Awesome experience Past Review
By A student (Community Health and Preventive Medicine., Brown University) - abroad from 08/23/2012 to 12/10/2012 with
SIT Study Abroad: Chile - Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment
I had so many unique, once in a lifetime experiences that I think I could have only experienced through this program. Love Chile to the fullest. It is an incredible country with such a youthful energy. I am fascinated by this country and inspired by everyone I met, including my American classmates.
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. |
I learned so much from the excursions, my host family, friends, and classmates. Me encanta Chile siempre. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Program administrators were always available and very helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Loved my host family! In addition, during the ISP month we were given the option to choose our own housing arrangements in whichever city we chose to do our research and this was also great. |
| * Food: |
Chilean cuisine mostly centers around bread and avocado, but I was well fed. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Go out and make Chilean friends! This is best done by doing activities and not being afraid to go alone or be without a pack of other study abroad students. After all, being in a big group makes you more intimidating. I kept the mindset that I didn't travel so far to make only American friends and became very close with the other people on my program through all the time we spent together during the excursions. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Arica was incredibly safe and other parts of Chile just require street smarts. |
| 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) |
Spent about $500 during the entire 15-week program (including buying round trip plane tickets within Chile and making flight changes). |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't be afraid to ask your host family to buy food that you like if you're picky, walk to class if possible, and take advantage during the program stipend during the ISP program. |
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 |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Avoid spending too much time with study abroad program classmates, especially in a huge group. In the beginning of the program, make it a priority to practice spanish with your American classmates. Spend a lot of time with your host family and try to make some chilean friends! |
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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| 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? | My advice would be to practice your spanish as much as possible while in Chile, to be adventurous, and to try to love fully each new place you discover. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Review of all courses |
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| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | |
| Comments: | So classes go for 5-6 hours a day, Mon-Fri, for almost two months during the program. This was difficult to handle for me as it is so different from a normal university schedule. However, the excursions & free time in the independent study month made it worth it. Classes themselves aren't too rigorous. Spanish was fine, the seminar was hit or miss depending on the professor that day, and the field study class was the least interesting for me (but it did not meet often). |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
