367 reviews
3.40 / 5 based on 367 reviews
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Jared D
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
Suffolk has aquired some great locations for its dorm/apartments. If I were to do it agian, I would probably want to at least try to see what I could find on my own with some friends because the RA system got a bit irritating at times.
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Personal comments
If you want a no-hassle accomidation in great locations (most are within walking distance to Sol, the main plaza of madrid) Suffolk has that aspect nailed down.
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Jared D
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Activities: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment
Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Tappa touring in Plaza Mayor is a must at least once. Use Cafe y Te if you want to study, great cafe and always a great atmosphere. Try some of the Jazz Cafes too, they might surprise you. One word of advice, don't get obsessed with clubs, the cafes can be equally as fun.
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Jared D
Academic
Course recommendations
Let me put it this way, don't go to suffolk for extreme insights into classes. Once in a while you will find a professor that can connect your study abroad experience to studies but unfortunaley thats not the norm. Its not that the classes are useless, just not challenging (although I realise while studying abroad this can be an advantage).
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Get more professors that work in the real world. The business professors were the exception to the norm and really made me feel I was gaining acedemically from the courses.
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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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Jared D
Overall
I wish I had known...
That I would want to get away that much and connect with the community more than some of the people. On a positive note the school's travel program far exceeded my expectation
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In my opinion:
Most people loved it.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
Go for the independant experince, don't go for the school itself.
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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
As much as I could find falt with some of the people and courses at this campus I did overall enjoy my experience. You will find that the boston people (from Suffolk in boston) tend to draw to each other which made me feel a bit left out a first. I soon found people, not only from the US, but from other countries to hang out with and everything worked out. Suffolk is still perfecting its experience. Sometimes they make small administrative errors which can translate to somewhat large student inconvieniance. Their travel program though is unparalled and the trips they planned were fantastic at showing you the "real" aspect of your destinations. They encourage independant travel which I highly recommend, Not only outside of madrid & Spain but do some daytrips to the outside region (El Escorial & Aranjuez). Best advice in a nutshell: Go expecting to define your own experience. Don't go clubbing every night because everyone else is doing it. Try an early morning at some of the Madrid markets (especially Sunday's El Rastro). With suffolk, you can get caught up in the internal semantics of the school but you do best to try to discover yourself while in Study Abroad.
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Jared D
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
none
Work opportunities:
I didn't want/need to work
Personal spending habits
The cellphone services are way expensive (especially if you are used to the free nights & long distance plans). The nightlife, though it takes up more time than you would usually go out back home, is affordable if you play your cards right.
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Travel, Overall, Telephone:
was more expensive than at home.
Housing:
was the same price as at home.
Nightlife, Food:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
At firsy I was trying to get a bank account oppend in Spain but I just gave up. Use online check pay if you can and An American Express card. That way, you have protection in your travel and ATMs are abbundant EVERYWHERE.
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Jared D
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Local language was: Different than language of instruction
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Was learning Spanish a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my Spanish
How much did you improve your Spanish?
My level before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
My level after: At ease in most situations
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
I never actually took one of the language courses but I was able to get out and explore the city enough to really use it and expand my knowledge.
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