Disorienting Past Review
By A student (Independent Scholar, Middlebury College) - abroad from 06/27/2014 to 01/31/2015 with
University of Lausanne: Lausanne - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I learned a lot about myself and how I function on my own, alone in another country. I learned to cook a lot of new dishes, and how important it is to reach out to people when you arrive in a new city with very few contacts. I reinforced my love for the mountains (the Alps are 45 minutes away by train). I learned how to turn towards creative outlets (for me, writing) when everything seems overwhelming. I learned to value "la chaleur humaine"
Review Photos
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. |
I didn't come in to the University of Lausanne through any program, but rather enrolled independently. Since I am a science major, I was only allowed to enroll in the Faculty of Biology and Medecine. Science majors in the United States are fairly intense, but I wasn't at all prepared to be thrown into the full curriculum of a foreign university's biology curriculum. The School of Biology Secretary was very supportive, but I still found myself lost and wandering. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing (actually, in terms of what I've learned about myself this semester, I'd call the whole experience a huge net positive), but I was a small fish in the wrong sea, and I think that my grades will probably reflect that. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The Office of the Secretary of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine was very helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived in a shared student house, and was very satisfied with the whole arrangement. In the past seven months, I've lived with people from Catalonia, Italy, Israel, Mexico, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Switzerland, |
| * Food: |
I was responsible for all of my own meals. I think the food was decent... |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I loved my housing situation, and I think that has helped to make Lausanne feel very much like a home. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had no experience with health systems other than buying mandatory health insurance. |
| * Safety: |
I have yet to have any safety-related incident. |
| 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) |
Switzerland has a very high standard of living at a very high cost. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | There were no program expenses (other than the 580`CHF semester fee). My weekly budget to live was 500 CHF/week (including rent and travel expenses) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Get a Half-price card for the trains, and then add the Voie 7 subscription. The half-price card lets you take all trains at half price, and if you add Voie 7, you can take any train after 7 pm for free. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| 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 |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had completed a 200-level French literature course |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Find a housing situation that is exclusively French. Lausanne is a very international city, so that's hard, but I think it would be worth it. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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 had known more about how to find housing going into the program. From afar, it seemed impossible, but once you're here, you start to figure it out. One really helpful resource that I found out about once I got here is the facebook group LAUSANNE à louer - bouche à oreille |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Principes de statistique (Principles of statistics) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Valentin Rousson |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture of 86. Minimal class participation in lecture. Assessment based on performance on a final exam. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Introduction à la bioinformatique (Introduction to bioinformatics) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Marc Robinson-Rechavi |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture of 86, but lectures were highly interactive and interesting. Assessment is based on performance on a final exam. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Chimie bio-orientée (Biology-oriented chemistry) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Luc Patiny |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture was more interactive then other courses, and since it was an elective, class size was smaller. Assessment: 2/6 Final presentation, 4/6 final exam. The final presentation involved learning how to use the web-based software JSmol to explore a protein's structure and relate it to the protein's function. I learned an enormous amount through the project and it was a lot of fun. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Biochimie du métabolisme (Biochemistry of metabolism) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Pascal Schneider |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture of 86. Lab Sections of 15-20. Minimal student participation in lecture. Assessment based on a single lab report and a single final exam. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Biochime appliquée des protéines (Applied biochemistry of proteins) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Pierre Goloubinoff |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture of 86. Lab sections of 15-20. Minimal student participation in lecture. Assessment based on a single final exam (though five lab reports must be submitted and deemed pass-worthy in order to pass the class, they are not graded numerically though) |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Physique générale II (General Physics II) |
| Course Department: | FBM |
| Instructor: | Tobias Kippenberg |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | Lecture of 86. I found the lectures very interesting, interspersed with demonstrations (topic of the course is electricity and magnetism...cool demonstrations). Assessment based on two lab reports and a final exam. |
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