Freiburg is a unique cool place- uni admin? bane of my existence December 15, 2021
By Ann (University of Alberta - Outbound) - abroad from 10/19/2020 to 07/29/2022 with
University of Freiburg: Freiburg - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
Learned a lot about being the 'odd one out' and not having the best local language skills. Gained experience living alone and dealing with 'loneliness' in a foreign place (very hard). Overall I'd say it was worthwhile, pandemic parts of it sucked however.
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. |
Overall a pretty positive experience despite the pandemic. Pretty decent combination of lab and theory work in my program which I appreciated. However, there was little opportunity for excursions which was unfortunate and would have been helpful in my program (environmental sciences). |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The international office/group dropped the ball for sure as I never received any help or information but rather relied on other students I'd met in coursework for advice and help. The examination office and overall university procedure surrounding classes and 'examinations' is totally inefficient. If you do not register for an exam in time, after already enrolling in the module/course, you cannot receive credit for the course despite there maybe not even being a real exam. The procedure is archaic to say the least and I've seen countless students suffer as a consequence of this terrible system. As well, for a university that prides itself in a wide selection of english track master programs, the language skills are really not there and expect to speak a lot of german in certain module situations. Overall, the administration side of things was the source of all my problems while attending uni here, seriously I never had a positive experience dealing with anything admin on any level. Wish more was done to help connect students (especially those international coming at such a terrible time), rather than having these giant online meetings for all the internationals who don't even get the chance to converse on an individual level with other students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Finding a place in Freiburg is a nightmare. Good luck is all I will say, hoping it gets better as the city improves planning. |
| * Food: |
Food at the mensa is good and affordable. (celery in everything though) |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 200 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | utilize markets and local or second hand options when possible, usually affordable and good opportunity to immerse yourself in the community and make connections (ie once people know you are an international student with limited resources they are always helpful with advice or even giving unused items you may need- winter jackets 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? |
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? | i wish i was fluent in german before coming |
