Iceland and Greenland: a Great Learning and Growing Experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Not the most rigorous program if you only do the bare minimum. The leaders give you a lot of wiggle-room to follow your personal passion rather than overloading you with busywork. This means that you need to be an agent of your own learning. If you're naturally curious and will follow up on the things you learn in lectures, you'll learn a ton and have a really fulfilling academic experience.

On-site administration of your program

The leaders I had were phenomenal. They're both brilliant in their fields and so relatable. Beyond their knowledge of the environment and the climate, they're also very knowledgeable of pop culture (movies, tv, books, podcasts, etc.) and are tons of fun to talk to if you're interested in that sorts of stuff. They're also both hilarious!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Most housing was great. Very cool hostels in Reykjavik, Akureyri, and Nuuk, all for different reasons. Nuuk was beautiful, right up on the water. Reykjavik and Akureyri felt like social hubs of the cities, with attached bars and such. Homestay was also a fantastic experience to immerse yourself in the culture. During ISP, if you put in the work to find a great place, you'll also be really happy.

You're often in charge of your own food, which is difficult given that things are so expensive in Iceland. You're not going to get to eat out often, since the least expensive meal you can get is street food for about 15 dollars. The food experience is really based on how much you like your own cooking, since that's most of what you're eating to keep a reasonable budget. I will say, you get to try tons of weird foods that you can brag to your friends about. I had narwhal, seal, fermented shark, reindeer, and whale!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I often felt like I was only interacting with my classmates. The most immersion was during the homestay, since you really get to know the family there and connect with the town through them. Outside that experience, there's very little we did to immerse ourselves in Icelandic culture, and it sometimes felt like we were just tourists.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I didn't have any personal health issues, but I had a friend who needed medicine from a hospital, and she seemed to have an easy experience with it.

Iceland is UNBELIEVABLY safe. Never felt like anything bad was going to happen.

I feel like I learned a lot in a cool place that I've always wanted to go. It wasn't the most immersive experience, but I feel like I still explored and grew a lot as a result.

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

Things in Iceland are EXPENSIVE. So much is imported that the price of everything is pretty much through the roof. Even cooking for yourself and budgeting pretty rigorously, you're going to have expenses that push you over $100 per week. The stipend is enough to cover all of this though, which is great.

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

We had two days of language and pretty much never used it. There was basically no foreign language component, and we only did it as a brief curiosity.

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• Host Family
• Apartment
• Hostel

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• Friends
• Independence
• Learning

• Immersion
• Language
• Hands-on Labwork

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