Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Fun yet educational. Past Review

By (Spanish and Psychology, SUNY - Binghamton) for

Spain Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I absolutely loved my experience and I learned a lot about a culture that is completely different than what I am used to, which is nice.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Since I was taking the hardest classes offered, there was a lot of time spent outside the classroom on homework and stuff like that. Because of that, I think the hardest classes should be a little shorter than the other classes because people in the other classes never had any work and rarely had to study. It was hard enough to find time to see Spain since there was 6 hours of class a day but then on top of that there were multiple homework assignments. It also is not fair how SUNY requires two classes in Madrid but other schools did not.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

There were always people available to help answer any question possible and it was extremely convenient. I also loved how they planned group activities to local places so we could get out and explore as a group.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

In Malaga, we stayed in Hotel Natali and I have no complaints except for the food. The people at the front desk knew we were there to study Spanish and although they spoke some English, they would tease me and not answer unless I spoke in Spanish which was really, really good. In Madrid, we stayed in Mara at CMU which was EXTREMELY hot and kind of out of the way from downtown Madrid where all the hustle and bustle is which can be nice at times because it was a little more peaceful. <br /><br /> I felt completely safe in both neighborhoods.

* Food:

The food was not good in Malaga but I did like it in Madrid.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Besides the fact there was not enough free time/days off to explore and really learn about Spain, my overall experience was good.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

I felt relatively safe in my host city.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

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 maybe around 700 euros not including my Malaga excursions and side trip to Barcelona. While in Malaga, we had to pay for one meal a day which was usually reasonably priced. While on the Malaga tours or doing other site-seeing/tourist stuff is where I spent the majority of my money because every single place had an admission cost that no one ever told us about before hand.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? I wish I was informed of the tourist fees we would be paying on top of the hundreds of dollars we already spent to go on the optional excursions to begin with. No one ever told us any of that and one time I almost ran out of money.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
Language acquisition improvement?

The only time I was able to practice the language was in class since my class was all in Spanish and down town in bars and stuff like that with the locals. It was possible for students without knowledge of the language to get by in Madrid. I think a host family situation would have been way better since I was surrounded by Americans for 6 weeks straight... not exactly what I wanted.

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Hotel
  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? See above.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Poetry of Garcia Lorca
Course Department:
Instructor: Sra Vanessa
Instruction Language: Spanish
Comments: It was extremely hard to sit in this class for 4 hours straight in Malaga but the professor was absolutely amazing and I did learn how to pay attention to every detail in poetry. Overall, the course was probably easier than taking it in Binghamton.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Business Spanish
Course Department:
Instructor: Sr Sobejano
Instruction Language: Spanish
Comments: I learned some very helpful words/phrases in this class. I think the class would have been better if it was shorter because it was hard to drag all the things out in 3 hour long classes. It was way better if you participated instead of sitting there bored.
Credit Transfer Issues:
Course Name/Rating:

Hispanic Short Stories
Course Department:
Instructor: Sr Bermudez
Instruction Language: Spanish
Comments: This class was really good and the professor, unlike the others, realized although we were there to take classes, we also were there to learn another culture and see another country. I thought it was very good that he took this into account while teaching his class/assigning homework.
Credit Transfer Issues: