An Experience of a Lifetime Past Review
By Jason C (Architecture, Sant'Anna Institute) - abroad from 01/18/2015 to 05/09/2015 with
Sant'Anna Institute: Sorrento - Live, Learn and Immerse in Italy
Learned and experienced another culture, which is more than you could learn in any classroom. Learned to travel comfortably, and meeting new people is a breeze now.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The educational experience was as expected, meeting normal standards with the added experience of the culture and the educational advantages we were able to gain from that. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration at Sant'Anna was incredibly helpful, no matter the issue or problem. Time of day was not an issue either as they were willing to assist us at any time and this was proven several nights where issues arose. Friendly and helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Lived at Tasso Suites and was extremely disappointed. Landlords rude and actually searched for issues to complain about. Barged into our rooms unannounced on many occasions, while creating stories as to what we were doing. The facilities we were promised were taken away; rooms were incredibly small. 12 men forced into area with a 6 person table, a 3 person couch and a small 4 burner stove and 1 sink. If noise got higher than a whisper or a door was to be left open, our school was contacted and a meeting was called and police action was threatened. Absolute awful place to put study abroad students in. If placed here, I'd recommend either getting switched or even to go as far as to pay for a different hotel, because going through the battle every week with them was an absolute hell. |
| * Food: |
Not impressive as I started out thinking. Pasta and pizza do get old after about 3 weeks. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Became integrated into the culture early on was more than accepted. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
No experience with health care due to no issues while here. |
| * Safety: |
Other than a few fights and threats early on, experience was the same as expected as if in America. Some of the younger locals weren't too fond of us at first, but they eventually got over 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) |
This more depends on the person, I didn't eat much, but when I did, I bought food from the store and spent minimal. If you were to eat out all of the time, you would have spent a great deal. It is the same no matter where you go in the world. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Close to 70 euros. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Buy food from the markets more often than going out, have family dinners with the other students you came with (really popular with my group) |
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 |
We tried to use Italian outside of class, but the locals knew us and automatically switched to English for us. Helpful but not wanted, we wanted to practice our Italian. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Italian I |
| 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? | Take a pre-language course if you know far enough ahead of time. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? |
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? | Information on what it would be like, we were kind of blindly pushed into it, but that is more the fault of our host school. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
