Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Firenze: My Playground Past Review

By (N/A, Illinois State University) for

Lorenzo de' Medici – Florence

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
Yes. I believe you should come back from your host country with new understanding of yourself and what type of role you'd like to play with the community around you.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It wasn't very difficult and I had plenty of free time. After going to class and paying attention, everything went great. Unexpectedly more difficult workload for finals but still manageable.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

I thought the program was very well put together with great staff that was helpful and knowledgeable. The size of the program was great too.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was unaware of what the apartment came with and we came to find it came with mostly everything we needed. Our housing was great, in an amazing location and the landlord was very helpful with any needs we had.

* Food:

Quality of food was phenomenal and I cooked a lot for myself, which was an awesome experience for me. Cooking is far cheaper than going out for food and in my experiences you'll go out with friends no matter what, so try and cook with food from the fresh markets when possible.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Soccer game, CONCERTS, hikes, bike rides, picnics...There really are too many to list but I think the people who had the best time just found the things they liked that were different and out of the norm and just went for it.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

I had no issues

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? In general I spent 4,000$ on food, travel expenses(not counting flight to and from Italy), books and fees, souvenirs, and gifts for the entire semester.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Traveling is expensive so do it in advanced, cook for yourself and don't just eat out. Books and class fees weren't explained properly and was a hefty amount of money to fork over in the first week so plan accordingly.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? None
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? none
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Language acquisition improvement?

Used language mostly in class, restaurants, markets. It wasn't quite vital to learn the language to a great extent but still learned a good deal in the class.

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

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? So much of this experience was outside your boundaries and at times overwhelming but if you can handle new things you will never have a semester like this. Just about every day it would hit you you're in a new country where you don't speak the language very well and you were seeing things that most people could only see in books or on the computer. After it all I learned so much about what I like and what interests me but most importantly, how interesting and different of people there are in the world.