San Telmo Stories Past Review
By A student (Pomona College) - abroad from 02/25/2019 to 07/05/2019 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Buenos Aires
A ton. New perspectives on my own life, better understanding of who I am as a person and what I want in my life (mostly just reaffirmed what I thought before), Spanish language ability
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. |
intense rigor, hard classes if you are not very well versed in the language because I took classes at UBA, a world class public university. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
they were dope, very helpful and cool people. Shared useful insights and were fun to be around |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The current program admin who does housing (she's leaving soon but I assume they will continue with this) does a great job of housing students with younger couples instead of older single women which is very common for other SAmer programs. Really helps to make a better home atmosphere. |
| * Food: |
Fine, just gets boring. If you love steak and wine you will love it here. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Internship, classes, everything makes it easy to integrate, especially if your language skills are strong. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
didn't do any of this - no experience w the health system but survey requires a response |
| * Safety: |
As a man who is larger than the vast majority of Argentines, I never once felt unsafe in my entire visit. Other people may have felt differently, but I did not hear about anything more violent than phone robbery. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I loved this program!! The middlebury admin in BA are incredible and really set you up for a great experience. My biggest qualm is that I really really love the Caribbean and I wish I could have studied there as well. I have no regrets, only I want more jaja. |
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) |
I would say it was generally easy to spend just about 8-10 dollars a day, except on weekends when you should go out and do things to get a fuller cultural immersion. That bumps up weekend prices significantly. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | cell phone and transit, I did not pay program expenses directly because of my scholarship so same answer as previous. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | make food at home, it's very cheap but costs time. Drink mate at home. Don't miss meals with your host fam, they're free. |
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 |
Absolutely required. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Spanish 102 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Don't speak English for 5 months |
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?
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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? | This program starts and ends extremely late because it's in the southern hemisphere. That means you will have a very difficult time finding summer work if you don't plan around the schedule. DOUBLE CHECK IT BEFORE YOU APPLY. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
