An educational adventure Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I gave the academics a 4 because I felt they were at a lower level than my college in the US; that being said the teaching university style are very different. It depends on the courses you take, of course, but generally the classes were much more broad, fact-based, with work that involved repetition or recitation, rather than work that involved critical, profound, or independent analysis. Internet access was a big challenge seeing as the computers at school were very slow and fast, reliable WiFi is hard to come by in India. Class quality definitely depended on the teacher.

On-site administration of your program

While I liked studying abroad in Bangalore, India, nearly everything USAC facilitated was unorganized, illogical, last minute, or unprofessional. I really did not feel like my program provided much support, or addressed needs I had while I was there. Issues such as class schedule, apartment needs, rules, orientation, service learning, or mere responding to emails, came up all the time and were extremely frustrating for the whole group.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We had big apartments in a good location with minimal furniture but we were extremely overcharged; probably paid 5x more than they were worth in India. NO AC, and SLOW WIFI was a huge problem. The program was very slow at responding to requests for fixing fans, lights, tables. When my room mate and I arrived the place was messy with the last group's garbage, dirty, we had no curtains the washer was broken and not fixed until 3 months in and there were 2 broken desks that did not get removed from our apartment for the course of 4 months.

Not facilitated by USAC but Indian food is delicious and extremely cheap. There is a wonderful restaurant and many great food stalls right next to Christ College, the school I went to, as well as lots to eat all over the city and in the school cafeteria.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt integrated with the local culture because Indians were very friendly and welcoming, and members of my group and I worked on putting ourselves out there. However, USAC makes it seem like foreign students are directly enrolled in the Indian University, but we are taught by Christ University professors in separate, small classes with strictly people on our program and it is very hard to coordinate visiting another class or seminar at the University. This set up was pretty isolating and did not provide the experience of studying at a typical Indian university.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

India will challenge your immune system for sure, but the city of Bangalore has many of the medications, hospitals and comforts you need to take care of anything that occurs. USAC required and recommended certain vaccines, but I can't say they were very attentive to our group's health issues.

You have to be street smart and careful as you do in any city. As a woman you have to be even more so and dress conservatively because the culture is not as liberal as in the United States. Harassment by males was an issue for girls on my program, but on the whole Bangalore is a relatively progressive and safe city compared to the rest of India. I do not consider this a reason to deter someone from studying abroad in India, just something to be aware of and prepared for.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

not the program, just in class

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• Apartment

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• International Students

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• Americans
• International Students

• Bangalore
• traveling
• food

• USAC organization
• listening to students issues
• apartments

The Avid Adventurer