I LOVE FLORENCE! Past Review
By Angela C (accounting, Illinois State University) - abroad from 01/29/2013 to 05/17/2013 with
Lorenzo de' Medici – Florence
To relax and go with the flow. Sometimes traveling is stressful, but you just have to remember how lucky you are to be in that situation and to enjoy every minute of it
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 classes I took were mostly general education classes. So they were not very hard, but I still had to some what work at them to receive a good grade. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
My advisor at LDM in florence was very helpful and informative. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My apartment was in a great location, but unfortunately we didn't have all the utilities we would have liked. We didn't have an oven, which made it hard to make different foods. We didn't have a "family room" so we couldn't relax anywhere but our beds, because we did not have couches. |
| * Food: |
Florence, Italy has the best food. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
A lot of the Florentines speak a little amount of English. So when we would go places, we would try to speak Italian but some people would just speak English back. There are also a lot of Americans studying in Italy, so we saw many students on a daily basis. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not have to deal with issues |
| * Safety: |
Florence is very safe! |
| 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) |
Florence isn't too expensive, and we learned what grocery stores and sandwich places are the best and cheapest. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | possibly 20-40 euro, depending if I go grocery shopping that week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't go money crazy and spend all your money right away. Save your money and if anything go crazy at the end! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Our Italian class was only taught in Italian, our teach never spoke English. So it helped to learn the language a little. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I took 4 years of Spanish, so it helped with learnign Italian |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Talk to as many people as you can in the language you are learning. Especially when you order dinner at a restaurant or ask for directions. |
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? | When the date of our finals were and school supplies are so expensive (ESPECIALLY PENS!!) Our advisor at ISU did not inform us when our finals were, so we booked our flight too early. Our advisor did not even tell us that was wrong and to change our flight. We had to pay $400+ to get our flight changed. Our advisor was not very organized or helpful |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
