Dealing with the university in order to live in the city Past Review
By Michael H (Spanish Language Teacher Education., University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse) for
Universidad De Santiago de Compostela: Santiago de Compostela - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
My rating of overall satisfaction is entirely based on my life in the city and in no way reflects the program advising or coordinators of the host university.
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. |
The homework load was less than that of my home university, and the professors spent about 85% of all class time lecturing (much more than at my home university). In three of my courses, the last 2 months of the course was spent giving a presentation and listening to the rest of the classes' presentations. The grading system over there was different. I would not say that the curriculum was more difficult than that at my home institution, only that the standards for success were lower. That is, lower grades (50%, 60%) were accepted as passing and sufficient to graduate. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The services for students at my host university were either non-existent or dismal in nearly every way. My program coordinator was unreachable for nearly the entire semester. I was unable to communicate them by any means other than a face-to-face conversation. Due to the fact that my program coordinator was never in her office, nor did she post office hours, I was able to meet with her only two times during my entire 5-month stay, despite seeking her out more times than I can remember. I did not have access to the internet for the first week of my stay because my coordinator did not know how or where I could get it. I, along with other exchange students from South America spent the week going to offices and trying to find someone who knew what to do. Getting our food money took an entire month. None of my expectations were met. The program administration at the host institution did almost nothing to make my stay easier. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Experiment with the local restaurants and seafood cuisine. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
None were arranged by the program. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I think my host city was about as safe as a city of 100,000 gets. I felt comfortable nearly all of the time. Healthcare was easily accessible, with a free hospital near my dorm. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | cooking for myself every day, I spent very little money on food (less than 25euro/week), and personal expenses were low also (less than 25euro/week) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Advice: utilize kitchen services to save money on food. I had few unanticipated expenses. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | All levels of language courses completed before departure. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
All of my classes were direct-enroll and an uncommonly low number of people spoke English, which is exactly what I wanted. The only time during my stay in which i spoke English was in talking with my family on the phone or on skype. All interactions in the host country were in the native language. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Students who are easily frustrated need not apply. Students in this program must be independent and proactive. |
