Abroad101: Study Abroad Reviews

Adventrues in London and Paris Past Review

By (Utah Valley University) - abroad from 05/01/2012 to 05/23/2012 with

Utah Valley University: Traveling - Business Marketing

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
Planning! truly is the key to success. I also will use information learned from two of the appointments as well as the many sites I visited on my own in my career. Would love to live in London!!!!!

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 6 months+

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Would like to have received itinerary sooner than two weeks before we left. Reading about the businesses we visited and the people we were to meet.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

Very frustrating not to know where to meet. No morning or evening meetings to update everyone with the subway routes in case we were separated which we were most of the time. Appointments were not with "Executives" as was advertised by the director prior to applying for the program.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Columbia Hotel in London was very well located to the public transportation. Rooms were spacious and clean. FIAP in Paris= rooms were clean. Desserts were awesome.

* Food:

Continental breakfast consisted of bread and bitter orange juice. Pubs and cafes in London and Paris were excellent. ( on own) Dinners at the FIAP in Paris were great considering they feed 400+ people a day. Desserts were amazing.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Free time spent in London and Paris was the most beneficial. Group of 5-7 planned our days very efficiently to see as much as we could. The time spent on my own was very beneficial in planning my career choice.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

N/A

* Safety:

Morning/Evening meetings should have been held to update everyone on the day's subway routes and meeting places if you were separated from the group. Customs and Immigration at London and Chicago=director should have remained with the group until everyone had passed through. Students were yelled at by the agents that the entire group had not stuck together. Yes, we are all adults, but immigration and custom regulations are not taken lightly.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? No

Finances

* 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)

Museum and transportation passes were included in the study abroad fee.

* Was housing included in your program cost? Yes
* Was food included in your program cost? Yes
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? $250 just on food in London.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? London is expensive. Double to triple the cost of eating in the US. Shop at the Tesco mini-markets and eat at the Pubs like the locals.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? No

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Hotel
  • Hostel
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students
  • Americans
  • International Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans
About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? 0

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • Louis Vitton, Marketing Forecasting appointment, shopping, pastries, pubs,
  • time spent on our own to explore,
* What could be improved?
  • Better organization.
  • Itinerary provided sooner than two weeks prior to departure. Wanted to read about the places we would be visiting.
  • Appointments focused more on business rather than just high end fashion.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? More about this professor. Should have read "Rate my Professor" reviews. Appointments were mainly high end fashion "shopping" rather than applicable business and marketing techniques of the various companies. Got the impression from the professor that most of the appointments were made "last minute." Appointments were advertised as "meeting with top executives". We meet with store employees.