Study Abroad at Shanghai University Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I learned so much Chinese and a lot of information about China's government and economy that before I came to China, I knew nothing about. Our Culture class however was a little hokey, and basically a form of propaganda to either A. get us to spend money on our travels in China, or B. have a lot of Chinese national pride where there didn't need to be any.

On-site administration of your program

We really had very few problems to ask about and they were very helpful when we did need help

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We lived in a Suite setting and each had singles with a community bathroom. You have to provide your own toilet paper. It's pretty secluded and there weren't a lot of other students living in our building. It's very close to the classroom though and there's really good food served right outside the dorm. It comes with a TV and internet access via an Ethernet cable (but a LONG one) Building D1 on Guanyan Lu <br /><br /> It's a pretty good place to be. It's in a gated area, but the gates are always open to Students. Sometimes the front desk person will lock the doors early, but usually if you just knock on the door they will open them. Our arrangements were done through a third party.

Canteen food is edible, but not very exciting since it's the same every day (and for every meal) I really liked the steamed dumplings though they're really cheap. So is the canteen though. If you're feeling ritzy, eating at the Korean restaurant on Yanchang Lu is always worth a trip.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Traveling was incredibly exciting. I recommend going anywhere and everywhere you can, even if it is only for one or two days. Flights are relatively cheap we booked our domestic flights with elong.com. They'll even deliver the tickets to your dorm. We thought we were going to have longer weekends which is why we didn't travel everywhere we thought we would, but a regular weekend is plenty of time to go see things if you fly out on Friday night and come back Sunday night before classes. Hotels are cheap too, but don't expect much in terms of quality.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I have felt safer in China than I do in the States. Things are well lit and there are police officers every where. I was bothered by several strange men, but that was more by my own stupidity than anything. Talking to strangers you don't want to keep in contact with is a bad idea because most of them will want to stay in touch with you. It's ok to pretend you don't know what they're saying, and you're much better off with meeting students at the university.

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

I didn't know any Chinese before I came to China, and now I have a pretty basic understanding of it. However I didn't use my Chinese that much which was more my own fault. Most of my Chinese friends wanted to speak in English with me anyway which made it really tempting to just stay with English. We learned a lot of useful things in our class like how to order food or give directions to a cab driver so we were easily able to navigate the city

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• Dorm

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• International Students