A Great/Beautiful/Amazing City & a Good Program with Room for Improvement! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

There definitely should have been more academic advising before we chose classes - I think almost everyone felt overwhelmed and unsure of what classes to choose and we had very little guidance. It was difficult to know what classes were appropriate for our level of Spanish/which professors were nice, etc. Some people, including myself, ended up choosing classes that ended up not being so great because of workload and professors' attitudes. Throughout the semester I found Eva (academic advisor) to be very helpful and willing to help with situations and speak to professors if need be. Honestly, I also found the program to be more academically rigorous and demanding at times than I had expected. It definitely didn't demand as much out of me as Smith did but at times (especially during finals) I felt like the workload was much more than I expected and people in the program didn't receive much warning about how May/final season would look like, which is unfortunate because it was many people's last month in Spain and we ended up spending much more time on work than we thought we would. I would also say that overall I liked my PRESHCO classes and professors much more than my UCO classes and professors. It was interesting to be able to take classes with Spanish students and I enjoyed being integrated in that way but there were several times I felt lost in my UCO classes (which is normal given they were all in Spanish/a new experience) but it was definitely stressful at times! I wanted to take my UCO classes without any PRESHCO people so that I would be able to integrate more with Spanish students but in retrospect taking the class with someone else from PRESHCHO would have been helpful for workload.

On-site administration of your program

I found certain members of the administration to be more helpful and accesible than others. I think people felt that they could count more so on three of the members of the administration that were in the office more often. I understand that people in our program could be very needy/often too dependent and I think most members of the equipo did the best they could with us. I thought the housing director, academic advisor, and student life coordinator were particularly attentive and helpful with people's questions/concerns.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Overall, my host family was very nice but I don't know that it was a good match for my roommate and me as we are both more independent/were out of the house a lot and I think my host mom especially would have liked to host people with different lifestyles. I think my roommate and I were a good match and I think that many other people in the program were good roommates as well, but I think some of the logistical housing issues have either not been properly presented to PRESHCO or not properly addressed with. Obviously it can be difficult to live with an entirely new family and there is for sure an adjustment period but I think certain factors that are more controllable should be noted. After talking with many of my friends I think that a lot of people were too nervous to approach PRESHCO about certain issues or when they did felt they that weren't properly addressed with. For example, I lived in a house with a very aggressive dog that I think jeopardized my roommate and my safety. There were several different times he attacked us (jumped on us/bit us) and we could almost never leave or enter the house without him barking and getting extremely aggressive. Our host mom almost always had to hold him or put him in a separate room than us. From what I've heard from other people who have done PRESHCO the dog has been an issue for years so I'm not sure if people haven't complained about the dog or if the issue hasn't been dealt with. After the dog had attacked me pretty badly one time I know my host family took him to a training class and got him anxiety meds but I think it was more of a temporary solution. He continued to be aggressive and I honestly don't think my host mom had total control over him either. I wouldn't say I was constantly in state of stress because of the dog, but it was often very stressful and anxiety producing to come home and wonder if he was out in the house and how I would deal with him--he had this thing where if you were wearing a backpack he would want to rip it off of you so it was often very difficult to leave coming to and from school. Also, all of my friends were afraid of him so it was difficult to have people over even if it was just for a quick second to pick me up because we never knew how the dog was going to behave or where the dog would be.

Overall I thought the food in Spain was great! It was definitely different than food in the US but it was a good and new experience for me. My host mom was also a very good cook and I felt that compared to other host families she fed us quite well. The one thing I would say is that dishes don't have a lot of vegetables (at least in our household) which was difficult. We did have a lot of fruit, bread, meat, and other nutritious food though. I did feel bad for some of my friends who complained about a lot of processed/instant dishes that were just put in the microwave, etc. One of my friends was even somewhat regularly fed soup that was powder mixed with water. Overall, I felt that my food situation was good I just felt bad for people who weren't having similar experiences and really struggled with the food aspect of their experience.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I think to be integrated with the local culture you definitely have to make an effort but overall I don't think social and cultural integration was super easy. I made efforts to speak to Spanish students/befriend people in my classes but I wouldn't say I found most Spanish students to be particularly friendly. It can be nerve-racking to approach people, but it's definitely worth the effort because it will contribute to your abroad experience. I think the conversation partner program in PRESHCO was definitely helpful as well.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I found Spanish health care to be very comprehensive and easy! I only had to go to the doctor once and one of the members of the equip went with me so it was a very fast and easy process. It was easy to obtain prescriptions afterwards as well and pharmacies in Spain are very good and helpful.

Overall I found Cordoba to be a very safe city, especially at night which was nice. I felt that I would walk home alone at night and didn't feel uncomfortable or scared. You still obviously have to be cautious and aware of your surroundings but I would safe overall it is not an unsafe city.

I'm not actually entirely sure if I would choose the same program if I were to study abroad again. I did really love Córdoba but I'm not sure if PRESHCO was a great choice on my part. I feel like I need more retrospective/need to talk to other people and hear more about their study abroad programs to give a full answer. I think the due date for this review should have been held off given that we were still in Spain and had a mixture of emotions with the semester wrapping up. I actually went back and edited this review because the first time around I was speeding through it to finish it because I still had a lot of other finals work to do. Although I do think having the program be in all Spanish definitely works for a lot of people I think at times I was overwhelmed by the constant Spanish and it ironically made me speak less at times just because I needed a break. This is obviously an individual issues and it's up to whoever is in PRESHCO to decide how often they will be speaking Spanish but I also think if the program had made more activities/events to warm us up to/practice Spanish it could have been helpful. Although I think PRESHCO could improve there were also aspects they handled very well such as cultural activities. I particularly enjoyed our orientation and excursions and thought for the most part they were well organized and as an included part of the program went above my expectations of what they would be. I would choose the same program but not because I necessarily loved the program, more so because I think the location ended up being a good fit overall.

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

Because PRESHCO's host family program includes housing/food I found that I spent very little on food and other expenses throughout the week. Generally I spent money on things I wanted to buy such as food, souvenirs, or going out.

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

Although everything was obviously in Spanish I think the program could have done a better job at checking in and making sure we were holding ourselves accountable. I don't think checking in at the end of the program or a few weeks before we're supposed to leave is sufficient.

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• Host Family

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• People/friends in the program
• Cultural activities
• Location

• Administrative communication
• Help with picking classes
• Finals/workload preparation

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