Amazing Summer- Definitely recommend! Past Review
By Alexandra (University of South Carolina - Columbia) - abroad from 05/15/2019 to 07/12/2019 with
IES Abroad: Santiago - Summer Internship
I really learned what kind of work environment I want to be in after I graduate and how much I value social interaction at work. I also learned how to navigate living in a household with little to no English, which improved my Spanish immensely. I also learned how to travel on a budget which was very important. Overall I thought the trip was worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
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 |
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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? |
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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
This program overall was affordable, and I think they did a good job planning cultural activities for us such as field trips and classes. Sometimes the seminar class could get a little dry, but I think improvements to that will come with time. The optional Spanish class was very useful, though, and I would definitely recommend taking it. |
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) |
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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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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? | I really should have taken out less cash and just depended on my credit card. I took out too much cash which left me on a very small budget which made things like plane trips a little bit difficult. A lot of cash was also spent to load my bus/metro card because most of those stations wouldn't take card. |
