A title summarizes a trip to a chliche... everyone's heard enough of those Past Review
By Tim E (Mechanical Engineering., Valparaiso University) for
Valparaiso University: Reutlingen - Hochschule Reutlingen
Yes! As far as my academic interests go, however, the program has only compressed the time I have to complete them... it's not easy to get an Engineering degree in 7 semesters. This time was worth the extra work, but I didn't enjoy it for what it brought to the table academically..
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Not very clear administration, on our own a lot. To some extent that's a good thing, but more guidance at the beginning of our time abroad would've been beneficial. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Cheap and good! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The way the program was set up to allow travel was great. Those many opportunities were definitely the highlights. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Felt completely safe |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Living in Reutlingen was very cheap, less than $10 a day. Traveling usually meant more like $30/day. So maybe $100/week on average? |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Train reservations - the Eurail pass doesn't include these in some countries... |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 220 |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Mostly spoke English, better integration with local students (similar schedules) would help with language practice. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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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 do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Go with the flow! It'll all work out and you'll end up with more experiences. If something doesn't work out don't just sit there... there's a thousand other things to do if you don't get caught up in plans you made a month ago. |
