My Spring 2023 SIT Valpo Experience! August 02, 2023

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I really enjoyed the structure and professors for the Spanish classes, but the Research, Methods, and Ethics class was not very engaging and did not adequately prepare students to research and write for their ISPs. We had some interesting lectures and guest speakers, but especially toward the beginning of the semester, a lot of the lectures were repetitive.

On-site administration of your program

The homestay coordinator is amazing and the Spanish professors and internship coordinator were extremely helpful.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I was a first-time student in my host family. The house was clean and in a great location in terms of commuting to the school building and my internship, but I did not have the best experience with my host family.

There is a good variety of food, and our host families packed our lunches every day that we had school!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had to visit the clinic on 3 separate occasions, and each time there was a member of program staff that accompanied me to the clinic. Healthcare was easily accessible, and I was able to be refunded via the SIT travel insurance for all bills that I paid for my visits and medications.

To avoid theft, students should use small bags like a fanny pack that you can keep close to your body and in front of you at all times. In terms of safety in the physical environment, Valparaíso is made up of hills and has a lot of uneven roads, so students should always watch where they are walking to avoid injury.

I loved this program mostly for its location in Valparaíso and the opportunities that Valpo gave me. The northern and southern excursions were the highlights of my experience. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to live with and learn about the Aymara and Mapuche communities in Chile, and these experiences are unique to this SIT program. I think that during my semester, the organization of the program was not the best that it could have been, but changes to the program staff should be able to resolve some of the organizational issues.

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

Most of my meals were provided by my host family, so I usually only spent money on food when I chose to eat outside of the house. Uber is extremely cheap in Chile, so I took Ubers quite frequently, but this was not a huge expense.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

All of our classes were in Spanish and our host families only spoke Spanish, so the program was full language immersion.

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• Other
• Host Family
• Hotel

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• Northern and southern excursions
• Location in Valparaíso
• Spanish classes

• Organization from the program staff
• RME course
• Lectures