Go to India, but not with SITA Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I guess no one studies abroad for an academically rigorous experience, but I was very disappointed with the quality of the classes. They were very poor quality and though SITA advertises the possibility of independent studies, especially for year-long students, it's very hard to execute these in reality.

On-site administration of your program

The semester that I was in Madurai was a particularly bad one for SITA. The director at that time was quite ill-equipped for the role that she was in, and she had no support, meaning that the students really suffered. I think that the administration of SITA has improved by now, but I would be very wary of taking part in this program because of their record of bad administration. The US side of things hasn't changed in the past two years, to my knowledge, and they were incredibly unsympathetic when I had a serious issue while in India and my parents tried to contact them. To make a long story short, I had a problem with a member of my host family sexually harassing me. When I told the administration about this, they told me that another student had the same issue before, and they placed me in the host family anyway because my host mom had promised I would never be left home alone with this family member. Not only was this untrue, but it's also not an excuse to place a student in a potentially dangerous situation. I was incredibly unhappy with the way that the administration handled the whole thing.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Most people who took part in SITA while I was there had really fantastic experiences in their host families. I had a lot of problems, but I think this is atypical. Don't expect A/C, western-style toilets, or other amenities you might be used to from the US, but you will get to experience typical family life in India, which is an incredibly rewarding experience!

Madurai is the best place I have eaten. Period.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I have some serious qualms with how the program is run. I feel that the administration was overprotective of us, to the degree that it damaged our ability to become integrated into the local culture -- they placed many restrictions on our movement. However, the affiliation with Lady Doak College, a women's college near the SITA center, is a very good thing and is how I met my best friend in Madurai. I really hope SITA continues to maintain these ties. Host family interactions also really helped with this.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Madurai does not have great hospitals and my friends and I had some problems there. Make sure to google all of the medicines they give you. But the SITA faculty did everything they could to help us navigate the health care situation when we were sick. When one student on my program had a medical emergency while in India, the faculty handled it really well.

Madurai is an incredibly safe place -- you will barely even experience minor problems like street harassment. Also, if you take part in the program you will be coming home very early -- my curfew was 6:30 pm -- so you won't have to worry about the safety risks involved in walking alone at night.

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

India is not expensive.

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

The lack of emphasis on foreign language was my biggest complaint about the academics. I felt like I was actively discouraged from using Tamil, which was the reason I had decided to go to Madurai.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• Location
• Food
• Relationship with Lady Doak College

• Administration
• Academics
• Travel restrictions

The Academic or Linguist