Study in Puebla

     The university didn’t have any dorms, and I found my own housing. My first one I found through a WhatsApp group chat, and the second one was through flyers around the university area. Facebook was also a good place to find housing. I lived with around 10 roommates in the first semester and only 3 in the second semester. I had to cook and do my own laundry. There were pros and cons with both arrangements. With a lot of roommates, it didn’t feel as lonely. In my second semester, I was the only one in the house when there were no classes. When a student strike happened, I was the only one in the house for 3 weeks. My other roommates were able to return to their villages. However, when there were more roommates, there was more drama that happened. By the second day, a disagreement had already transpired in the first house that I found.      It is important to read the housing contract carefully and see the place in person. Some places looked fine in photos...

During the breaks, I would always travel to other cities. I would travel by bus with ADO, which is a major bus company in the region of Mexico. The breaks would usually be a few days, but I had a week off during Easter. It was cheap to travel by bus. However, by plane, it was more expensive. Mexico didn’t really have train travel.

There weren’t any student clubs, but I went to the gym to meet people. There would also be some fairs held for holidays. There were also many sports classes offered like martial arts and tennis. In the classes, I also made friends. The college had a big campus, and it also had satellite buildings in the downtown area. There was a lot of class time every day because I had 4 hours of class every day.  

     I highly recommend applying for the Gilman scholarship if you receive Pell grants. I received $3000 from it. I doubted I would get it because of its competitiveness but don’t let that discourage you. You can ask the Education Abroad office for more information. I also looked for CUNY or Hunter College-specific scholarships. The Education Abroad office offers a few scholarships. I received the Pell grant while I was abroad, but I didn’t receive TAP or Hunter College honors program specific scholarships. I’m in the Daedalus Honors Program at Hunter, but I didn’t get the scholarship from it while I was abroad. I’m in CUNY BA and was able to apply for the Barbara Price Opportunity Fund.      What helped was that cost of living wasn’t high in Puebla. Rent was the biggest living cost. However, I spent a lot of money on travel, especially flights. That can be reduced by traveling by other forms of transport. I traveled to other parts of the world, which cost ...

Puebla was a small city, but it was safe. Where I was living, sometimes in the morning I was the only person outside. It was livelier in the downtown area, and there were a lot of shops in that area. There were more green spaces and more undeveloped areas in Puebla. Compared to Puebla, many areas of New York look like a concrete jungle. However, the public transportation wasn’t as reliable as New York. The most reliable form of transportation was the RUTA. The other form was smaller vans. The stops weren’t accurate on Google Maps and didn’t arrive timely. I preferred walking or taking Uber.

    I looked for lists of good universities in Mexico for my major. Then I looked up the university’s international office. I looked at their website to make sure they had the classes I wanted. Sometimes the university restricts international students to certain classes. I applied to around 5 universities. It’s not necessary to apply to too many because it’s not hard to get accepted. You should make sure you have someone to write the recommendation letters. I asked my professors the semester before applying. I applied through SUNY, but most of the colleges were through direct enrollment.      Direct enrollment means that Hunter College doesn’t have any sort of agreement with that university. Only some colleges allow this. What is different about this form of applying is that you are basically applying independently and you fill out an extra form called the consortium agreement. I chose to do this because it broadened my choices, so I was able to take major class...

What scholarships did you apply for? Gilman and CUNY BA scholarships Were you able to receive financial aid? I only received federal aid, but not any state aid or Hunter Honors Program aid. What was your housing situation? I found my own housing, and I lived with roommates. I paid around $200 for rent. What classes did you take? The university offered all the classes for my major, but all the classes were in Spanish. I take half major classes and half electives. I was in normal classes with Mexican students. Was the process hard? No. It was mostly a lot of paperwork and keeping track of deadlines. What did you gain from the experience? I became more independent. I had to cook, do laundry, and pay bills on my own. Did your Spanish improve from studying abroad? Yes. I learned more slang and casual usage of Spanish. I also had to speak Spanish with everyone because most didn’t speak English well. I became more familiar with different accents because there were people from all over Latin A...