The pura vida in Costa Rica was a fun and opening semester. Past Review
By Ryana K (International Business., Point Loma Nazarene University) for
WorldStrides Study Abroad in San José, Costa Rica
Yes! It opened my mind to how different people do things, I became much more culturally aware, and I know I want to return to Latin America in the future. It was not satisfying for my academic expectations.
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. |
The workload was easy, the grading system was fair to liberal, and they taught mostly by lecture and power point. The main differences were that the professors were on a friendship level with students that is considered unprofessional in the US. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program was the perfect size and the faculty was fantastic! The professors were not as credible as I expected them to be. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host family was great, we had a really sweet host mom who was a creative cook. Everything was provided for us. The home stay was a ten minute walk from school, close to buses into town, and two blocks from the college nightlife. |
| * Food: |
Great! I don't eat many kinds of meat and our host mom was very accommodating to this. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We did a really fun dance class, but only once. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
It's not safe to walk alone at night. The grocery store had very adequate medicine for common cold and flu systems. |
| 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) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 Half was spent on food for lunch, and the other half was used to travel on the weekends for hostels, food and fun. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Food is more expensive than I thought it would be. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Upper-Intermediate Spanish |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
We practiced Spanish with the professors, ISA staff and other students as well as with our host families and in everyday interactions with locals. Not very many people spoke English. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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? | A student looking to use their Spanish and have a lot of fun. |
