My college sophomore daughter will be studying in Florence for a month this summer. Any feedback about how our schools 'look after' the students would be appreciated.

though I cannot speak for the specific program in Florence, my experience with college exchanges is that they are essentially vacations with class time. The students are free to do what they want and if they have a host family, they might be expected to spend time with them. Mostly students do classwork during the week and spend the weekends traveling.

As for being looked after, outside of the classroom and organized activities, the students have little or no contact with the student.

Hi K,

Have you contacted the schools offering the program?

What degree of "looking after" were you anticipating? I am a former teacher/don of an Italian-based college programme for English speaking students. I think I can be specific if you can tell more of your expectations vis a vis your daughter...

Is she living in an apartment with others; with a family or in a college type dorm? Both of my kids have studied abroad but lived in their own apartments overseas.My daughter is currently in Sicily studying and lives with two other girls from two different universities. The school she goes to over there offers the classes during the week and some field trips on the weekends but basically she has been on her own for cooking,traveling,entertaining herself,etc. She loves it! Give us some more information as to what you are interested in?

Hi, I will be studying abroad this summer at Aix-en-Provence in France, and I am interested in finding out what your (or your children's) experiences are regarding living with a host family. I am considering independent housing instead of staying with a host family, because I plan to bring my small dog. Did you or your children like living on their own? How does living with a host family compare?

Thanks!

Nancicita-a dog for an study abroad exchange? Rethink that as it really limits you and your travel times while there.As to your other questions-My son studied in Torino, Italy one semester living in a shared apartment with two other guys and in Prague,Czech Republic one semester in a school provided international dorm.He lived almost an hour from his school by way of two bus changes in Torino and about 5 minutes from school in Prague.He learned more Italian and their culture by having to deal with the daily living on his own. I think that there are alot of pros and cons to apartment living vs living with a family. I quess since some of my kid's friends had some bad experiences living with families(families wanted them to babysit and work for them;not acceptable offerings for food choices,etc.) my kids chose more independent housing.My daughter loves the independent living in Sicily with two girls she did not know previously. She has gotten into a routine everyday of: turning on her shower heater(takes an hour for water to heat up as there is no central heat) while she goes out to jog and get her fresh fish,veggies,fruit and bread for her day's meals from the local outdoor markets.She enjoys not having a meal plan and being more free to come and go in regards to meals,social life,etc. She travels every weekend whether its with her school or with friends.She has traveled extensively overseas prior to going over there and is very self sufficient but in talking to her, I do sense a tremendous growth in her outlooks on life,people,etc.She is VERY VERY happy with her study abroad experience in relation to where she went and what her living was.I think that it really depends on the family you would be living with and how independent you are.