ISEP and Mexico are great, but UPAEP was not a great fit

ISEP: I loved, loved ISEP. I specifically chose a program that would be very hands-off, and allow me to be as immersed as possible. I didn't want classes at a program center with other Americans, I didn't want tons of travel rules, I just wanted to live in Mexico. ISEP absolutely delivered on this. If you don't need someone to hold your hand through everything, go with ISEP.

Puebla: A manageable large city. Tons of students. Very safe. Amazing food. Easy to travel anywhere in central and southern Mexico. Quite religiously conservative though.

UPAEP: Very mixed feelings. In case the ISEP site doesn't make this clear, UPAEP is a deeply Catholic university. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but I was caught very off-guard by just how devout the school culture was when I arrived, and several other students didn't even know that it was a Catholic school. I took classes in literature, culture, and education and didn't find them particularly challenging for better and worse. The professor for the Spanish-taught international student courses (Guillermo) was super nice. The dorms are strictly segregated by gender. I heard rumors of UPAEP students being randomly pregnancy- and drug-tested to determine scholarship eligibility, a breach of privacy that wasn't forced on the wealthy majority. It was generally very culturally conservative, which was not at all what I was hoping for. Just know what you're getting into since there's nothing on the ISEP site to indicate this. The orientation program is decent. Some Asuntos Internacionales employees were great...others were decidedly not.

I highly recommend doing the service learning course- that was the most meaningful part of my experience in Puebla.