Program Reviews

Tecwyn - the on-site director is amazing. The country is absolutely gorgeous, and the people are very kind and generous. I loved being here. You get both the mountains and the sea. Be prepared to walk up some pretty hefty hills in Bangor (think San Francisco).

I studied abroad in Bangor, Wales in the summer of 2011. This was a 4 week trip and our group of 7 stayed at an apartment flat that was on the Bangor University campus in North Wales. It was a great set up because we each had our own rooms and bathrooms, while also sharing a living area and kitchen. It was a nice mixture of privacy with our own rooms and social time with our common living spaces. We often made food together in the kitchen area, which gave us the chance to get to know each other better.

One of the best parts about the Wales program is Outdoor Pursuits (OP). Here is what my OP schedule was like: On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, we'd have full days of usually one outdoor activity (Outdoor Pursuits). Here are the 15 days, in order, of what activities we did... Low/High Level Ropes, Sea Level Traversing, Canoeing and Abseiling, Kayaking, Gorge Scrambling, Mountain Scrambling, Indoor Rock Climbing, Group Sailing and Camping, Individual Sailing, Surfing, Outdoor Rock Climbing, Climbing/Scramble (Adventure day), Mountain Biking, and Sea Level Traverse/cliff jumping on our last day! My fav. 5, in this order, were Surfing, Gorge Scrambling, Sea Level Traversing, Mountain Biking, and Kayaking. My least fav. was sailing because it was too slow and boring for me. Our 2 OP instructors, Sally Ward and Sadie Steele, were amazing and I'd recommend them to anyone!

On our 3 Wednesday trips that we went on, we saw the following things: Caernarfon Castle, Beaumaris Castle, Puffin Island boat tour, Marquess of Anglesey Column Tower, the longest named town in the world Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Penrhyn Castle (slate bed, long pool table, gma tour guide, Prince Edward 7th and Queen Victoria), Conwy town (Best Fish and Chips place in North Wales, Smallest house in UK), Llandudno (Alice and Wonderland was written here), and Liverpool (Anglican Cathedral- 3rd biggest church in Europe, Metropolitan Building, Beatles Experience, and lots of shopping.) Wednesdays were great because it gave us a day to rest from OP, and we had so much fun visiting and learning about different towns and places. This would of been impossible without the brilliant guidance of Tecwyn Jones, our legendary Wales resident director.

On our 3 weekends, we went to Dublin (Ireland), Cardiff (Wales), and two 1 day trips to Chester (England) and Llandudno (Wales). In Dublin, which was the one weekend trip built into the Wales program, we went to saw things such as the Malahide Castle, Guinness Factory, Temple Bar, Oscar Wilde statue.. and we did a lot of shopping and ate at great restaurants! My favorite memory of Ireland is probably the Temple Bar because it's not something you can experience in the U.S... The live music from Irish singers who actually sing popular American classics, tons of people from many different countries around the world, and just being with a close group of friends who were all singing and having a good time is one of those memories I will never forget. I won't go into detail about my other 2 weekends, but just know that they were our free weekends to choose where we wanted/could afford to go. Overall, the weekend trips were amazing!

At the end of the day, studying abroad in Bangor, Wales was one of the best decisions of my life and turned out to be the best experience of my life. I would recommend this trip to anyone who likes traveling, likes outdoor adventures, and isn't afraid to go outside of their comfort zones. I want to go back to Wales right now, if that gives you any indication of how much I recommend this trip!

CCA helped all of their students every step of the way! The staff in the office is friendly and the staff abroad were so knowledgeable!

I got to experience the culture while living in the center of London. The program paid for multiple excursions to different English cities (Liverpool, Chester, Canterbury) as well as to two theatre shows and a football match!

I also had the chance to watch greyhound racing with the program and go on city walks to get integrated into the city.

LOVED my experience with CCA and would recommend anyone give CCA a chance!

