PHENOMENAL Past Review
By Lorelei N (COMMUNICATION, JOURNALISM, AND RELATED PROGRAMS., University of Houston) - abroad from 06/23/2012 to 07/28/2012 with
Spain Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
i learned a lot about myself and about how to deal with situations when I am outside of my comfort zone. I learned how to be more independent and how to get comfortable somewhere new and foreign.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The school was amazing and the teachers were great! Everyone was so helpful. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
German, the director for Granada, was so nice and very helpful. Also, he was very informative so the excursions were always fun and interesting. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Without a doubt I had the best host mother! However, everyone in our group loved their host families and that makes a big difference. Having a great host family helps you avoid feeling home-sick |
| * Food: |
I am not a picky eater and love to try new things, everything I had was so good! Plus, my host mother loved to cook and was amazing at it. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The excursions and having a host family help you integrate with the culture. However, I also went out and did things on my own and with others of my group. It was great having the free time to do what I wanted and not have to steer 25 others with me. Sometimes it was exhausting having a group of 20 because everyone had different interests and wanted to do different things so being able to limit the number of people or just going solo was great! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I personally did not have an issue where I needed a doctor or anything. However, I do know the program makes sure they know the medical history of all the students and the director also knew of the clinics and hospitals. |
| * Safety: |
My school scared the crap out of me about pick pocketers. However, that is mainly in Madrid and Barcelona. In Granada, as long as you are smart and have common sense you will be fine. I never once had a problem and the problems I had heard of happened to students when they were in another city. |
| 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) |
it all depends. You can easily keep costs down by looking around and bargaining for gifts and making sure you get to clubs before they charge for cover. Usually during that time there is also drink sales. Also, remember you are still in school so limiting how much you go out to drink and party during the week helps. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $200-$250--but I bought a lot of gifts throughout my time there |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | if you work, take some out every paycheck and save it. Also, ask your parents if they have points to help you minimize the cost of your plane tickets. My parents gave me theirs and I ended up with free flights. You should also research travel sites and even the airlines own websites to compare the best price. The plane ticket is probably the most expensive thing other than the program. |
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 |
if you spoke english in class the teachers would reply "en espanol por favor" and my host mom did not know english so I had to practice at home. |
| 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? | intermediate |
| 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? | When you are in your group you will be tempted to speak english so try to speak spanish. That will help a lot because everyone is a different level so you all help each other out. |
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? | nothing really, I researched everything. I wish I had better shoes....we walked everywhere basically and I got so many blisters |
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 Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
