Program Reviews

When I applied for iXperience, the program seemed too good to be true. The website was simple, to the point, and absolutely stunning, and it cost a pretty penny to attend. I wasn’t sure if I could even afford to attend it, but luckily for me, iXperience and my school helped me out sufficiently with the cost so I could travel all the way to Cape Town to see what iXperience really had to offer. I was not disappointed. They placed us in the most beautiful and safest part of town, Camps Bay. They negotiated with numerous local businesses to give us all iXperience discounts. (Student discounts are usually only offered to South African students, but we were not left hanging. iX has us covered.) And they offered a nurse on site to meet our needs (Sophia❤️) and Pierre to help us out around the clock, in case, for instance, your shower head breaks and floods your entire apartment;). Then there was Jakes who also lived on site and was head of security. You could text him at any time of the day and he was there to help! Please use him. Cape Town is a big city with inevitable crime and iX gives you the resources to be safe. So use Jakes! He also happens to be the nicest soul around. iX also set you up with “pals”, which were a number of people in the iX staff that would stay in touch with you, answer any questions at any time of the day, offer assistance with anything and everything, and keep you supported throughout the 6 weeks (shout-out to Adrian!!)
But it only got better from there...they arranged a shuttle to take us between our accommodations and class. And, although accommodations were cool, class was arguably even cooler. Housed in Workshop17 on the Waterfront, it wasn’t just an awesome building, but also close to the mall, millions of restaurants, gyms, and grocery stores, (Oh! And a traveling puppy adoption agency!!). We were set up well.
I was worried that class would be a bore, as it it was 4 hours long every day of the week for the first two weeks, with no scheduled breaks. But it for sure wasn’t. My data science teacher rocked! She was funny and tailored class to be incredibly applicable to the field of data science...preparing us for the INTERNSHIPS! iX had partnerships with multiple tech companies, including Invictus Capital, Rhino Africa, Orderin, DataProphet, and Quicket, to name a few. iXperience offered continued support throughout the internship process thanks to the wonderful teaching staff and were able to guide us well throughout our 4 weeks of internship.
All in all, iX was a worthwhile experience for me. My only regret is that I wish I attended the Immerse version of the program so I could learn a little more history about Cape Town and South Africa. But that’s on me. iX was great!

I have had a great experience learning from my teacher Nehoray. He is very knowledgeable and approachable. He offered me great career advice through our personal talks. I am able to push myself during the learning process and apply it in our internship. We also have a great mentor/manager at our internship company. iXperience has done a super amazing job organizing this whole program. The course and internship are both wonderful. We also have cultural excursions at least once every week. We saw the sunrise at Masada, floated on the beautiful Dead Sea. The whole experience is amazing. Our TA, teacher, and staff are all super helpful and supportive. Tel Aviv itself is also super amazing. It is a city that worths exploring. An awesome education experience with internship opportunities in a beautiful city.

The Investment Finance course was phenomenal. The teacher, Brent Shapiro, is beyond knowledgeable in this field and super approachable. I learned a lot throughout the six weeks and am eager to apply my knowledge to the real world. The staff was really awesome. I viewed them more like friends then superiors and plan to keep in touch. The hostel we stayed in was really great. They offered activities each evening for guests and locals. The lounge was a great place to hang out and grab a drink. The food in Tel Aviv is great. There are plenty of options within walking distance. .

This program made learning finance actually fun because of the awesome teacher, Brent. It started off slow with accounting and excel, but ended with a private equity cash flow waterfall. The city of Tel Aviv was great and there was always something going on. We got to explore the city and go out whenever we wanted to. Class and the internship we were each placed in were a lot of work, but we always had time at night or during the weekends to have fun. I would recommend this program to anyone interested in finance and wants a non traditional experience. The resume and networking help is also great. They want students to succeed and give us the tools to do so. I was given the opportunity to network with alumni from the top investment banks and companies in the world. Anyone who comes from a non-target school should consider this program.

Last summer, I participated in an abroad course and internship with iXperience. I did it in Cape Town with the Product Management course and it is one of the programs that prepared me to secure my internship at EY this upcoming summer! I spent my first four weeks developing my own product idea with a team of four students who I still keep in contact with today. The next four weeks, I completed an internship in the fashion industry and was able to organize and watch an African fashion show by the end of the last week! These experiences are what allowed me to find my passion for technology and I was able to do it while in the most beautiful place in the world. In addition to the academic portion of iXperience, I was lucky enough to do so many outdoor adventures like climbing Table Mountain, going to penguin beaches, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and more! This was the best way I could have spent my summer and I think it is a great way for anyone to spend theirs!

In this program, you get to take thought-provoking classes that are useful for future careers. For example, I took a course on iOS development in Swift. I had little coding experience before this course but by the end of it, I had built my very own app! I got stuck a lot along the way but the TA's and instructors were always there to help.
Additionally, you get to meet friendly people from all over the world. When I went on the program, there were students from UVA, Michigan, UCLA, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and many more universities. On top of that, there were a lot of international students from various countries. I became friends with many of these students and enjoyed meeting all these people.
Lastly, you get to go on awesome adventures. I went sandboarding, hiking, surfing, paragliding, and much more. Cape Town truly has so much to do and is a beautiful city.

