Enjoyed Madrid and its culture, failed to integrate and to make local friends Past Review
By A Student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/20/2018 to 12/14/2018 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Madrid
Learned about how societies outside my own function, and improved my Spanish. Worthwhile
Personal Information
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Not a walk in the park, not particularly difficult. Normal amount of work for a college semester for a humanities student. |
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Some guidance, could have been more support system. Hard to make local friends. I admit however that many of the shortcomings are due to lack of student initiative and not taking enough advantage of what middlebury is offering us. |
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I stayed in a student dorm in a very nice neighborhood. The facilities were extremely clean and well maintained, always felt very safe. Well located. Major downfall: the administration/ bureacracy was a NIGHTMARE. The elevator didn't work for the first two months of my stay, and I was on the sixth floor. Getting them to fix it only happened upon the involvement of a local lawyer family friend. |
* Food: |
Food in Spain is amazing. |
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Spent most time with Americans, but did get to know the city quite well and had some family and family friends in Spain with whom I spent time |
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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* Safety: |
Felt very safe in Madrid, only normal overall city precations. Took great care with regard to pickpocketing, but never felt physically unsafe. |
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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) |
Cheap city. Main money was wasted going out |
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 150-200 |
Language
* Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Great encouragement, relatively poor application on our part |
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 300 |
How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
* 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? | UC3M is not a walk in the park, grades are stressful because of a tighter conversion rate than one anticipates. |
Individual Course Reviews
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Historia Moderna de España |
Course Department: | Historia |
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Historia Contemporánea |
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Instruction Language: | Familia y Género |
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Instruction Language: | Sintaxsis Superior |
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