Past Review
By Sydney P (Politics (World) / Spanish for International Service, The Catholic University of America) for
The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe: Leuven - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
Yes, absolutely. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Fall 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes were interesting and challenging. I really learned a lot. It was nice that the class schedules allowed us to have Fridays off for traveling. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Dr. Margaret Malone is excellent. She is extremely accessible, helpful, and knowledgeable about the program's subject. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We lived in the Institute in which we had houses. Although they provided meals for us, there was no common kitchen area to prepare/keep snacks etc. <br /><br /> I lived in a triple and the third girl lived upstairs in a separate loft which I thought was a bit unfair. |
| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian and the cook did a great job incorporating special meals into the menu for me. The food was good, however the lunch menu really needed more variety. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The program did a great job of arranging outings for us or special receptions while stile giving us ample freedom. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Leuven is probably the safest town I have ever been to. |
| 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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | If you want to take trips, try to tentatively plan as much as possible beforehand in order to budget the money. The euro is very expensive for us. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Program was English. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
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? | Politics students or students interested in international relations are really the only ones who should participate, but I could not think of a better program for this type of student. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
European Culture |
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| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was interesting. However, the grading was, in my opinion, very unfair. The course was split into two parts with two different professors. The first half of the course was about European culture. We had a midterm and were graded 20% on this test. Then, we began an Art History portion of the course with a different professor. The final only included the 2nd half of the course, but was 60% of the grade. The other 20% was made up of a term paper in which you could choose either half to write about. The Art History Final had 5 questions I believe. We were asked to write 1.5 pages for 3 of the 5 questions. We studied more than 5 movements in the class, but 3 of the 5 questions were about Modern/Contemporary Belgian art which we spent only one class on and made up only a few sentences in our textbook. If it were not for this unequal grading system and this extremely unfair final, I would have given this course a five. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