I mainly attended this program for French language acquisition. I felt like the program adequately supported this - mainly through attending the Institut Catholique de Paris, and also the Institut de Touraine. Housing and on-site staff members were average, but not outstanding.

Salzburg, Mozart's hometown, a place that all the music student wants to visit at least once in the life time. I was lucky to know and get into this program. For sure, it was one great trip that I will never forget.
I am a backpacker, so I've already been to Austria many times by myself, but this is the first time I go with a group. When I saw the name list, I was the one male in this group. Which leads it into two ways, one: this could be a haven or somesort of dream come true. Two: this could be a total nightmare. as it turns out, it was quite fun.
They have great housing, you can even have your own practice room at free time (which you do get a lot if you don't go out that much) class level fits college student (not just for music student, they also have other major class you can choose) and in my own opinion. Salzburg is one of the most beautiful place on earth.
I live in Montana, you have to go everywhere by car, but in Salzburg, you walk, no matter how far you are going, even though there are bus all over town, you just kind of want to walk, in the sun, by the river side. I took 25 mins walk to school every day, and I was never bored of it because you find something new every day.
They also have music event all the time, everyday, concert, recital, even church service have great choir. As a music student and a big fan of classical music, I believe Salzburg is the place I suppose to be when I first step on it.
So music student, if you have a chance. Join this program, it will change your life.

I loved Central College's small program in Vienna. Starting out with a two-month stay at the Goethe Institute remains one of my all-time favorite life experiences and my introduction to Austrian life and the German language further motivated me to live abroad in Germany/Austria for two years after college.

This program is a great way to see and be immersed in the culture of a different country. Central places students with host families using a simple questionnaire. The woman that I have been places with could not be a more wonderful host-mom. She always asks me how my day was and makes sure that I get enough to eat. Also,the locations that the students are placed in are normally close to at least another student, so no one has to walk to school alone.

The academics of this program are also arranged so that students are really getting an education, not just hanging around. For the first two weeks we went through an orientation, about the city and also reviewing the Spanish that we may have lost over the summer. To get to know the city better we went on walking tours being led by one of the professors at the university. He knows his stuff and it was a great time. The orientation really helped us to have a little refresher before diving headlong into classes taught only in Spanish. There is a wide variety of classes that we get to choose from and they also vary the level of difficulty so the students who don't have as much of a Spanish background can still be in this program.

The city of Granada itself is a great place for students because of the large university. Many students come from around Spain to attend classes here.The daytime has plenty of options for shopping and walking around seeing the incredible beauty of the old town. Also, the more touristy attraction of the Alhambra really isn't all that touristy at all. People flock there to see the ancient city and take great shots of the city below. The nightlife in Granada is good for students, if they choose to go out. There are plenty of tapas places for those who like to sit and talk, but there are also the packed discos/dance clubs for those who like a little more adventure.

The director of the program here in Spain is a great woman who cares about her students and makes sure that we are getting the most out of our time here, but also lets us have some free weekends to get to know things on our own. She arranges side trips to the other famous cities in Spain and gives us the opportunity to see the other important parts that make up Spain.

Granada is a wonderful place for students to learn and experience another culture. Central College Abroad really allows us to do that. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to see Spain.

My experience in London has been exciting and new. Monday-Thursday I attend classes that actually take you places so you can get a first hand experience with what you are learning and the cost of it is included in tuition fees. For our long weekends I usually take that opportunity to explore the city by walking or finding events to attend. I shop in the markets, ride the tube (subway) like a native, and I can even feel myself understanding more of the British language. The highlights has been all of the festivals London offers and the fantastic countryside views. The only downfall is that the standard of living in such a popular city is quite high when looking at the exchange rate. Other than that I have been enjoying myself. Trying all of the delicious baked goods, meeting some amazing natives as well as foreigners, and becoming a much savvier traveler. The staff here are supportive and just excited as we are about the classes and our individual adventures. The most disappointing thing about my time in London is that it is flying by, but so far it is the trip of a lifetime.