Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

A lot of work. January 04, 2022

By (Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/23/2021 to 06/06/2022 with

Middlebury - Dartmouth Engineering Dual Degree: Domestic Exchange in New Hampshire

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I think I really do enjoy Engineering and wouldn't have had the opportunity to study it otherwise

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

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

It was a lot of work, but that is the nature of the major.

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? $100
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? try and bring only the essentials to dartmouth if you have a place to store the rest.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

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

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
  • International Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
  • International Students
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?
  • Course Selection
* What could be improved?
  • Transition
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? .

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Intro to Anthropology
Course Department: Anthropology
Instructor: John Watanabe
Instruction Language: English
Comments: The instructor was extremely knowledgeable and I enjoyed both lecture content and assigned readings(despite it being a lot at times). However, I found his grading arbitrary.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Intro to Engineering
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Viki May
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Really good intro to Engineering. It really breaks the engineering-design process down well and teaches you what you need to know to create what you want.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Solid Mechanics
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Scott Snyder
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Interesting course. It's a step up from a newtonian mechnaics class, but I would still consider the first part an extension of a physics class. Went into the basics of structures and did well to tie everything we learned together in the final project we submitted.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Systems
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Trembley
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Difficult course. The workload is up there. You learn a lot of very applicable concepts and apply them in lab. The professor was by far the best lecturer I have ever had. The course was organized extremely well. HW assignments were made in such a way that extended what you learned in lecture JUST enough to challenge you, but not too much to leave you staring at problems for hours.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Electronics: Linear and Digital Circuits
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Kofi Odame
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Good course, the workload was insane. The project took no one less than 80+ hours of work over the course of the term. Professor's grading is still a mystery to me. The project was extremely cool, however.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Electricity and Magnetism
Course Department: Physics
Instructor: Kristina Lynch
Instruction Language: English
Comments: The worst combination of instruction to HW I have ever experienced in college.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

First Yr Courses in Arabic
Course Department: Arabic
Instructor: El Mostafa Ouajjani
Instruction Language: Arabic
Comments: Really good instruction. This was the third in a series of intro courses that I placed in. From the other students in the course, I could see the instructor knew what he was doing. In the few short weeks, they had a mastery of the language that was great. The organization was great and HW was well balanced for the frequency
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Science of Materials
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Jifeng Liu
Instruction Language: English
Comments: Challenging. A LOT of content to be covered. Some of what is covered in the lectures felt like it was never touched on again. The professor was very organized and the labs were a good extension of course content.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Machine Engineering
Course Department: Engineering
Instructor: Ryan Halter
Instruction Language: English
Comments: The course completely revolved around the project. Your group will make or break your experience. Apart from the project, there is content which feels like you're splitting your time, but if managed well, you can use what you've done in lectures to improve your designs and ability to improve on your robot. Extremely fun course despite the amount of TIME and HOURS that you spend working on the project over the quarter. The course is organized in a way that helps drive steady progress, but you still need to make even more progress than you think.
Credit Transfer Issues: