A great way to learn Spanish, culture, and travel through Europe Past Review
By A student (Oberlin College) - abroad from 01/25/2017 to 05/24/2017 with
PRESHCO: Study Abroad in Córdoba, Spain
I learned how to be independent and travel on my own. I also gained an understanding for the Spanish culture and was able to improve my Spanish. It was worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes were not as challenging as the ones at Oberlin nor did they have the same work load. They were not as engaging and I really struggled to adapt to the large lecture style without class participation. I liked the PRESHCO classes a lot more than the UCO ones. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The equipo was helpful and attentive once in Cordoba. They would have been more helpful if we had been given information about our excursions. At times it felt like we were just thrown on a bus and wouldn't know where we were going or doing until we got to the location. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had an amazing experience with my host family and was really happy with the living arrangements. |
| * Food: |
The food was good! I liked it a lot better in the host home settings. The food on the orientation tour was not great, but once in Cordoba, the home cooked meals were great. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I feel like I integrated an okay amount. It was not easy to interact with Spaniards other than my host family. The students were not very welcoming or friendly. But I think I got adjusted well here and integrated to the best of my ability. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not have any issues. |
| * Safety: |
I felt 100% safe walking around the city at all times. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Yes and No. I did have a good experience, but I think that there are some improvements that could be made to make people's experiences more positive. Such as roommate pairing, getting information about the culture before arriving, more information during the entire orientation tour about what we were doing, having the staff do get to know you activities so we could get to know the students, maybe 3 PRESHCO and 1 UCO class because the UCO classes were not a good experience for me at all. |
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) |
Studying abroad was a lot more expensive than I anticipated. Having home cooked meals helped, but other than that, everything else was pretty expensive. In order to experience a lot of things, you had to spend a lot of money. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $40-50 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Not really, just to expect to spend a lot more than you think. It's hard to budget money when you want to experience so many things. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
The directors encouraged use of Spanish but the students did not try to speak spanish and spoke english for the majority of the time here. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 300 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Only talk to the students in the program in Spanish and try to talk to your host family as much as possible, thats the best way to practice. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | More about the weather so I could have packed better, more about how people dressed here, the information given in the orientation booklet was not really correct, and how much money the students should actually anticipate spending. |
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 Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
