Amazing experience, classes, friends, and trips August 03, 2023

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

For me, the program was pretty academically intense but I learned so much from experts in global health including lecturers from the International Red Cross and many other health-related and humanitarian aid organizations. The reason it was intense was that we had 3-hour lectures in the morning and then either a 2-hour field trip or French class in the afternoon so we were in school from 9-4/5 with a 2-hour lunch break but the content was super interesting and we did not have much homework.

On-site administration of your program

The SIT staff on site were very kind and helped us navigate a new way of life with our academics, homestays, and life outside school.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My homestay family was super kind and helped my roommate and me with whatever we needed. Their 4 cats and 2 dogs were also super adorable. A challenge I had was that my homestay was an hour bus ride away from where classes were so I had to take the 7:50am bus every day which was tiring. However, my homestay was in the beautiful Swiss mountains so that made it better. Also, some of my friends lived a 20-minute or less train ride from classes so it just depends where you get placed.

The food was ok and expensive. You eat breakfast and dinner with your homestay family and for the most part, it was good. For me, I am a vegetarian so figuring out meals at dinner was sometimes a challenge but it worked out. SIT gives you a stipend for lunches and Switzerland can be expensive but there are yummy restaurants with different price ranges so you just need to explore a bit.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I think the homestay is a great way to see how a Swiss family goes about their days and gain insights about what it is like to live in Switzerland. On the other hand, since this is a program where you take classes with the same people in a small cohort which is mostly made up of Americans, you don’t get to connect with other university students that live in Switzerland to gain their perspectives.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I got sick, my friends got sick, it's most likely going to happen while abroad and it sucks being so far from home in a new place and being sick. Luckily the SIT staff is super helpful with navigating the healthcare system along with your host family so you will be cared for.

Felt safe everywhere I went. There were times I took public transportation late at night which was scary but I didn't run into any problems.

I have friends that went abroad to a university and they barely did any school work and just traveled and did whatever they wanted which they loved and sometimes I was jealous of that but I am really happy that I decided to do this program in the end because the staff was amazing, the people in my group were so kind and because it was a small group we got really close, traveling from Switzerland was easy because it’s in the center of Europe, I got to ski and hike in the alps!!!, I have contacts that I can reach out to that are experts and leaders in world known organizations in the health field, and Switzerland is so beautiful! I would say if you’re looking for a semester with more free time maybe looking at university instead of SIT, but if you’re looking to immerse yourself through making connections with a Swiss family and studying global health and development policy then I would say this program will do that.

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

Switzerland is very expensive. Your homestay provides breakfast and dinner and all meals on the weekend and SIT provides a lunch stipend during weekdays. SIT also provides the Swiss Travel Pass which gives you access to all public transportation which is nice. So, all other expenses are traveling outside the program, extra food and snacks, souvenirs, and Ubers.

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

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• The other students
• Morocco trip
• The classes

• More free time
• Less commute time