Very challenging at times, but yet very, very rewarding Past Review
By Natalie A (PSYCHOLOGY., The University of Texas at Austin) for
University of Haifa: Study Abroad at Haifa International School
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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. |
The teaching methods in the international school are close to the teaching methods used in the U.S. All of my classes were very interesting. I learned a lot and I am very happy that I went. I think that this program is especially rewarding for students who are interested in their peace and conflict program. I was in their honors psychology program and I liked it a lot; I just wished that they were offering a wider variety of psychology classes. One of my professors had a rather boring lecture. It's not that the material was boring, but just that he kept talking about the same issue for 30 minutes. Most of the time we understood what he was trying to say after 10 minutes. If he wouldn't have talked as much we would've been able to talk about more topics. But that was just one of the professors, and it can happen at each university that one will end up with a professor that isn't that good. But overall this was a very rewarding experience and I can especially recommend their "Terrorism and Response" class |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
everyone in the program was really nice and they tried really hard to make the students feel like they have a second home at the University of Haifa. They care a lot about the international students and always want to make sure that everyone's happy and save. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Israeli food is yummy!! THE BEST! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The university offers a bunch of cool events and field trips, but as I said - since I lived with my relatives I didn't attend any of the events. also, I've seen everything already... |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
It's very safe, no reason to worry. |
| 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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Yes. Since I lived off campus and didn't participate on any of the events it would've been nice if I didn't had to pay for all the trips and events. The costs are included in the tuition fees. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Most of the people spoke english, and I didn't had any issues with the language, since I am a native speaker of Hebrew. I know from friends though, that the University also offers Hebrew and Arabic classes and students are able to take regular classes from the university as well if they're hebrew is good enough. Although I didn't take any of the language classes, I heard that they are really good. |
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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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? | Israel is a very special country and I am not only saying this because of the fact that it is basically my home. Over the years I took many of my friends to Israel and the result was always the same: they either are flying to Israel every year or they moved there for a couple of months/years or decided to go to a Kibbutz for a couple of months/years. It is hard to explain what is so special about this country, but I can guarantee that there is no way that one will go there and will not like it. The University of Haifa is a nice university with some really amazing professors and it's just a very rewarding experience for every student. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Terrorism and Response |
| Course Department: | POL |
| Instructor: | Elliot Chodoff |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Super interesting class! The professor is amazing. Although he is a little bit biased sometimes (but who isn't, that's only normal), he taught us many interesting things. Because of his work he is able to teach you things that other professors can't. He is funny, his class is very engaging and the exams aren't too hard. This doesn't mean that it is an easy class. It was a very challenging class, because it made us think about some very difficult issues. But all our discussion were very interesting and I wish that I could take another one of his classes. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
