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Juniata College

USA 2021/2022 Partner universities

Personal data
Mobility type:
study

Faculty at MU:
Faculty of Education

Field of study:
Teacher Training for Primary Schools / Primary School Teacher Training

Level of study during period of placement:
Master

Language used:
English

Summer/winter school?:
no

Period of studies:
spring 2022

Period of placement (from-to):
2022-01-08 - 2022-05-10

Number of months:
5

Activities before my departure abroad
Where can information be found about courses taught at the foreign school?:
Juniata has a good and nicely organized website with all the information you might need. I have been in contact with another girl studying there semester before.

Which documents were needed for acceptance at the foreign university?:
I needed my CV, cover letter, transcript of records and TOEFL language test.

How far ahead did you have to organise your acceptance?:
I needed to start couple months ahead because of the visa.

Did you need a visa?:
yes

Documents and materials needed for a visa:
- photos
- an online nonimmigrant DS-160 application form
- valid passport
- receipt proving payment for a nonimmigrant US visa application (SEVIS fee plus DS-160)
- invitation letter
- prove of scholarship
- bank account transcript

Length of wait for visa:
length of the stay plus 30 days grace period

Fee for the visa:
SEVIS fee -220 USD
DS-160 - 3520 CZK

Studies
Did you have a Learning Agreement signed before your departure?:
yes

If not, why not?:

Before your departure did you know how your courses would be recognised by your home faculty?:
yes

During your stay did you change your Learning Agreement?:
yes

When and how did course registration take place? Are there any restrictions? Possibilities of making changes?:
yes, I change one course during our allowed period and I add one extra course

Did you take any examinations at the foreign school?:
yes, I attend regular classes at university so I needed to meet all the requirements

Does the school use the ECTS system?:
yes

If not then explain how the credits there were recalculated into ECTS:

Describe the teaching methods (theory, practical and projects) and assessment of students:
I absolutely love the system in the USA. Final grade from each subject is made from multiple assignments for example one group project is worth 5% of your grade, an essay 15%, another essay 10%, midterm 20%, final, etc. There is a lot of work during the semester, however, it is more beneficial for student learning, or at least it was for me not having all the pressure of 100% of your grade on your final exam. There is a big emphasis on student preparation and projects. In some subjects, we had multiple home take exams with open notes and open books. That meant we could answer a set of questions being allowed to use all of our resources. Questions were made in the way we needed to apply our deeper knowledge and understanding of a certain issue, not just copying answers. Some of my professors also used a variety of roleplay and simulation to demonstrate us certain principles and theories.

Quality of teaching in comparison with home school:
I was very happy with the style of teaching there and especially with the communication and approaches of my professors. We had significantly fewer subjects but the effectivity was higher in my opinion.

How did you receive study materials?:
Most of our materials were uploaded online in our school system, sometimes we were asked to buy a book or find an alternative online. In some cases, we received printed documents from the teacher, while there has always been a copy of them online (if needed)

Can you recommend an interesting course/subject/teacher?:
I would recommend any course taught by Katie Hoffman, in my case I had a course called Assessment. I would also recommend Intro to Conflict Resolution and Sign language.

How well is the school library equipped?:
The School library is very well equipped and there are also amazing spots to work and study.

Availability of computers, internet access, level of software needed, requirements on notebook:
Access is available throughout the whole campus, sometimes we lost it at certain places when we wanted to work outside.

Options from printing and copying:
In every building, there is a free printer and as a student, you have a sufficient amount of pages you can print.

Does the foreign school/student organisation arrange special events for exchange students?:
yes

If yes then what?:
There were so many events I can not write them all down from the top of my head. There were amazing events organized by Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, or French clubs such as Multi-Cultural Fest, Chinese dinner, and Vietnamese dinner. There was a spa or comedy night, Black Excellence dinner, Spring Fest, Water Battle, Global Village Dinner, Juniata Got Talent and many others!

How would you assess your integration with the local students (evaluation like in school from 1 to 5 with 1 as highest):
1

or describe in your own words:
The interaction was amazing from day one, during our introduction week we had multiple students as guides working for an Internation Office. I am very outgoing and talkative so I did not have any problem connecting to people, everybody was so welcoming and especially the students living at Global Village. Students there make connections mainly at social and sport events and we were attending most of them which help so much to create new friendships and connections.

Practical questions on your placement
Where did you live?:
I lived on campus at the dorm called Global Village where most of the international and full degree abroad students lived, but also multiple American students.

