Alnwick, check your other options first Past Review
By Ben S (Economics., St. Cloud State University) for
St. Cloud State University: Alnwick - St. Cloud in England
Yes but I expected much more from an accredited University. This is what I would expect from a University on a shoe string budget.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Christine would overload information in a boring manner but would test easy and give easy homework assignments. Jim Webers teaching habits are very poor and lazy. He expects students to memorize definitions rather than memorize the concepts. Where is the teaching in that? FYI I received an A in all courses given by these two professors. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Wade is a good person and I definitely like him as a person, but his administration skills were poor when it came to being timely and actually bringing out positive change. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Needed to buy almost everything besides a bed, sheets, chair, and desk. All living conditions were poor. I'm not referring to things that are due to the Castle being old. For how much money is put into the program the furniture is inferior damaged and dirty. The eating area was largely inferior. It was common knowledge that milk was served after the expiration date on the jug. Mold was found during at least 6 meals. We were served meat with hair in it. Condiments were not thrown out at expiration. Served the same meals over and over. Sometimes 3 times during a 24 hour period. |
| * Food: |
listed as above. FDA would terminate this program if they were able to inspect the food conditions |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We were overall treated like children by the staff. My best memories and cultural learning we're formed during non school travels. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
since we had the id card system I felt safety was above par |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Dont remember the specifics of my spending although I was one of the lowest spenders although i did some of the most traveling. I probably spent an extra 600 dollars making up for the deficiencies of our programs food supply. I was burdened with buying meals in town due to spoilage, malnutrition(only was served fruit or vegetables maybe 5 times the whole time), and repetitive serving |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Basically that what ever was provided was extremely worn or inferior and that you should expect that when going into this program |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | its very sugar coated so take the presentation of this program with a grain of salt |
