Academic Year Study Abroad Programs in Vina del Mar, Chile

Living in Viña del Mar, Chile was wonderful! I got to travel throughout Latin America, learned a lot from my peers and professors, and greatly improved my Spanish. Study abroad changed my life for the better. Now I know what I want to do for a living and possible where I want to live. Chile (and Latin America in general) is a wonderful place to be if you want to experience a unique culture and meet TONS of diverse and interesting people. Not to mention the food is amazing! My host family was loving and very informative, and they made the transition to life in another country relatively smooth. Being with a family also improved my cultural awareness and language skills. I highly recommend staying with a family. AIFS made the process relatively smooth, though it was difficult to get in contact sometimes and all of the cultural excursions I choose the program for were cancelled without notice. I did get my money back, though, and used it to explore the country on my own.

When I decided I wanted to go abroad, I was nervous about a lot of things. First off, I was scared that when I went abroad I would have to settle for a location I did not want to be in because I needed my credits to transfer over. Luckily AIFS had a program in a wonderful city with a bunch of classes that would transfer back to my home university super well. When I chose this program, I was overjoyed but nervous about living in a homestay. When I got there I was happily surprised to find that my host family was amazing and provided me with an experience I would not have been able to have if I had been in a dorm/apt. The people that I met in the program were some of the coolest people I have ever known and am happy to call them my friends to this day. If you are looking for a great program in Paris where you have the freedom to meet new people, travel, and find yourself in a new place, I would 100% recommend this to you!