ISEP Study Abroad

Program Reviews

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Justin
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Massey University Study Abroad

I had a fantastic time studying at Massey University. My home university offers a unique community and challenging classwork, so I very much enjoyed experiencing a new university. The coursework at Massey was a lighter load and overall easier than my home university, but nonetheless I feel challenged and that I learned a significant amount through my courses abroad. Additionally, the University offers a wide varieties of clubs to get involved in. My favorite of these clubs was the Massey University Alpine Club. This club offers trips every weekend to various locations around Palmerston North. The club goes tramping, rock-climbing and other exciting adventures. Overall, the university was filled with wonderful people that wanted to travel and explore as much as I did and we all got along very well.

What would you improve about this program?
I feel the program was excellent. I was very supported as an international student and was given many opportunities to excel both in and outside of the classroom.
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Esther
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Massey in Auckland

This was the trip of a life time! I have always been obsessed with Australia and New Zealand mainly because of the beaches and they did not disappoint. However, I was also beyond ready to take a leap of faith and bungy jump in the world’s adventure capital and the place with the first commercial bungy jump. This place was more than I could have ever dreamed with mountains right up to the ocean and the friendliest people all willing to help you find your way. New Zealand truly is the best place in earth and I can’t wait to visit again. I fell madly in love with this country and five months was not long enough for me. Beyond the beautiful country itself Massey’s Auckland campus was a great experience. I took three classes on of which was rather hard and had two professors, one of which was not super helpful, but the second one helped me catch up and pass. I really enjoyed the classes betond that and loved the accents! Housing at this university was breathtaking compared to my home university and my flatmates quickly became my best friends. One of my flatmates plans on visiting me in America within the next year. Honestly, I don’t have anything negative to say about this experience because even when I had a rough patch of my own all the friends I made helped me through and I now have friends all over and can’t wait to see them again. This program helped me grow with curtail understanding and personal strength to be on my own thousands of miles from family. I would 100% recommend every should study abroad while in college because it is such a unique experience and you truly get to live in another country and culture.

What would you improve about this program?
Only improvement I would say would be to make all the paper work a little clearer. There was a paper I was supposed to get signed at the beginning and end of the semester abroad but it kinda got lost in the midst of all the other papers and I was stuck doing it last minute.
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Kyla
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Massey university

Massey was very welcoming. They always catered events on campus and made an effort to make the exchange students feel welcome. Housing was nice and the set up was really great for interacting with roommates. Campus offered a beautiful trail for hiking and biking and the campus was overall very beautiful. The beach was only a 15 minute bus ride away, where there was a long stretch of beaches to explore. My favorite beach was Mairangi bay. There was an island you could climb up on if the tide was low enough. The island provided a perfect hammock spot and an amazing 360 degree view of the beach and the ocean. This was definitely my favorite part of my whole trip ! Something very useful to know for Massey is how to use the bus system. It is very tricky to figure it out but it is necessary to get around.

What would you improve about this program?
Everything was great !
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Clare
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Come to Malta!

Residence is an excellent experience and I would recommend anyone wishing to attend the University to stay there. The facilities are about standard, but it is the easiest way to meet people and is a fun way to get through the semester. The university can be frustrating because of the relaxed manner of the professors, administration, and everything in general. However, Malta is in an excellent location for meeting new people, additional travel, and a unique experience.

What would you improve about this program?
There could be less red tape and administrative hassles in the beginning of the semester.
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Sarah
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Beautiful Country and People, Good Time, Weird University

Coming from the US I was expecting a certain standard at the University, however the classes are way to easy, half the people only go half the time, you don't need to study until exams, and the exam period is over a month long. While they are easy it is still fun to attend classes as you may only have one assignment the whole semester or just an end exam, and participating and chatting with the professors can be very fun. It did not find a single professor here that wasn't extremely passionate about their subject and willing to show it. The only problem I had was with the staff for the ISEP program in Malta. They are really inflexible and very rude! I needed to move to exams for an internship I committed to over a year ago in Italy and I spent over a month emailing everyone at my home university and in Malta getting whatever they asked for that day and I was still denied, no matter what. I had to reschedule everything and apologize profusely to my internship program for my very late arrival. Despite all of the Universities problems the Maltese people are amazing and some of the best I have honestly ever met! I felt right at home here and got to live at a residence with a bunch of other exchange students as a community, I truly made friendships that last a lifetime! The country is beautiful and so easy to navigate and explore you will never run out of things to do, places to see, activities to participate in, cliffs to hike, and the AMAZING party scene does not stop. If you love partying or sitting on the Beach, if you love architecture, history, archaeology, and nature Malta is definitely the place to come because it has a bit of everything!

