Nice people, not a great academic experience. Past Review
By Bethany W (GIS, Humanities, Honors, French minor, Villanova University) - abroad from 01/02/2013 to 05/19/2013 with
Universite Catholique de Lille: Direct Enrollment and Exchange
Not really.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Taking classes in French was difficult, but comparing the actual content to my classes in the US, the classes were not very rigorous. Resources were rather difficult to find - WiFi on campus is minimal and it took several weeks for the international students to get their cards to access the library, which had books and internet access. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration at UCL in general was not very helpful to international students - there are a lot of things (such as an online course portal, etc.) that you really need access to to succeed in your classes, but that international students are not permitted to access. However, the International Studies department, which has charge of the international students, was very helpful and did as much as possible for the international students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The internet was awful and the heating was glitchy, but overall it was alright. |
| * Food: |
Dining halls aren't open often, so you mostly had to get your own food, which got expensive. Also, you had to pay for the meals at the dining halls, though they were cheaper than local restaurants and delis at least. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The French students didn't associate at all with the international students, the teachers would treat us very differently, and so on. We went out in groups of just international students and did touristy things, but that's obviously not the same as being integrated. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
The university health center was very helpful and up to US standards. |
| * Safety: |
Lille was very safe. |
| 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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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 |
Very little. All the international students mostly spoke English to each other, teachers spoke English to us, and French students didn't really speak to us. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
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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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | That the international students would be pretty segregated from the rest of the school/students. |
