Incredible Santiago! Past Review
By A student (International Relations and Affairs., Brown University) - abroad from 07/23/2014 to 12/05/2014 with
IES Abroad: Santiago - Study in Santiago
Study abroad was an utterly incredible and worthwhile experience.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The IES Santiago Team were great! Lovely people and very supportive in a lot of different ways. It was a relatively small program and so there was lots of opportunities to make close connections with the staff. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
As time went by, I felt I was becoming increasingly integrated in the culture -- learning social cues and even picking up a Chilean accent. That said, it was pretty difficult to integrate fully in the university life and I spent most of my time with other study abroad students. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Santiago is a pretty expensive city -- more so than I was expecting. That said, if you budgeted carefully it was definitely possible to live on a student's budget. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $90 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | A survey of Spanish Literature |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Meet locals. Talk to them in Spanish! Read in Spanish (the local news is a great source of practice plus it helps you stay up to date with what is happening in the country) |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | You really need to make a concerted effort to break out of the study abroad group and meet local people! |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
