Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It is the American educational system, so grading is the same (A-F). Classes are lecture style. I took a lot of Arabic classes, and workload for that was heavy. My other classes had average workloads. Overall it was perfectly manageable.

On-site administration of your program

It is a tiny office with an overworked staff, but despite that they were able to provide help whenever I needed it. It was run by an American, which was very helpful since she understood where exchange students were coming from.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Dorms are segregated by sex. There is very little friendliness or comradeship in the female dorms. The male dorms I wouldn't know. Bathrooms are in the rooms. Probably the best showers in Morocco are in Al Akhawayn dorms. <br /><br /> Bedding is included. My roommate was awful and I hated her. The entire campus is like a biodome so dorms were close enough to classes and food, though nightlife was found outside the campus completely. There was a curfew for all students, which was midnight on schoolnights. It was very frustrating.

to be vegetarian is difficult (I tried) and vegan close to impossible. I thought the cost of food was appropriate in comparison to how expensive other things in the school were, but the quality of the food was pretty bad. Lots of repeated meals that got boring after a while. But it was manageable.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Despite being a small city, Ifrane has a really awesome nightlife. Going to the clubs and the bar was something my Moroccan friends did so I went too and it really showed me how the local students actually live their lives. Plus it was really freaken fun!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Insurance is like this: you go to the doctor/dentist/pharmacy/hospital with an insurance form, pay the entire fee up front out of pocket, send the signed form to the insurance company, and you get reimbursed by check a couple of weeks later. It works fine pretty much. H1N1 was big there for a while but the school handled it really well and no one was seriously affected. Ifrane is really safe. I didn't mind walking around alone but some people did. Just do what you're comfortable doing. I doubt you will get hurt.

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

Practice practice practice. Be aware of what's around you and pay attention to what people say so you can understand and then use what they said in your own activities. Most students on campus spoke English very well, off campus English was minimally spoken. French, Spanish and Moroccan Arabic were what we had to use to communicate.

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• Dorm

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• Local Students

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• Americans