Gurl Goes to Africa Past Review
By A student (Tulane University) - abroad from 01/19/2012 to 05/03/2012 with
SIT Study Abroad: South Africa - Community Health and Social Policy
Very worthwhile. I learned that I have so much, a lot about health and health care, and to chill out.
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. |
Extremely rigorous academics because the program tried to fit in so much academic learning to go along with the experiential learning. The academic director was extremely disorganized, which made it much more stressful. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The assistant academic directors were receptive and helpful but the academic director was very very disorganized, hypocritical and occasionally racist. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
We should get more of the money we pay for the program for food. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
homestay = excellent |
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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) |
SIT should give more tuition to students' expenses/per diems, and less to the worthless Academic Director's salary. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $30 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | buy your own groceries, don't eat out every meal. |
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? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 0 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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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? | go with it, don't freak out that Africa is not America. |
