Disappointing Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Humanities classes at USM are clearly unimportant to the faculty and student body. Classes were held one-two days a week with very few if any assignments. Professors seemed unprepared for lectures and classes were very unorganized

On-site administration of your program

The only person in charge of program administration for international students left the position about halfway through the semester. This made it difficult to seek support during challenges such as the university being on strike and made group activities none existent.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing was advertised as being something more along the lines of a furnished apartment. However, the room is, in fact, a 10x6 box with a shared bathroom and kitchen (shared between about 15 people). Heating and cable TV are extra and are only for common areas. Overall the people were friendly but there were several semester-long issues with someone stealing food and shampoo.

The food at the university was consistently well done.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Very few activities were planned outside of the first few weeks. Absolutely zero activities were planned with the goal of integrating foreign students with the Chilean culture. The host university made no effort in integrating foreign students, we were basically left to fend for ourselves.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Never had to go to the doctor so I cannot speak on what it is like in Chile. I will say that the air pollution here is absolutely awful. You could go days without seeing the sun due to intense smog from air pollution. Basically, everyone walks around with a lingering cough, strongly advise that asthmatics do not come here.

I never had a problem with being unsafe, however, I had heard from several others that they had been robbed in plain daylight. There are uniformed police basically on every street corner.

There was no structure to the program, no activities planned, no administration or leadership, and no guidance in challenging situations. Students were essentially left to their own. The university went on strike about two months into the semester. The university was a ghost town for weeks and no one made any effort to ensure that international students would receive their credits. I understand that the strike was outside the control of the administration however the disorder and general uninterest that was showed toward international students during this time was honestly embarrassing.

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

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

I enrolled myself in the only Spanish course available at my host university. The course was 3 hours one day a week for about two months. During that period there was one other student other than myself in the class. During the third month, three other students had joined the class making it feel a little more like an actual class and we bumped up class hours to include another hour-long session earlier in the week. The professor was extremely helpful and nice. Overall the class was probably the highlight of the semester, however, the class was cut two months short because the professor had to leave to work on her Ph.D. Outside of this specific class students were left to find their own opportunities to use and improve on the language. No effort was made in providing opportunities outside of class to work on Spanish related skills.

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• Hostel

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• Local Students
• International Students
• Other

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• Local Students
• International Students

• Spanish Course

• Zero program structure
• Housing
• General care for foreign students

The Academic or Linguist