Good opportunity and chances to explore

To those who want a rigorous academic experience as an undergraduate, this program is not very fitting. On the other hand, if you want to build a personal connection with Athens, this program is good because it's not exclusive. Courses cover a broad range, from classical languages to economy and human rights. There are more chances to meet people and build networks if you have that intention. It's also fitting for people who want to fulfill their general education/ distribution requirements, especially in the humanities, in a less stressful environment.

I personally encountered a great opportunity. One of my professors was an editor for an academic website. She offered to post the essay I wrote for her class on that website. I think this can never happen back in the US. Another special experience for me is taking Topography of Athens, a course exclusively held on-site. We climbed up to the Acropolis more than 5 times. The big archaeological sites were our classrooms, and as familiar as our own homes.

As a Classics major, I also enjoyed being around people who are in the same major. I've never met so many people in classics before. We received a distinguished scholar to give a talk on Sparta during the semester. We had two workshops outside regular coursework, one on the historian Thucydides, and the other on Latin Paleography. We had a PhD candidate from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens come and give a talk on Roman Greece, a topic not so popular but very intriguing for those who are interested in cultural exchanges and identities within an empire, plus a crash course on modern Greek national rhetoric.