A Town Not Made For Everyone Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I came here without any German experience whatsoever and left with so much more German than I could have learned in two years of learning it at home. Admittedly, the classes required a lot of homework and essays. There were some students who did not come out with as much German knowledge so I think how applicable the German is depends on each individual student and the amount of effort they put into the class. I put in an average-good amount of effort. They do not teach you much survival german so brush up before you arrive!

On-site administration of your program

My program made it clear that they would try our best to make our experience as nice as possible, which is comforting with the amount of money I had to spend. Orientations were a bit long but in a sense understandably so. Our program directors were nice and I didn't encounter many problems.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

By far the worst part of my experience- I chose to do a home stay and while my host family started out great the relationship quickly turned cold. I spent many weekends traveling and my host family, who had a student previous who did not travel nearly as much and was only there for a single summer term, did not like this whatsoever. I tried my best to create a relationship but certain privacies and accommodations were not met. I feel like their personal expectations of how a host student should be were too high. Expecting me to stay home every weekend when I am a student in another country intending to travel is absurd. I feel that host families should undergo a better screening process. I was not the only one who experienced problems with their host families, some worse than mine, however I know that there were also some experiences that were beyond great. Additionally, with apartments it is the luck of the draw. Some were close to the city and university while others were not. My house was too far to walk to from University or the city center, and my bus stop was another .75 miles from my house. Some, while their houses were also far from the city, were simply steps from their bus stop. I wish they chose places with much better transport to and from the city seeing that buses do not run after 9:30.

German food is amazing if that is your type of food. For me it is and I was obsessed! The Aldi near the Rotes Campus is a blessing for a student on a budget.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

There were no classes with other German students and the only interactions I knew of were the ones with Language partners. Luckily, I had already made friends with German students in other cities before hand and became integrated with German culture in that sense however in Lüneburg I didn't feel nearly as much integration.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had my healthcare taken care of by a friend with a German Bank Account and paid him how much it cost. I went to the hospital once because I needed a physician, however every one I went to couldn't accomodate me. It wasn't until after and I emailed my coordinators that I received better information on physicians in the Lüneburg area. However, the check up I received in the hospital was very thorough and my insurance covered it all.

Lüneburg is a safe city, even in the dead of night. Even the bar and 'club' scenes are relatively safe.

As much as I enjoyed the amount of German I learned and the people I met I did not enjoy the rules of the program and how strictly I had to adhere to them or my home stay and home location. I felt like I was being treated like a child constantly by both my host family and my program. I received great grades and I traveled a lot, but because of their mandatory attendance I felt like I had missed out on a lot of opportunities. I feel like attendance shouldn't be mandatory or that absences should affect grades. I feel like I could have achieved better grades if that were so, seeing as the only real points I lost were when I broke the only one absence rule. I feel like I ended up spending a lot of money on traveling and not making the most of it because of these policies. I definitely feel that those who are absent should simply face the consequence of missing coursework and be responsible enough to make that work up. I do not feel that it should be a direct effector to grades. Additionally, I wish my home stay worked out better for reasons I stated in the previous section. I definitely wish I was viewed more as a responsible adult but rather I was viewed more as an underaged high school student on exchange.

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

I did much more traveling than other students so I spent a lot of money on travel every weekend. However groceries are very inexpensive. Eating out was more costly and going to the bars and clubs even more so.

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

I was a beginner, however the last half of the semester (the last two classes) was 'all german' in class. However I practiced more German outside of class.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Americans
• International Students

• Rigor of German Classes

• Housing
• Location
• Strict Adherence to Policy

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer