97 reviews
3.78 / 5 based on 97 reviews
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joanne s
Student life
Describe host city:
Student life dominates the city
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Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Travelling outside Catania is a must. Taormina, Enna, Syracusa and Agrigento are all worth seeing and relatively cheap to get to.
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joanne s
Housing
Type of housing: A student residence 40mins walk from the campus!
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
I did move out of the student residence and into an apartment after a few weeks because of the distance from the university, the unsafe location of the residence, and the tiny room I shared with another student.
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Personal comments
It was in an unpleasant location, 40-45 mins. walk from campus with unreliable public transport. There were no non-smoking recreation rooms, not even a dining room. There were no single rooms and the rooms were very cramped. The cooking food storage facilities were completely innadequate for the number of students. There was one computer available to 60-80 students. The manager of the facility was rude and unprofessional.
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joanne s
Overall
I wish I had known...
Many things. What Catania was relly like as a city. How much Italian men stare at you. How unbelievably bureaucratic Italian universities are. That my level of Italian wasn't near good enough.
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In my opinion:
Stay home.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
I don't have one.
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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
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joanne s
Academic
Course recommendations
There is no online student system which makes choosing courses time consuming, especially given the modular system. Many courses I was led to believe I could do together ended up being scheduled for the same time. Times and days for individual courses were made available very close to the commencement of term, making it impossible to get my reding lists in advance of lectures. The information available on the website is very poor.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
I found the aural exam format very stressful, especially given that I was speaking a new language in front of my entire class during exams. There were often waiting periods of several hours and last minute postponements before exams. There were little or no allowances made for those new to the language.
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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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joanne s
Languages
Language of instruction: Italian
Was learning Italian a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
How much did you improve your Italian?
My level before: Basic phrases
My level after: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
The Italian course provided was mandatory but not free! My level of Italian was basic but the course did not advance past this level. It was time intensive during the first 6 weeks and then ceased. It was completely innadequate for the academic courses I was taking. It should gave begun BEFORE lectures and continued throughout the year, increasing in difficulty. The amount of credits (3) I received for the course was completely disproportionate to the hours I spent doing it (12 hours a week).
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joanne s
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits
It was neccessary for my sanity to travel outside Catania alot. I flew home and back twice also a few times. The rent was cheap but I do not pay rent at home.
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Telephone, Housing, Travel:
was more expensive than at home.
Overall:
was the same price as at home.
Food, Nightlife:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
The computer facilities on and off campus were a joke. I missed wifi alot!
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