AIFS Abroad Reviews

When I was planning to study abroad, Salzburg never crossed my mind. However, I was the best decision I could have ever made! I had a very good time in Salzburg with Andreas, the excursion associate, and my new and life long new friends. At first I was worried about falling behind with my academic, but once I created the contract with the school and advisor, I felt confident. Also, Ingrid, the resident director helped me throughout my application and traveling process. If you decide to go to Salzburg, Yu might hear my story in London. I was almost deported basically, but the staff worked with the officers and fixed my situation. I also lived with a family, The lindenthaler family (I think i spelled it wrong) and they were the coolest guest family I have ever encountered. Very helpful, the even taught me how to speak german and count every step of the stairs all the way to my room.
If you are thinking about this program, don't think anymore and go for it. You wont regret it. Don't be scared to ask questions and to explore the city.
Just GO!!

I was so indecisive about where to study so this program gave me the perfect chance to experience life in a variety of countries. Because of the travel aspect and living arrangements, I truly bonded with other students in the program- like another review mentions: the people made this trip for me.

Academically, you could not ask for a better way to study European art history- morning lectures followed by field trips to the best museums in the world. Having studied art history at my native university, I thought the curriculum was engaging but I didn't find it as challenging as some of the fellow students who had never taken an art history course. And when is the last time you had a professor that you wanted to hang out with and talk to all the time, even outside of class?

There is no shortage of fun on this program. During the first week in London, AIFS arranged a boat cruise down the Thames with fellow AIFS students in the city, which ended up being a highlight of the entire trip. Each city provided a different nightlife scene which makes it hard to pick a favorite. During the day, our tour manager and professor provided advice on where to go eat, shop, and explore.

This program gave me memories and friendships that will last a lifetime, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed living with a host family. I felt that AIFS really made the best accommodations for me as far as travel and living arrangements. Our AIFS program coordinators made themselves so available to us as students and provided detailed step-by-step instructions for everything we needed to know. They guided us with the process of getting around the city of Salamanca, safety procedures in the city, and they arranged entertaining excursions for us to participate in such as tapas tours, a cooking session, and a horseback riding adventure! While at first I was a little homesick and it was difficult to acclimate to a completely new country, AIFS really provided me with all the help and advice in starting my life in Salamanca. The coordinators always left their office open for us to come in with any issues concerning us and we received their cell phone numbers as well. Overall the whole experience for me was great and my host mother was an amazing fit for me. She was maternal, welcoming, and patient with me as I attempted to learn the culture and language. While my host mother's house was in a safe area, there were other students in my program who were not placed in the safest of areas. This was one thing I noted that could be improved upon for future programs.

Studying abroad was the best decision of my life so far and I am glad that I went through AIFS. Each day I learned more about London, the world and myself.

One of the highlights of my experience was the orientation week. AIFS planned alot of fun events to help us get accustomed to London including a bus tour of London, a ticket to London Eye, a ticket to a theater show and more. Each semester the orientation week changes but the staff do a great job planning events and informational sessions (like safety awareness).

Other highlights include the amazing onsite staff that was always there if you needed anything, having some meals included and location. I'm definitely glad that I chose AIFS.

I studied abroad in Cannes in Spring 2013. This experience without a doubt changed my life. It was THE most life changing experience I have had to do, and the simple biggest highlight of my college career.

AIFS has set up one amazing program that guarantees you an incredible time abroad. In my program was about 40 other American students who came from all over the United States. We studied and lived in dorms at the College International de Cannes. There is also an option to live at a home stay, but it is still possible to get an authentic experience without staying with a family.

We took weekend trips, and day trips with AIFS that were included in the cost of the program to places like Paris, the Provence region, St. Tropez, and Monaco! Some weekends I would get together with my friends and we would visit another country for the weekend like Rome, Spain, or Germany. The closest airport is about 40 minutes by train in Nice and not that far.

We had French class 5 days a week, and optional seminar classes once a week. I adored my French teacher, and wanted to take her back to America with me at the end.

My absolute favorite part of the semester was the Cannes Film Festival. During the festival Cannes transformed into a bustling, and vivacious city! My AIFS resident director on campus helped me get an internship with a British film company. I loved every minute of my internship, and got to be an assistant to a celebrity while I was there. My friends and I walked the red carpet, went to premiere parties, and became entranced with all the glamor and excitement.

This experience broadened my cultural and worldly views in ways I didn't think possible. I made amazing friendships that I will cherish forever, and shared memories that I won't forget. If I could repeat my study abroad experience again I would in a heartbeat. Cannes is a magical place, that you won't want to leave!

The staff (particularly Anderson and Tracy) were absolutely incredible in making us feel included and welcome at this school and in London. The location was amazing, being so close to Hyde Park and Kensington High Street as well as two separate Tube stops in such a close proximity.
Within the walls of Atlantic house, it was a great college experience, and as soon as we walked out, we felt like actual Londoners, which was very important to me. I would do it again in a heartbeat, only the second time definitely go for the whole year--or more!!!