Cost of accommodation - monthly:
0 USD

Additional comments to the price of accommodation (as to what the price includes):
I did not pay for the accommodation because it was included in the contract with our university, but normally general room rate is around 3,472USD per semester

Describe the equipment. Tips for future students – what should they bring with them?:
You do not need almost any equipment, I had my sheet from a student from the last semester. She also left me fridge and fen (after we communicate), but you can easily live without them.

How and how far ahead should accommodation be organised?:
I do not know, we were dealing with it at the same time as subjects, etc., but I didn't choose my room or place, I just give my preferences and all was made for me.

What are the catering options?:
There is a huge dining hall with so many options, I had a limited dining plan paid for my uni, but it was enough. You can also get unlimited plans or cook for yourself.

What are the rough costs of groceries (compare with Czech prices):
I did not cook for myself so I didn't spend a lot on groceries, but in general, it is similar or it depends on the products, you can eat really cheap, but if you want higher quality or fresh stuff, you will pay more.

Transport to location of placement:
I spend around 3000-4000CZK to Dublin, 500 USD for a round trip from Dublin to New York and 53 USD for train to Huntingdon, plus other traveling and way back home.

Rough prices for transportation:
I don't know exactly I was traveling a lot after, so I don't know just the main one.

Tips for purchasing cheap tickets and other recommendations:
Plan ahead, buy round trip.

What are the local transport options (public transport, cycling, on foot, rough prices):
AMTRAK train is usually between 53 to 90/100USD, we did not have bus transportation and US is not very friendly for biking, the best way how to transport yourself is by car or plane.

What kind of formalities have to be arranged before arrival, for example residence permit?:
VISA J1

What health insurance did you use? (rough price, advantages, disadvantages, is it necessary to arrange insurance at the university other than your home (Czech) insurance?):
We had a specific CHUBB health insurance required by the school and I made myself travel insurance as well.

Did you have any experience with medical treatment abroad?:
I got covid after first week at college so I have been treated just by our medical service and later I also got a booster shot.

Did you work during your studies?:
no

What are the conditions for working for MU students?:
MU student are allowed to work just some certain hours and only on campus, before starting to work you need to go to some office and get a permition.

Tips for free-time activities:
hiking, traveling, sports, events, party etc.

Financial support and expenses
Total grant from Centre for International Cooperation:
80000 CZK

Monthly grant in CZK:
20000 CZK

Number of supported months:
4

Total number of months:
5

What other sources did you make use of to finance your placement?:
scholarship 3B (after coming back and evidence of all the receipts)

If you received another grant, state which and how much in CZK:
I didn't get it yet, but it should be 61874CZK

 
Total fees associated with enrolment at the university:
1400 USD

a/ amount of enrolment fee:
0 USD

b/ amount of tuition fees:
0 USD

c/ amount of other fees (which):
300 USD

 
What was your average monthly expenditure?:
400 USD

a/ of which for accommodation:
0 USD

b/ of which for catering:
200 USD

c/ travel and recreation:
200 USD

Any comments to the average monthly expenditure:
Looking back I really don't think these numbers are accurate, each month was different, for example during spring break month I could easily spend 800 dollars or something like that, but I can't tell now exactly how much money was on food, how much money was traveling or anything else.

Recognition of foreign studies at the home faculty
How many credits did you gain during your studies (in the system of the foreign school)?:
13

How many ECTS credits were recognised at MU?:
26 (but not as a full substitute of any subject at MUNI)

Did you know in advance which of your courses would be recognised by your home faculty?:
I knew that my faculty won't recognize any subjects and I need to pass all of them after coming back.

What problems did you have with recognition?:
I didn't have a problem because I knew ahead I need to pass all my subjects later. However, for many people, this can be a huge problem and the reason why they give up on this amazing opportunity to study abroad.

Overall assessment
Assessment of personal benefit (1 = excellent):
1

Assessment of academic benefit (1 = excellent):
2

Evaluate the information and support provided by the foreign school (1 = excellent):
1

Did you encounter any serious problems during your stay:
Nothing significant.

What would you recommend to take with you:
An open mind and your savings so you are able to travel and see as much as you can. You do not need a lot of specific material things!

What most surprised you at the partner university in a positive way:
People, people, and people! They were wonderful. Also, the relationship I build up with my professors, they were so friendly and care about each of us, you did not have to wait for an email answer for a week or be scared to make a mistake in the title in their email. They were super professional, but such wonderful human beings.

What most surprised you at the partner university in a negative way:
It will sound so weird to many people, but I really can't think about bad things in here, of course not everything was perfect, but nothing that significant I need to share. Maybe just getting used to a different cuisine was a bit challenging, but if you are open-minded and firmly on the ground things will be amazing.

Further comments: