Surreal Past Review
By A student (University of Hartford) - abroad from 02/10/2017 to 07/04/2017 with
The Education Abroad Network (TEAN): Auckland - University of Auckland
I learned more about myself than anything. I've never traveled outside of the country before so it was my first time. It opened my eyes to the world and I most definitely got the travel bug. I knew New Zealand would be gorgeous but I didn't realize how gorgeous. So clean, so safe, and so friendly. It was an experience of a lifetime and I would never take it back.
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. |
Education was quite different from my home university. Was not as demanding and required you to teach yourself the courses, which was expected. Just large projects, midterms and a final which were a large sum of your grade. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Our administration adviser for TEAN was pregnant with her child so the only time we actually saw her was when we arrived. Our co-administrator was at AUT so we never saw him and could really only contact him through Facebook. I wish we could have seen them more but again this was only because of personal reasons with home adviser and location of our other adviser. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Carlaw Park was a brand new living facility which was very well maintenanced. Community based; had family's as well as students living at the accommodation. Only thing difference between Carlaw park and housing in the states was co ed housing. So I lived with two guys and another girl. |
| * Food: |
There was no on campus dining. It was only offered to freshman in the freshman halls. You were responsible for feeding yourself. This was extremely different for me because I'm normally on a meal plan at my home uni |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I got to know New Zealand very well, especially living with locals. Being located in the heart of the Auckland there were many local events to attend. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt extremely safe on cmapus |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
TEAN hosted the best orientation. This was the first year they didn't host orientation in Fiji and honestly going to Queestown was more amazing. The trips they hosted for us were great and really embraced us into the culture such as a rugby game. Whole experience was fantastic. |
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? | $200 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Be prepared to spend a lot of money on food in New Zealand. Everything is exported so its more expensive. If you go to school in Auckland I recommend getting a countdown card because you can receive rewards and discounts every time you go shopping. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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| 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? | One thing I wish I knew before going abroad was that we lived co-ed. It wasn't an issue just would've been a nice heads up. |
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. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism |
| Course Department: | Architecture |
| Instructor: | Andrew Barrie |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Andrew was probably one of the best professors I've ever had in my three years of schooling even in the states. Was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. The course was only once a week for two hours. Andrew refused to put recorded lectures online to make you come to class which I believe was not worth missing. Even though it was a history course and had the potential to be boring it was one of the most interesting classes I took. His slides were just photos of buildings and he could just talk a mile a minute about each one and the history behind it, cracking jokes every now and then. Because he was so passionate about the subject it made me extremely passionate about the course. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No credit transfer issues at all |
