not perfect but worth it February 04, 2022
By A student (Wellesley College) - abroad from 09/05/2021 to 12/11/2021 with
University of Cambridge, Pembroke College: Cambridge - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
A lot of independence. I think that it was worthwhile
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. |
First course ("paper") was 2000-2500 word essays (8 pages) a week plus exam at the end, with reading. Second paper was a 6000-10000 word dissertation. Supervisions were amazing but at times can feel like more filling word counts than depth of material |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Very kind and eager to help — never actually relied on them so can't say how effective they actually were though |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The room sizes range quite a bit and the location was a bit inconvenient but the house was fine. Only wish the heaters actually turned on when we needed them too |
| * Food: |
Servery food was.. usually fine, quite small portions sometimes though. Otherwise just buying groceries or eating out |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Not really, although maybe it was the nature of the student orgs I joined or the effort I put in |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Easily accessibly rapid covid tests |
| * Safety: |
No incidents, walked back from college (15min walk) alone at night several times with no issue |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
In the sense that if I hadn't gone to this program before, yes I would do it again. If I had the chance to go BACK, I would probably choose to go somewhere else. |
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) |
I was definitely pretty conscious of cost throughout the semester and the cost of living just seems higher than I was used to, especially with org fees, travel, unique experiences |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $135 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Buy staples (seasonings, frozen food, etc) at the beginning so you don't wait until you absolutely need them and only use a tiny bit. Be aware that orgs don't cover all costs and there may be membership fees, etc |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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 get too caught up in doing work — work when you say you will and leave time to try new things |