What would you improve about this program?
The ISEP coordinator in the main office of the University, should be nicer to students and help them rather then hinder them at every turn.
Victoria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Study Abroad is the way to go!

I am extremely satisfied with my decision to Study Abroad. My main objective was actually to practice my Spanish but I have done that and much more! As I am still improving my Spanish and learning from my mistakes from last semester, I am able to correct those mistakes in the semester to come. In my opinion, many participate in Study Abroad for a few weeks or one semester for various reasons but in order to really experience a true culture you have to allow time to reflect on past mistakes and more time to improve. That is why I decided to take a year away from my daily routine in the US to explore and learn about the Spanish culture and language.

So far this has been the best decision I have made in my entire life. I am witnessing growth in my Spanish, meeting wonderful people from all around the world, and I too, have the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and Africa as it is relatively close.

ISEP Direct was the way!

It allowed me the redemption to prove I wanted to Study Abroad as I needed to improve my Spanish before taking my actual major courses all in a foreign language. This past semester I was taking all classes in Spanish but with other internationals as a way to enhance our language comprehension. Now that the fall semester has ended we are now prepared to tackle the real semester with the locals.

Like I said, Study Abroad is the way to go! But also, consider your objective when deciding the length of your travel. Don't be scared to take a year away from your daily routine. You'd be able to get back in routine but may never have this opportunity to Study Abroad with ISEP again.

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Hannah
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

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.

What would you improve about this program?
More info about the school culture would have been very much appreciated. I know it's hard to quantify, but I think Guanajuato or Guadalajara would have been much better fits for me culturally.
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Andrea
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Mandarin Beginner at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics

Through this program I was able to pay regular tuition and fees at my university while studying at JUFE. I took only language classes and managed to take an online course at my home university. The language classes are generally 2 hours a day for 2 or up to 3 times a week. I learned a lot of Mandarin during this time. Some of the teachers were real helpful. I got close to one teacher who invited me and my friends to go hiking in nearby mountains, drink tea at traditional tea houses, and make dumplings. I had a great time with my teacher and classmates during these times. Also, JUFE offers students the opportunity to apply for a Pair-Exchange family, which is like a host family, but we only meet whenever we have time after class. This family was real nice and offered to take me shopping at local markets.

The staff at JUFE is excellent and very helpful. In the beginning students are paired up with local student volunteers. These volunteers were really helpful in getting us settled in or helping us purchase flights to travel in China and back home.

The dorms were great! International students live in a separate building from the local students, which is basically a hotel at the university. These are closed off to the public because they require a special key to get on these floors so you know you are only sharing that space with other international students. Each student gets their own bathroom and spacious bedroom.

If you wish to volunteer, ask the JUFE staff about Nanchang Cares for Kids. They are an organization of expats who work with Ford who do several community service projects throughout the year.

Although I did not enjoy the humid weather in the summer months, Nanchang was a great city to see. There is so much construction in the new downtown areas, I can't wait to see how much it will change in a matter of a few years.

What would you improve about this program?
More class trips within the province. There were many places that were nearby that I wish I could see, but I did not know my way around.
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Orly
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Tropical Paradise

My study abroad experience in Costa Rica, at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, was life-changing. From the first week I arrived, attending orientation with ISEP, I felt loved, taken care of and welcomed by all. I am extremely grateful for the support my study abroad program showered me and my classmates with. Day to day my ISEP coordinator, Ivelina would tell us about current and upcoming opportunities for us to immerse ourselves in. She was an incredible aid and support system. I got sick during my 5 months studying abroad and ended up being hospitalized for 5 days. Throughout the entire hosptalization, my ISEP coordinator played the role as my mother and stayed with me the entire time, making sure I felt safe and comfortable.

What would you improve about this program?
I would suggest to integrate more planned activities between the ISEP students and the locals.
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Megan
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Uruguay

My day to day experiences included going to school for about 4-5 hours a day, which was new to me since college in the US is only 2-3 hours a day and not usually back to back. This was a challenge to be able to sit in a classroom for that long and also translating what the professors were saying. A new experience for me was also taking public transportation to school, which included riding the bus. I don't have public transportation where I'm from so learning the routes and which buses I needed took awhile to catch on.

What would you improve about this program?
I really enjoyed everything about this program, except the study abroad office that was at my school. The "advisors" if you were to call them that, were awful and very unhelpful. They treated us like we were children and didn't understand a single thing they said, which in some cases might be true, but they are there to help guide us through an unknown system and help us better our spanish, not judge it.