I would like to hear from other parents or students that have had issues good or bad with this program. I have a student in France right now who is experiencing some serious difficulties due to bad information given in the beginning. I want to warn parents that some of what they hear may not happen when their student arrives at their destination. This program has been operating since 1963 and given that I would think they would have the bugs worked out by now!
I'm not talking about just the normal emotional issues with being that far away from home for the first time. Homesickness and a certain amount of depression are to be expected. The only cure for these are time and activity.
I'm talking about logistical things that do not happen the way it says they will in all the written material you receive when you enroll. One of the biggest is time allowed in the dorm before finding a place to live. We were told in writing that the students would be able to stay in the dorms for 3 weeks while they searched for living quarters. This didn't happen. Students in shared rooms were told on the 9th day that they had to be out on the 10th day. No advance notice, no warning just GET OUT tomorrow! Students in single rooms only got 7 days! The administration would help them find hotels but many of these students are on limited incomes or scholarships and need every dime they have. Hotels are expensive! Add the difficulty of being in a foreign country-most for the first time-and not being fluent in the language and this can be a huge problem!
More to come!
