155 reviews
4.08 / 5 based on 155 reviews
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cfrank
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Independently - My choice
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
It's much cheaper (in my opinion) to find your own housing than to go with a school program's. It's also nice to come & go as you please, and have friends/visitors/family stay over as you like, when you like.
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Personal comments
Most of the housing offered in relation to the ISU program was 2-4 times as expensive as my apartment.
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cfrank
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Activities, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
It would be difficult to say...things change faster than one would think in a city the size of Florence! Borgho Antico in Piazza Santo Spirito has wonderful Risotto! Try a "Caprioska alla Fragola" at any bar! There was always something to "wander into" in Florence - festivals and the like.
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cfrank
Overall
I wish I had known...
No. It would have changed my experience.
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In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
The academics, overall, were not as challenging as my home university, however, I had a few instructors who were incredible. I definitely had a better experience, academically, my second semester because I knew who to take, etc.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
-Women: leave purses at home! Italians have a special verb for purse snatching. And it happens A LOT.
-Bring comfortable shoes (that still look nice!) - the cobblestones are pretty, but can be hard on the feet (I still can't figure out how Italian women wear stilletto heels on them).
-Bargin for anything.
-Clothes dryers are difficult to come by (and expensive to use when you do), so bring light-weight, quick, air-drying clothes that still look nice. The Fiorentini DRESS UP, even if it's a trip to the bread shop downstairs from their apartment.
-When shopping for bread, ask for "pane con sale" (bread w/salt) as the bread in Florence is quite tasteless.
-There is a bakery on Via Faenza near the school (Il Fornaio?) that has amazing fruit tarts.
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cfrank
Academic
Course recommendations
Federiga Bindi for Political Science and Kim Coston for Marketing/Merchandising courses were excellent! Cristina for Intensive Italian. I felt as if I were one of the only students to end the year with an excellent grasp of Italian - and most of my fluency is thanks to making friends with the natives.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Too many people spoke in English at the school.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
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cfrank
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
As I previously stated, I had a wonderful experience taking Intensive Italian for the entire school year, and my study was easily supplemented by making Italian friends (some of whom didn't speak English!).
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cfrank
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Other
Other sources of funding:
none
Work opportunities:
Personal spending habits
I traveled as often as possible - taking a study trip to Bruxelles and a school trips to Rome and the Umbria region, in addition to a bunch of shorter trips in the Tuscan region. Going out was about the same; my Italian friends drank a lot less than my American friends. I ate out more - because the food was so good! But found the grocery stores (like Standa) very reasonably priced. And the foods are much fresher (and better!) than we have in the States.
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Telephone, Travel:
was more expensive than at home.
Food, Nightlife, Overall:
was the same price as at home.
Housing:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
I used my home ATM card to withdraw foreign curreny. Once when a visa connection of some sort was down for a couple of weeks, I got a cash advance with my AMEX card from the AMEX office in Florence. It's difficult to find household items, for example, hangers (people generally get them in Italy when they buy clothes & there's no Target to run to for cheap household goods). The school has limited Internet access in their library as do many Internet sites around the city. Most "textbooks" were cheap photocopies of textbooks and/or readings, depending on the teacher. I didn't spend nearly as much on books in Florence as I did at home in the States.
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