Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The courses are, for the most part, challenging, at times incredibly difficult (language barriers aside). Demanding and high expectations, but a lot of support from professors, who are very understanding to international students.

On-site administration of your program

They are awesome. Really care about the students and take us on very educational and highly enjoyable excursions. They try to encourage Spanish as much as possible, were great during the earthquake, can be a bit disorganized at times but alwaysget things done. They have really helped me to love Chile, and exceeded my expectations.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I live in the center of Santiago- great, easy location when it comes to transportation and such. I live with Olga, my host mom, who is such a sweetheart and I adore her. However, she does all the cooking and laundry and such and I sometimes just want to do things for myself. There can be a lot of commuting to class. It's a really cute place though, and my room is bigger here than it is in the US.

So good. I eat too much. It's not that difficult as I thought it would be for vegetarians/ people with low meat diets. The fish here is superb. But they do put mayo on everything and eat bread all the time.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

It's hard to make Chilean friends, but once you do they're great people. The program set us up with cultural ambassadors, to help us ease into Chile's social life. They are awesome people and great resources. I do end up speaking a lot of English with people from my program, though we try and speak Spanish when we can. We had some awesome trips to Valpo and the south and this weekend we go to the desert up north. The dancing here is fabulous! Nothing like it back in the States.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The university was very quick to treat me the Sunday I was sick. Even during the earthquake I felt really safe b/c I knew I had a great support network.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I practiced with my host mom, classmates, and Chilean friends. Definitely needed to use Spanish everyday, although many people did try to speak English to me at first (poorly).

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