study abroad in Mexico with IFSA
Merida
, Mexico

IFSA Summer Internships in Mexico

Program Overview

Cosmopolitan and charming Mérida is the perfect location for your summer internship. Available for Spanish or English speakers, the internship allows you to gain global work experience while developing interpersonal and intercultural skills that are so important for your future. You’ll find Mérida accessible and welcoming as you explore its Mayan and Spanish architecture and history.

Enhance your learning and develop marketable skills with an eight-week Summer Internship in Mexico.

Details at a Glance

Application deadline

Summer: March 15

Minimum GPA

2.00

Credit load

3 - 10

Housing

Home Stay

Instruction language

English, Spanish

Prerequisites

Some placements may require 4 semesters of university-level Spanish. What does this mean?

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Academics

Enhance your learning and develop marketable skills with an eight-week Summer Internship in Mexico.

Essential Spanish 

If you’ve never studied Spanish before, you’ll take this introductory seminar taught intensively at the beginning of your summer session to complement the IFSA internship experience. By introducing key words and phrases in the classroom—and venturing out into the city to practice them—this class also provides insights into local customs and daily life in Mérida. (1 U.S. semester credit hour)

International Internship Seminar 

All internships include participation in the International Internship Seminar, which uses a blended learning framework with online and in-person components. Online modules provide structured opportunities to reflect on the practical experience of the internship, learn more about your host country’s business culture, and further develop the professional skills needed for a successful transition from undergraduate coursework into a career or graduate school. Plus, you will engage with an online global cohort of IFSA internship participants, gaining exposure to business cultures around the world. At your IFSA location, you will meet in-person with fellow interns to participate in exclusive field visits, learn from guest speakers about working across cultures, and attend workshops on leveraging your strengths for your future job search at home or abroad. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

PLACEMENT PROCESS

Once you submit your application, including your resume and an IFSA Internship Intent Form, our experienced advisors will connect with you individually to identify your professional strengths, review your goals, and refine your internship interests. We will also provide internship preparation resources and interviewing tips to further set you up for success.

Our team will match you with meaningful and credible internship opportunities tailored to your interests, strengths, and background. You will interview with your internship match before your placement is confirmed. Keep in mind, final placements are highly dependent on the prior experiences and skills you may have to offer, availability of companies, and the local environment for these positions.

PLACEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Interns are engaged for 15 or more hours per week with their host organization. All internships are credit-bearing and unpaid opportunities. Interns are jointly supervised by a site supervisor and seminar instructor, and coordinated by IFSA resident staff.

The following list showcases the variety of potential internship opportunities in Mérida. While some of these internship opportunities may be available for upcoming terms, internship placements do vary from term to term. We will work with you individually to identify a placement that meets your unique personal, academic, and professional goals.

Placements are conducted in English, unless otherwise noted. If you have at least four semesters of Spanish language experience, ask your IFSA Admissions Counselor about opportunities to conduct your placement and/or complete the seminar in Spanish.

Organization: Working with one of largest hotel chains in Latin America, you will have an opportunity to think about tourism and what that represents in a country that so heavily relies on it, the type of population this is catered to, and its impact on a fragile economy and ecosystem.

Subject Areas: Hospitality & Tourism, Media/Multimedia Studies, Marketing, Sociology

Potential Projects: You can work on marketing research and analysis, handling social networks, and translation of specific ads and promotional materials.

Language: English, Spanish

Organization: This public hospital specializes in health care for the entire south east of Mexico. You will work with a medical doctor on two projects related to post-COVID-19 social impact and educating the general public on health practices.

Subject Areas: Medical Anthropology, Public/Global Health,

Potential Projects: You can study post COVID-19 behaviors including the inequities of society; incidents of gender violence as a result; intrafamily violence; racism and discrimination; hunger; increase in crime levels. Or, you may assist in teaching the general population what it means to go to the doctor, working on myths and stereotypes, and developing strategies to provide a health education to the larger community.

Language: Spanish

Organization: This K-12 school has an ambitious English curriculum but struggles to maintain a high level of English language education. Serving a low-income community, challenges include a lack of teacher training and few native English-speaking tutors.

Subject Areas: Early Childhood Education, Education Studies, Elementary Education, Teaching English as a Second Language

Potential Projects: You can tutor and lead remote English language classes, work with the English coordinator on revising and redeveloping the school’s English curriculum and extra-curricular activities, or work with the school’s English teachers on phonetics, grammar, and general support to better serve their student body.

Language: English, Spanish

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
  • You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university.
  • You must have completed at least one (1) semester of study at your home institution before the beginning of the term.

Recommendation Letter
Not required.

Visa Requirement
Not required.

TRANSCRIPT
Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.

Excursions

Activities and excursions are designed to pull you into the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. There’s no extra fee to participate in these optional outings—everything is included in your program fee.

Below are examples from previous terms; outings may be different for your program. We’ll make every effort to run them all, but sometimes things we can’t our control, such as local regulations and health protocols, get in the way. As result, we cannot guarantee activities and excursions.

Activities

  • Mérida City Tour: Enjoy downtown Merida experiencing the Mérida en Domingo art festival in Plaza Grande, a music festival, and a beautiful bike ride along Paseo de Montejo Avenue.
  • Historic Landmarks Outing: Visit historical and cultural landmarks such as Catedral de San Ildefonso, Zocalo, Casa de Montejo, and the Governor’s Palace.
  • Market Visit: Your taste buds are in for a treat with this introduction to regional Yucatán food and how it differs from traditional Mexican fare.
  • Mayan World Museum and Biciruta (Mérida en Domingo) Tour: This visit is designed to set you up with the cultural and historic context you need to fully appreciate the excursion to Chichén Itzá.
Excursions
  • Chichén Itzá and Yodkzonot Trip: Just an hour from Mérida is Chichén Itzá, one of the world’s seven wonders and one of the most visited places in all Mexico. This excursion includes a visit to the extraordinary Yodkzonot cenote, a community-based tourism project where you’ll learn to prepare a typical dish of Mexican cuisine.

Housing and Meals

Housing

Home Stay

Meals

All Included

Details

Your homestay will be arranged with a carefully selected host family and located within a typical commute of the IFSA program center. Only one student is placed with each family. Students with limited Spanish skills will be housed with families that speak English. You will have a single bedroom with a bed, shared bathroom, and desk or other designated place to study. Laundry and three meals per day are included. You may occasionally want to buy snacks and eat at restaurants beyond what is provided by your host family.

Dates and Fees

Term

Term begins

Term ends

Program costs

Application deadline

Summer 2023-Suspended

Late May 2023

Late July 2023

$5,995 (estimated)

March 15

Term

Summer 2023-Suspended

Term begins

Late May 2023

Term ends

Late July 2023

Program costs

$5,995 (estimated)

Application deadline

March 15

Get Started

Selena Rincon

Selena Rincon

Admissions Counselor

Selena Rincon

Selena Rincon

Prearrival Counselor

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