Full immmersion makes for more challenges than fun moments Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Some classes at the Middlebury center Madeleine were awesome and super interesting with the right amount of work and great teachers but others were more difficult with teachers that were not helpful. At the Sorbonne my classes and teachers varied greatly as well but overall it was just a lot of work. I had big important papers pretty much every week that took a very long time for me to do well and it was stressful so it ended up taking away a lot from my overall experience because I was much less free to relax and travel and enjoy myself.

On-site administration of your program

The people are very nice but I wish that they had done some othe the orientation things a little differently like I had already bought a new SIM card and metro pass by the time they gave us advice on which ones to get and stuff. They tried to help as much as possible and put in some nice events but some things like tutoring and stuff like that could be handled a bit differently.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host mom was a very nice woman but it just felt more like I was a tenant rather than a member of the family and I had chose. A host family because I wanted that familial comfort because I was nervous about going abroad and everything. Also in general with everyone living in host families all over the city and the suburbs it made it much more difficult to meet up and it felt pretty isolating.

Obviously to food in France is amazing even tho I literally gained like 15 pounds

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt pretty integrated into the culture or I guess at least felt like I could see it and understand it. Personally I just never really felt like I fit in or found my place but I got to appreciate the French culture a lot of that makes sense

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never really had an issue but called a few doctors offices a few times and it was a good experience

I never felt in danger, especially not any more than I do here in the US. There are always some creepy guys in every city but I always felt safe walking around in Paris, in part because there is a good police presence.

I am happy that I went on this program because I got to learn a lot about myself and push myself out of my comfort zone but the academics of this program in combination with living in a host family was super isolating and difficult. I had so much school work I couldn’t be exploring Europe at all, not nearly as much as so many people who do other study abroad programs do and then when I was done with work my host family was nice but it felt more like a tenant relationship and not family and the language pledge made it difficult for me to make friends at first. I finally did once I started breaking the pledge and I wish I had realized it sooner but it seriously impacted the first few months of my experience.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I am very lucky to have my parents support but I didn’t spend tons and tons of money, especially if you cook your own food and stuff on days when you don’t have meals with your host family and there are tons of free museums and things to do for students

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

We took a language pledge and could only speak French while at school and then had to speak French at home because we lived with host families

Select all that apply

• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• The city of paris
• Friends that I made
• French skills improved

• Classss were tough which made it hard to enjoy other stuff
• Living situation just wasn’t a good fit for me

The Outright Urbanite