Past Review
By Katherine L (Plan II/Government, The University of Texas at Austin) for
University of Texas - Austin: Traveling - Plan II Biology
I gained a lot of knowledge and perspective from this program. I really enjoyed all of the lectures and planned activities, particularly meetings with community members and leaders. The program did not meet my expectation of being physically challenging, nor did it incorporate aspects of public policy and government issues as much as I would've liked. The experience was worthwhile, but I think if I was given the opportunity to change my decision I would have chosen a program with more autonomy and a higher level of cultural immersion.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
While formal lectures made up a fairly small portion of this program, I gained an immense amount of firsthand knowledge about the biology, economy, and culture of Costa Rica through our other organized activities. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
While the professors were generally very knowledgeable and accessible, I felt that the size of the group was slightly on the large size, and organization and scheduling issues detracted from the overall experience. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We traveled throughout the country during the duration of the program, staying anywhere from 1 to 8 nights at multiple locations, in either budget hotels or biological field stations. <br /><br /> Housing in each location was arranged in advance by the professors leading the program. Because we were in hotels or field stations as a group, there was little opportunity to have exposure to the local language or people, as would happen in a home-stay program. |
| * Food: |
Vegetarian options are very limited in Costa Rica, but the quality of the food almost everywhere we went was very good. Rice and beans are served three meals per day, so I would not recommend this program for those that don't like rice and beans! You will have other options as well, but this is a staple of every meal. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We were able to experience many amazing things on this trip, including visiting tons of different sites of interest and speaking with many local experts. Unfortunately, there is not much time for socializing with other members of the program in settings typical to other study abroad programs, such as going out dancing or hanging out on the weekends (because this program runs 7 days a week). We enjoyed a day trip to the beach, a local farmers' market in Monteverde, and a couple of nights out on the town accompanied by our professors. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt very safe throughout the duration of the trip, and often got up early in the mornings to go on runs by myself. It is probably less safe to go out alone at night, especially in San Jose. The drinking water in Costa Rica is completely safe, setting it apart from some other Latin American countries, although we did have many cases of stomach illness, probably just due to the change in diet and constant traveling in a bus on bumpy roads. There were several optional vaccines recommended by the Study Abroad office before departure from the U.S.; I didn't have any of them and was fine. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | The majority of our meals were paid for by the program instead of on an individual basis. Because I typically eat light meals and don't order drinks, it probably would have ended up costing less for me to purchase my own meals, as opposed to paying for them in the program fee and having this money pooled to buy everyone's meals. Unanticipated expenses were: laundry (very expensive to do at hotels where they charge per piece of clothing), taxi to the airport ($22), and exit fee to leave the country ($26). |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | This is a great program for anyone who does not have much experience traveling and is looking to have everything planned out for them. For students who are more autonomous or have lots of experience traveling, you may become frustrated with having to travel in a large group and follow a strict preset schedule. This is not the program to choose if you want to learn Spanish and/pr immerse yourself in the local culture, but you will learn a lot about the biology of Costa Rica and gain valuable perspective on the issues of land use and conservation in the country. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Plan II Junior Seminar |
| Course Department: | TC 357 |
| Instructor: | Moon Draper and Ruth Buskirk |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | This course was challenging, but not to the degree that it became overwhelming. Perhaps the most challenging aspect was the structure of the program, because we traveled as a group and had organized lectures, assignments and outings every single day for four and a half weeks, leaving little time to relax and decompress from the stresses of traveling. Both professors were very knowledgeable, but organization was somewhat lacking. This was the inaugural year so I imagine the program will improve and be more streamlined in future years. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
