of the locals that well. If you are looking to have deep immersion in the culture, I don't think this program would be a good fit for you. |
