Florence Past Review
By Tamar D (Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services., SUNY - Binghamton) for
Lorenzo de' Medici – Florence
Florence is an incredible city. It is so unfortunate that so much of my experience was ruined by Lorenzo De Medici. I wish I could do it again and choose and different program. I strongly advise anyone and everyone to go abroad, specifically to Florence but through any program other than LDM. It is horrible.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Lorenzo De Medici |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2010 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The courses were a joke each time they met but would have extremely difficult exams and assignments. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
HORRIBLE. I felt like I had no advisor or help in the country. I was completely on my own. I know MANY other students on the program who felt the same. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My housing experience was UNACCEPTABLE. The first apartment I lived in was a dump. The couch had no cushons and instead was just a slad of wood. The apartment was filthy and came with very few things most apartments consider standard. 3 months through the program my apartment was robbed and the school made no effort at all to help us. They had a clear conflict of interest as they had a long-term relationship/friendship with our landlord. The housing circumstances were a terrible disappointment and really were unacceptable. <br /><br /> I lived on a side alley off a quiet street that was not lit at all at night. It felt very unsafe and my roommates and I would often run down the street to our house out of fear. |
| * Food: |
FLORENCE, ITALY has the worlds BEST food |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My ENTIRE orientation experience was merely a 10 hour seminar of bad things that could happen if you are not careful - being abducted, pickpocketing, dying, etc |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The program was TERRIBLE. Really. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $5,000 over the 3.5 month period |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | GET A CAPITAL ONE CREDIT CARD!!!!! The company does not charge any interest/international fees for using the card abroad. It is the only company I know of that does so. |
Language
| Language acquisition improvement? |
NOT AT ALL. The italian language course was such a waist of time. Instead of helping students to learn conversational italian skills they just taught random verbs and useless grammar rules. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | I LOVE FLORENCE BUT HATE LDM. If you are going to study in Florence (which I strongly recommend) please look into any other program. Anything has to be better. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Event Planning |
| Course Department: | FAS 293 |
| Instructor: | Laura Carlini |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | TERRIBLE! The professor spoke barely any English and literally just read off power points which were sentences copy and pasted from our text book. Total waste of time. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Italian Language |
| Course Department: | Italian 101 |
| Instructor: | Enzo |
| Instruction Language: | Italian |
| Comments: | VERY DIFFICULT. I was the only student who did not speak Spanish in the class and therefore had no background at all and instead of trying to help the teacher got frustrated with me more than anything else. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
