Past Review

By PeterHaig (Political Science and Government., Rice University) for

Semester at Sea Study Abroad: Make the World Your Campus

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

It was definitely worth while. It is difficult to explain the new prospective Semester at Sea gave me. It changed the way I view other people and cultures and especially changed my overall outlook on life. I have never considered myself a very cultured person and never really could look at situations from the other peoples perspectives. Semester at Sea definitely changed this all for me. It is not like I left the program as a converted worldly traveler but I definitely have a different perspective on life and I am fairly certain not everyone who has studied abroad can say the same.

Personal Information

The term and year this program took place:	Spring 2008

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I really enjoyed two of my classes, in fact they are among the top undergrad courses I have taken. I am still in touch with both those professors today and they have both provided me with great advice and recommendations regarding graduate school. I also had some classes that I found extremely boring and disliked attending. One great thing about the classes is that they force you to complete at least one field project throughout the semester which is a great way to get involved in something you most likely would not do on your own. In regards to difficulty none of the classes that I took were extremely tough though you definitely need to put in time to do well. But like any other school the difficulty among classes fluctuates and although most course were pretty typical I did hear stories of one or two classes that were so difficult the dean had to intervene to reduce the workload.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The administration was great. Very fair and similar to most university administrations. I did have issues with members of the faculty who also happened to be members of the administration. The faculty was extremely liberal and consequently taught many issues with an enormous bias. One thing I really enjoyed at Rice is even if I knew my professors ideology I could expect an unbiased overview of my course and in most cases my professor never even revealed any personal beliefs. This was not the case all the time on Semester at Sea, especially in global studies, a course every student is required to take.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	A room on a cruise ship (the MV Explorer). <br /><br /> Living on the MV explorer was definitely a great and new experience for me. The first half of the voyage, mostly due to its novelty aspect, I enjoyed being on the ship. Unfortunately, later on in the voyage I began to dread spending time on the ship most likely due to the cramped quarters and losing sleep and hours due to having to attend class when going through different time zones.
* Food:	Although the food was good it became very repetitive which made it at times difficult to eat. Luckily, they always had peanut butter and jelly as well as snack bars around the ship.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Great social experience both on and off the ship.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	The ship had great health facilities. Some of the countries we went to were a little dangerous though you feel prepared when you leave the ship.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	Overall, I spent roughly an additional $5,000 but I was trying not to let my experiences revolve around my budget, basically trying not to think about money. I heard of other people spending as little as $1,000 and others spending upwards of $10,000 so it really depends on the person.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Even if you plan and pay for all of your port excursions before you even board the ship I would plan on spending additional money in ports. Also leave room to buy other port activity plans when you get on the ship. For example if you are going to Japan and you realize you want to do an activity planned by Semester at Sea you might need to spend an additional thousand dollars. I would also try to limit buying/using internet minutes(you have to buy internet minutes) and also limit buying things on the ship. In the end all these expenses can add up.