Spain: A home away from home Past Review
By Kemi (Wellesley College) for
PRESHCO: Study Abroad in Córdoba, Spain
Better spoken and written Spanish. Easier travel around Europe. Unlike in the US, I never stressed out about schoolwork, so I learned to balance work and play.
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 weekly tutorials for the Enhanced classes were very helpful. There was very little homework in some of my classes. One problem was that there were many bank holidays on Mondays and Wednesdays and no make-up classes so we didn't even complete the syllabus in some of my classes. I feel that in that case, some of the Tuesdays or Thursdays should have been converted into Mondays so that all classes have equal representation. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program was well organised and held monthly excursions to different parts of Spain as well as monthly dinners at the Director's house. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Classes were only a 7 minute walk away from home. Everything was provided: food, sheets etc. |
| * Food: |
Great food, high quality |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
n/a. My host father was a doctor, so he just prescribed medicine for me when I needed it. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 10 Euro, but only when going out at night to a club. The weekends when I travelled to other countries in Europe, I spent about 170 Euros for each trip because we had to take trains to Malaga or Sevilla airports and than had to pay for hostels in the country we were visiting. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I should have got a Carnet Joven to make train travel a lot cheaper. I should have booked my European flights early, but was impossible because we do not get the semester calendar until sometime in August. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Do not speak English with the US program students otherwise your Spanish will not improve. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsular |
| Course Department: | Archeology |
| Instructor: | Prof. Jose Martin de la Cruz |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | The big classes with the Spaniards were a little disorganized, and when the teaching assistants taught, I hardly learned anything. BUT, the work load was a lot and that helped me improve my Spanish essay writing skills because we had an essay every two weeks. The weekly tutorials were excellent. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No. I filled out my transfer of credit forms as soon as I finalised my class schedule. |
