unsure Past Review
By Catherine W (Media And Cultural Studies, University of California - Riverside) for
University of Sussex: Brighton - International Summer School
Yes, only my housing was terrible, the rest of the trip was fun.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Grading system was unnecessarily tough and unstructured. I was told by one of my lecturers that one year he gave a student a 93% for their final grade and the University got mad at him for grading too highly. There was no structure to the grading system either, points were never assigned, the lecturers just assigned you a grade based on personal opinion. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Campus was fantastic but my housing was poor (park village) |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
There were holes in the ceiling, walls, and floor. There was a spider infestation and despite the evidence of all the bites on my arms and legs, the porter kept telling me the spiders don't bite. He did eventually come up and spray my room however. One of the lamps in my room didn't have a lightbulb and when I plugged the phone in it was broken. The hallway outside my room constantly smelled like cigarette smoke. I had to duck in the showers because the stall was too short and I kept hitting my head. The stall was also too small and everytime I bent to try and wash my legs I would hit my head on the wall. The kitchen was constantly a wreck and within one week almost all the cookware had disappeared entirely. The rooms were poorly insulated and I found myself bundling up in 3 layers every night because of the cold. |
| * Food: |
Mostly ate at the pub on campus and it was good, but a little expensive. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Ghost Tour of the Brighton Lanes, pub crawl, Discover Tours - Edinburgh and Amsterdam, |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
the pharmacy was never open on campus and when I got sick I had to rely on the few things available in the student store, I was never told whether or not there was a health center on campus but I already knew that insurance was barely going to cover what I would need to pay for it. |
| 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? | - |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
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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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? | If you get assigned Park Village, complain to the university BEFORE you get there. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Myths and Legends |
| Course Department: | don't know |
| Instructor: | Richard Crane |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | Enjoyed the course, it was challenging but fun. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll |
| Course Department: | don't know |
| Instructor: | Johnny Hopkins |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | very fun an challenging. great experience for a prospective publicist |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | none |
