Spain: A Wonderful Country, a mixed experience at university Past Review
By A student (The University of Texas at Austin) for
Universidad Pontificia Comillas de Madrid: Madrid - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
While I enjoyed the being in the country experience, I was really dissatisfied with the schooling.
Personal Information
| 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. |
it was very unclear what some of the professor wanted |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
It was difficult to explain difficulties with professors when they weren't clear to the administrators - as well as it was vague on when we had to take our finals early |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
use grocery stores, but not El Corte Ingles! There may be a more limited selection at Dia, but it will be cheaper |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
nothing was really arranged by the program in particular - I just traveled on my own |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
It was hard to figure out a place where I could arrange to get allergy shots |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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? | I would suggest using public transportation. The other difficulty was the program ended a few days before Christmas which made flying home incredibly expensive. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | upper division Spanish |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I needed to use the host country language in everyday interactions. English was hit or miss with people. |
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?
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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 did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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