So quick background on me: I was a college junior majoring in a non-business and non-tech field and I remember frantically searching for a summer opportunity that would educate me in these two sectors, while simultaneously ensuring that I would have funnest time. Honestly, it's really competitive out there - getting an interview, landing that internship amongst a pool of talented students. The whole process is daunting. When I discovered i_Xperience, it was basically the perfect trifecta that met my three needs for an unforgettable summer internship:

1. learning for the sake of learning
2. hands-on professional experience
3. cultural/ personal exploration

Simply put, i_Xperience did THAT. I spent a month learning about the fundamentals of Product Management, worked on a team to design and pitch our digital product, and spent the second month applying what I learned at a South African e-commerce company. When I go into interviews, I milk this experience because it was one of the professionally and personally internships in my college careers. Being a part of i_Xperience has given me an edge and a story to talk about. Beyond the professional development, Cape Town is literally adult Disneyland. I lived on the beach in Camps Bay, ate really good, did something out of my comfort zone every day, and met some of the most brilliant people across the globe.

If you're in the same boat as me- APPLY.

I went to Lisbon for iX Summer 2018 and it was honestly the greatest experience. It was my first time in Europe, I knew no one going into it, and I felt unprepared for what we would be learning. From the moment I arrived, however, the program directors made me feel very comfortable and at ease and the whole program went so smoothly. Our teacher was very thorough and genuinely cared about us learning the subject, not just getting some arbitrary grade. My internship was a great opportunity to learn about how data science is used in an actually company and I got along really well with all my co-workers. Our class got really close by the end of it and we all still keep in contact to this day. I got to spend the summer with passionate, like-minded college students from across the country and abroad in an incredible city while learning career-building skills. I cannot imagine a better study/intern abroad program.

I had high expectations coming to iX. I had heard about it from friends who said it was the summer of a lifetime. And after pushing off study abroad twice while pursuing dual degrees at UMich, I decided to go for it and head to Cape Town. And unequivocally iX surpassed every expectation I had. I took the Product Management course with pushed me to integrate my background in business and technology (the teacher was awesome). I not only had great people in the class with me, but roommates that were a blast. iX reinvigorated me. It got me out of the routine that inherently develops after a couple years in college. Most importantly, iX gave me a level of clarity on what I wanted to do after college that I hadn’t been able to achieve before. This experience has changed my trajectory and I encourage everyone else to take this leap and go on this epic adventure!!

I'm currently a junior at the University of Southern California and learned about this program through my friend who wouldn't stop raving about her time with iXperience the summer of 2017. After doing some research, looking through their website, and watching youtube videos of past students, I quickly realized how special the program was and the incredible value that they offered. So I went in to iXperience this past summer at their Cape Town, South Africa location with high expectations. iXperience managed to exceed all of my expectations in every way possible.. I took the Product Management course and learned more than I did in those 2 weeks than a semester at college. The class was more like an intense workshop, where we collaborated with our classmates, and came out with an actual digital product at the end of the course. I became so close to all 25 students in my class and being surrounded by such brilliant, motivated kids was truly inspiring. We all pushed each other to achieve and develop product ideas, mobile apps, and pitches that blew my mind away. The class was also taught by an industry leader (my teacher was the COO of a global conversion rate optimization agency) who was genuinely passionate about the subject and wanted nothing more than for every single student to grow and unlock their potential. During the internship phase, the TA's and professor went above and beyond to pair me with the kind of internship I was looking for. At my internship, I was given impactful and meaningful work, and didn't feel like just an intern, but a valued part of the company. The TA's are also there to support you throughout the entirety of your internship phase, and act as mentors to make sure that you are getting the best internship experience. The amount of workload during the course and internship is perfectly balanced - I had the perfect amount of free time to explore all of what Cape Town had to offer. Every week, there are excursions planned for us and endless fun events like city exploration trips, surf sessions, karaoke nights, rooftop mixers and champagne cruises! I got to do some of the coolest things like shark cage diving, skydiving, safaris, wine tastings, bungee jumping, sandboarding, and more (Cape Town is THE dopest place!!) Honestly what makes this program so special is the people. I am so grateful to be part of such a strong and tight-knit community of amazing individuals. The staff are the coolest people I've ever met - they're more like your buddies and truly care about curating this unique, life-changing experience for all iXers. I made amazing friends from all over the world, who I still keep in contact with. I actually plan on visiting my friend Sim who lives in Vancouver over Thanksgiving break :) I cannot recommend iXperience enough. Fun fact: this is also the first online review that I have ever written - I had such an incredible experience that I'm writing a review because I want to share this opportunity with as many people as possible. It's the best investment in myself that I have ever made and I had the summer of a lifetime!!!