The classes can be challenging- there's a lot of memorization involved. And because you're in such a beautiful place it can make dedicating time toward studying even harder. Make sure you find a balance between studying and exploring so you have the best experience possible.

Making friends with the locals is extremely easy- they are very welcoming.

Travel all over Costa Rica to some amazing, remote locations. Lots of interactions with locals during, but mainly during the home-stay portion. Learned more from the courses here than from courses at a university, but with that comes the extreme intensity. Intense work load, most time spent learning/studying, but high reward.

Of all study abroad opportunitites, this program really hit my heart in a special way. Our small group of 12 students traveled all around Costa Rica to learn about local flora and fauna, and this hands-on learning will truly stick with me. My family of professors and students were always sufficiently fed (physically and intellectually). I will forever remember this experience!

The course load was heavy, but extremely hands on, interesting and rewarding!
Monteverde is gorgeous as is all of Costa Rica! We are outside hiking and backpacking forests and beaches while learning all about the local flora and fauna. Doesn't get much better than that.
Locals are very open and friendly! I love the Pura Vida culture.
Excursions included 2, 3 week long field trips all throughout Costa Rica. From swimming with sea turtles and howling with monkeys in Corcovado to backpacking through Costa Rica's 50,000 ha rainforest reserve to snorkeling coral reefs in Bocas del Toro in Panama.

The courses were challenging. Having a good work ethic is important for success in this program and as described, it is biologically intensive. Monteverde is amazing and the locals were very nice. Many spoke at least some English so it is okay if you are not proficient in Spanish, but at least some Spanish would help. There are two excursions (2 week long field trips) where you have the opportunity to visit remote parts of the cloud forest and many places up and down the Pacific and Atlantic sides of Costa Rica. Overall it was an enriching experience that I will never forget.

My home-stay was amazing! They were like a second family. There was a singular bus that went through Monteverde and this was a little inconvenient but I enjoyed the experience of walking- especially because that's a cultural norm.

We lived in the biological station most of the time which was basically a big house with rooms that had 4 bunk beds in each. It was super nice, we had amazing cooks that fed us 3 times a day. I ate beyond my capacity for 4 months but it was great. Then I also lived in a home stay for a month with an amazing older couple. They were incredibly nice and their dog Chazca became my best friend. When I was living in the home stay I would have to walk about an hour through town to get to the station but there were taxis that I could have used and they were pretty cheap but I preferred to walk. When living in the station we would either get taxis into town or walk which took about 30 minutes.

The Independent Research Project was an incredible opportunity. I had the chance to survey local coffee producers and retailers in the area to understand the supply chain of coffee in the Monteverde area. I am planning to continue my study through my senior year as an honors thesis.

Your experience will be shaped by what you choose to do with your free time, and what opportunities you choose to take advantage of or pass up on. You ultimately shape your own experience.

Dont take anything for granted! Remember that every moment is precious and soon enough itll be over and that'll be the worst time of your life!!!!