Writing about my experience going abroad brings back so many wonderful memories. If I could tell you anything, it would be to just go, study abroad and see the world, go not knowing anyone and with high expectations! Just a forewarning though, those expectations will be blown out of the water! The experience of studying abroad was life changing and by far the best thing I have done in my 22 years of life. The AIFS staff was absolutely incredible from beginning to end. I applied after the deadlines and with the help of all of their amazing staff was able to get everything together and two months later I found myself on a plane to Europe! The program leaders were extremely knowledgeable and helpful with everything from how to get to certain places, to recommending local places to enjoy apertivo, to setting up cultural activities like attending the florentina soccer games/the opera/cooking classes/ museum tours, etc, they were very concerned about our safety, AIFS's 2 week orientation course that focused on mastering the Italian language was great because I had no previous Italian language skills, the professors were extremely knowledgeable about the courses they taught, the meal plan was out of this world (I ended up gaining a couple pounds and having to buy all new pants, but every bite was worth it), the housing accommodations were perfect and I had a wonderful time getting to know and living with four girls in our own apartment. I could go on and on forever about my experiences abroad, the four months I spent in Florence, Italy will always hold a special place in my heart, and I thank AIFS for making every second possible and truly blowing my expectations out of the water!

If I could do another semester in Cannes, I would in a heartbeat.

I chose Cannes in the spring of 2013 because I did not want to be in as big of a city as Paris, but I still wanted that same cultural spark - and trust me, you get plenty of that during the film festival in May.

I studied at the Collège International de Cannes with the rest of the Americans in my AIFS group (there were about 40 of us in all) as well as a bunch of international students from all over the world. My various dorm neighbors were from Mexico, Japan, Iceland, South Africa, and so on. The school has a small campus, so it immediately feels like home. You can choose between a homestay or living at the dorm - I chose the dorm and it's pretty much the standard dorm experience (except that I could see the Mediterranean from my window, a nice touch). The style of the collège is very bright and warm. I liked the food in the cafeteria, but I'm not a picky eater and I know some people were less than fond of it. As long as you try things with an open mind, you should be able to survive. They do serve brunch on the weekends though, which is the greatest.

We had language classes every morning, 5 days a week. Students have the chance to move up in classes, so if you start out at maybe an intermediate French level, you can end up in advanced class by the end of the semester based on your language progression. Classes aren't extremely difficult, as long as you put in some effort and speak up. I was in an advanced class, and we did a little bit of grammar, but mostly we focused on listening exercises and just talking to each other. It was a lot more fun than classes back home, since usually we talked about whatever we liked - like movies, sports, food, and even the occasional explanation of Ryan Gosling's attractiveness (our French teacher didn't see it). Focusing on talking was a major help to my language skills, and I left France very proficient at the language.

You also take seminars that meet once a week. I'd recommend the Société Française class.

Actually living in Cannes is a lot of fun. The beaches are wonderful, and the town itself has a lot of character (especially the old town with its narrow, cobblestone streets). Food along Le Suquet (in the old part of town) is really good. It's only a couple of euros and a 40 minute bus ride to get to Nice, and there you have that city or the airport to go fly off to some other really cool destination.

Cannes was a great place to study in the spring because of the film festival. My AIFS resident adviser, Sandrine, helped me find an internship for the festival that went alongside my journalism major. So for the majority of it, I blogged about the festival and got to talk to, photograph, and occasionally interview some famous actors and actresses at the festival (one of my highlights was actually getting to speak French with Marion Cotillard). The film festival is a ton of fun, whether you intern at it or just go as a fan. AIFS gets you passes that get you into the movies, and you have the chance to go to the premieres and walk on the red carpet.

Overall, it was a great experience, and AIFS was a really good program to go with. Their resident director, Sandrine, was more than helpful. She set up a lot of great excursions every week, like Monaco, the Verdon Gorge, and cool, local towns we wouldn't have been able to get to on our own (as well as the fun, bigger trips like Paris, Florence, London, and Provence). She also helped us out when we were in a tight bind, like when my friend got a kidney infection and we had to rush off in an ambulance to the hospital. She took care of everything.

Anyway, I fully recommend studying abroad. You won't regret it, and the Cannes program is great.

Jammed streets, honking cars, taxi's pulling over everywhere more often dangerously! Yes you got, a typical day in busy metropolitan of New York. Everyone is rushing to make it to the top in the Financial Capital of the World. I had the opportunity to live and experience the great lifestyle of New York as I did my internship with one of the leading financial advising firms of the work. It was a great experience not only because of the opportunity I got in working with Investors Capital Corp. and live in NY but also because of the program providers, Global Experiences.
GE made it easy for us to settle in and made sure we experience NY besides working five times a week. It is perhaps an experience that has not only boosted my resume and given me the edge, it has also landed me my first job as a permanent paid intern at another firm. Thank You Global Experiences and team.

Salzburg is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is impossible not to fall in love with every inch of the small city. AIFS is a fantastic program with lots of perks. My living situation was absolutely perfect and the other students in the program were a blast. The excursions to Munich, Vienna, Innsbruck, and Prague were a great combination of fun and educational, and the cultural excursions in and around Salzburg were great because they were all at hard to access places, so I wouldn't have gotten to them by myself. I definitely recommend studying in Salzburg through AIFS.