SIT Study Abroad

Overall a really great trip!

Submitted by EB123 - Grace Church School | August 09, 2017

I throughly enjoyed my time in the Netherlands. Not only was the group of students on the program incredibly accepting, kind, and inclusive, but the activities set up for us were engaging and educational. Some of my favorite excursions included the tour of the Red Light District and the boat tour of the canals. The program allowed all of the students lots of freedom to explore Amsterdam and spend time in the main part of the city which gave all of the students lots of independence. Though we had the opportunity to be independent, there was also a lot of time spent in the group taking classes and going on trips which allowed us to all become very close. One thing that I would change is the location of the home-stays; I was pretty far from the main part of the city and had to commute for at least 80 minutes everyday.

Program: Netherlands: Perspectives on Sexuality & Gender

Great overall experience

Submitted by H - Colby College | August 08, 2017

I learned a lot about myself and about Chile during study abroad. My Spanish clearly improved and the excursions that we went on during the trip were amazing. The majority of the students got along really well with their host families and the students that were doing the program were really open minded about what they did. Valparaíso is one of the coolest cities I know, and I feel extremely lucky to have had a program there.

As for improvements, the rigor and intensity of Spanish classes could be increased. There additionally could have been more complicated topics for our lectures. However, I overall found the general program to be good. The program directors are incredibly kind and took in all of our feedback during our time there.

Program: Chile: Cultural Identity, Social Justice and Community Development

Best semester yet!

Submitted by SB876 - University of Colorado Boulder | August 05, 2017

This program was all that I was hoping for and more! In terms of academics, lectures consisted of field lectures and classroom lecture, both of which were in a mixture of Spanish and english. That said, don't expect total language immersion in the classroom. There was a lot of flexibility in this regard and one could write papers in either Spanish or english in many cases. The course load was rather challenging, but I learned more ecology this semester in Ecuador that in the entirety of my undergraduate experience thus far (especially botany) Lectures were also very hands on and we learned a lot about field techniques. However, despite claiming to be a program about conservation, this program was definitely highly skewed towards ecology! Beware: I did not receive any Spanish credit from this program because my institution would only accept credit if I was placed in the upper two Spanish classes (which was unfortunate because the placement process was rather unfair and from what I could tell the different leveled classes differed very little). Regardless, I loved most of all the opportunity to do an independent study project at the end of the term. While a common complaint about SIT programs in general is that the ISP is underwhelming, that was not the case for me in this program! It was a wonderful opportunity to conduct my own research, connect with people in the community, and learn how to be independent in Ecuador.

My living situation was with a host family which was also a wonderful experience! It was very immersive in Spanish and the culture and really challenged me to focus on family along with academics—something thats harder to do if you are living at a university away from a family as many of us do in the US.

Cultural immersion in this program was pretty good! Our professors and advisors did what they could to try to educate us about norms and make us less like tourists and more like part of the community. However, I would have loved more of a focus here!

There was wonderful student support in this program as well and professors and advisors genuinely cared about each student! Within our group, we cared about each other as well, so I always had somewhere to turn if I needed help in anyway!

Quito and the rest of Ecuador seemed rather safe to me. In our program there was one or two safety incidents (robbing), but they were resolved and no one got hurt. Its just important to keep safety in mind here and be smart.

Program: Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Incredible semester with fascinating theme

Submitted by AK14 - Tufts University | August 02, 2017

I had a great semester in Argentina with SIT. The staff are wonderful, and work hard to make sure you are adjusting well, safe, and happy. They do a great job of choosing homestay families, and living with my family was my favorite part of the experience. The groups are small, but it allows you to get to know the students you came with well.
I loved that all of our classes were public health focused, and since SIT's specialty is field-based learning, we did a lot of field trips to health centers which were really interesting. I also had a great experience writing my Independent Study Project, which is a unique aspect of SIT's curriculum. SIT programs are very structured, and for me that was a benefit. I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested!

Program: Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments

A very rewarding experience!

Submitted by Allison - Washington University in St. Louis | July 31, 2017

This SIT program is an amazing opportunity if you are looking to improve your Spanish, explore indigenous cultures and traditional medicine, and get a taste of public health/ethnographic research. While I enjoyed the calm beach town of Arica, my favorite parts of the few months were the excursions to other parts of the country and the ISP. The academics were much less intense than my university, but a great learning experience. I highly recommend!

Program: Chile: Public Health, Traditional Medicine