So You Want to Go to Peru Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The classes themselves were not that difficult; however, the ISP as challenging and required a lot of time, energy, and research.

On-site administration of your program

The academic directors were interesting. The treated us like children in the sense that we had to check in with them and we had to follow many rules, some of which I believe were much too strict for juniors in college. Examples include that we had a curfew of 9:30 on weeknights, and an instance where the school called one of the student's host parents in a panic when the she was five minutes late for class. It felt like I was in high school again and like much of my freedom had been taken away. Although we were treated as high schoolers in the sense of rules, when it came to academic support the program was lacking and we were left to figure many things out for ourselves, including finding places to conduct research and making connections during our ISPs.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The host family varied from family to family; however, it was required that you have your own bedroom. I give this category a low score as my host family did not do much to include me and show me around the city. The hotels and restaurants we went to as a group, however, were always amazing.

The food we ate at restaurants was always amazing and Peru has awesome local dishes. However, that does not mean your host family will give you amazing food. It really depends on who you get. But, you will definitely eat lots of bread, potatoes, and rice.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I feel I never got the chance to make connections with local students for two reason. One is that we went on educational excursions every two-three weeks, which doesn't allow much time to make friends. The second reason is that SIT does not make any effort to help you make connections or friends with people your age.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

We had a doctor who was designated to see the people in our program if any of us where to get sick. However, I feel as though SIT in Peru needs to work on their approach to sickness. Many times the student's host family were blamed for their child getting sick, which was not fair to them.

Honestly, Peru is super safe. The only thing that made me feel unsafe was the amount of catcalling. As a white woman, I have never been harassed more in my life.

If I could do it over again, I would have chosen a program where I had more freedom and opportunities to make friends with locals. However that is not to say I did not enjoy my experience abroad. I just wish some of the program's rules would change.

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

Peru is cheap and you can live there on very little money; however, you're not going to want to as there are so many interesting and fun things to do.

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

They did make us speak in Spanish and I did greatly improve my conversational skills.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students

• Traveling
• Fellow students
• Location (Cusco)

• Rules
• Integration into the community
• Support from program

The Academic or Linguist