Oxford Year Abroad...difficult but worth it! Past Review
By Syeda Shermeen Raza (Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/28/2017 to 12/12/2017 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury – CMRS Oxford Humanities Program
I learned how to be a better writer, which is a very useful skill. I think being able to improve in that area was worth it.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The coursework is definitely difficult, some more than Middlebury. Planning and discussing with tutors is extremely important in order to do well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Program administrators were very accessible and friendly. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had a double for myself due to a smaller program size for the semester. Kitchen area was nice and there was also a mini-fridge assigned to each student. |
| * Food: |
Food in Keble dining hall is amazing, however you have to pay for each meal. Cooking can sometimes be a pain, but there were also small restaurants around the area to quickly grab food. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Not living this British students at Oxford make integration difficult. The CMRS dorm is also removed from Keble campus. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had a a bad cold/cough during my experience, but was easily able yo see a doctor to get that checked. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
The work in the program is rigorous and sometimes you gave to give up doing enjoyable things to do it. Students only adjusted to the work in week 4 of tutorials and there are 8 weeks in total. Also, it was difficult to make friends outside of the program due to the location of the dorm. |
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) |
Things definitely add up, especially with traveling and going into London. the train isn't very cheap but the bus is. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $120 a week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Plan out trips and buy tickets early. Try to go to sites that are close to each other in one trip. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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? | 0 |
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? | I wish i k new the living situation better and the student culture at Oxford. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
British Children's Literature |
| Course Department: | English Literature |
| Instructor: | Emma Salgard-Cunha |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Challenging due to the niche genre, requires in depth thinking of books read as a child. However, the content is engaging and fun to read from an adult perspective. I went on a field trip to the Children's book museum in Oxford. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
