Great abroad experience! Past Review
By A student (Child Development/Community Health, Tufts University) - abroad from 01/12/2012 to 05/29/2012 with
Tufts Programs Abroad: Tufts in Madrid
A sense of accomplishment, independence, and many, many life skills. It was incredibly worthwhile.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Autonoma |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Not academically rigorous, but study abroad is about learning outside of the classroom so that is ok! |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Wonderful - especially coordinating transfers or credit at the end. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
great location, wonderful host mom. |
| * Food: |
too much fried food and olive oil. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The program could have done a better job integrating us with the spanish students. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| 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) |
Depends on how much traveling you do, during the week the Tufts program gives you 11 euros/day for food which is very affordable, but traveling on the weekends was difficult! |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $75 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Picnic/buy food at grocery stores! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Spn. 34 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Make Spanish friends! |
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? | Don't travel every weekend - save time to enjoy your host city! Talk as much as you can with your host family, they are the experts. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Imagining the Americas |
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| Comments: | Great movies and interesting topic. Course work is not that difficult, participation is key to a good grade. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Adv. Spanish grammar |
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| Instructor: | Miguel |
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| Comments: | Great course - my favorite. Miguel is a wonderful professor and brings energy to the class. Discussion of current topics is very interesting. |
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Sketchbook |
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| Comments: | Challenging if you are not artistic, but professor is patient and you go on a lot of cool field trips around Madrid |
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