AIFS Abroad Reviews

The campus was absolutely beautiful and the rooms were great! I loved walking to class across the bridge with my new friends and learning about Irish folklore. I am actually now persuing a degree in folklore in a grad school in Ireland partly because of this trip I took in 2009.
My friends and I would play soccer on campus and have a blast each and everyday. We went to Bunratty Folk park and drove to the Cliffs of Moher with our new Irish friends. I am still in touch with them today :)Best trip of my life!

this program was an amazing experience. the staff did an amazing job organizing outings and housing. they were very helpful with any questions we had. Rome was a great city to study in, the city and the nightlife were lots of fun. Rome is a great city to study in.

Choosing to study abroad in London through AIFS was the best decision that I have ever made. I didn't know a single person in our program when I flew over and immediately made friends that I'm still very close with. The program is incredible--the academics aren't particularly challenging and the travel opportunities are beyond amazing. I was able to travel to eight different countries during our 4 months and although I loved everywhere I went, I was always grateful that I chose to study in London. I would highly recommend this program and would do anything to go back.

My time in Granada was the best time of my life. From the moment I arrived, the AIFS staff was more than helpful. Paula and Inma are wonderful people! I honestly can't think of a bad thing to say about Granada or my time there. I had a great host family whom took great care of me and fed me very well! Granada is the perfect city for students. It's cheaper than most of the major cities, close to a major airport (Malaga), close to amazing beaches, and it's full of students- both Spanish and international. Every excursion with AIFS was a blast and perfectly planned. Granada is a city full of culture and beauty. I lived there for 5 months and there are still tons of things I didn't get to do. I would absolutely recommend AIFS Granada. I made friends in other programs, but none of their programs were even close to helpful or student centered as AIFS. My study abroad experience was life changing.

I studied abroad through the AIFS London internship. I took a couple of classes through the university and interned full time at E!Entertainment. It was the best semester of my college experience!
We lived in dorms in Kensington (Central London) and I was able to take a bus to the Piccadilly/Soho area for my internship. Through living in dorms and attending some classes I met some great American friends, through my internship at E! I met some great local friends. I keep in touch with both groups of friends.
Through my internship and classes I learn a lot about international business and it ultimately helped me find a great job out of college.

Arriving in South Africa, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I pictured Africa. Yet, the experience was one that I would never take back. The history of the country is fascinating and the culture is extremely rich. There is something for everyone in South Africa- mountains, deserts, grasslands, bush, wetlands, etc. It is home to beautiful animals and is probably one of the most beautiful countries that I have ever been to. I would recommend this program to anyone.

As hesitant as I was to study in a city the size of Granada, I could not have been happier with how the experience turned out. Sure, I had to tell people where Granada was on a map, but not once was I envious of my friends in Barcelona or Madrid. Not only did I get a real taste of the Spanish lifestyle by living with an amazing host family but I met new friends, learned a new language and had some of the best times of my college experience. Granada is an amazing city; its small enough that you get to really know where you are going but diverse enough that never are you bored or tired of exploring. From the discotecas, to the streets of bars filled with college students, to the amazing tapas, there is something for everyone. A Friday night can just as easily be filled by relaxing at a teteria with a fresh crepe and a view of the Alhambra as it can be a crazy night out dancing in a discoteca until the sun comes up. The school and classes are filled with American students with similar interests who all came to Granada for the same reason--to experience Spain at its best. To be in Granada is to know the Spanish life and culture like a Spainard.

I had a great experience with AIFS and this comment is true not just to this program, but any study abroad program.

When brought to Spain, you are put together with Americans of many different levels off Spanish -- beginner to advanced -- and you get to know your peers very well. You go on trips together, live together, and go to each other when things get difficult. This is great, but my advice is this: do not get too attached to your group.

Go out and explore the city you are in, meet the locals, stray away from comfort, and immerse yourself in the language and culture. Don't try to pack in a bunch of trips with your new American friends. Yes, you are in Europe and you should explore, but don't forget that this is your chance to really get to know a foreign city. Granada is beautiful and can endlessly be explored. I am so glad that midway through my experience, I decided to really get to know her. I walked away with new friends and a connection to a city that will last my lifetime. I hope you find time to do the same.

I would recommend this program to anyone; the staff was more than I could have ever asked for, they were extremely accommodating and provided much more than they needed to the students. I was challenged every day to speak Spanish, but I also learned more than I ever could have imagined. If I had the chance, I would be on an airplane heading back to Granada right now. The lifestyle there is so easy going and laid back that it's hard not to enjoy everything about it. Because of all of the ways I was challenged with my Spanish, coming back to the states and taking Spanish classes here has been a breeze so far; I'm so much more confident with my speaking skills thanks to my semester abroad. Even though the beginning was scary, I will always look back on it as the best and most rewarding 4 months of my life.

I loved my semester in Grenoble! The program staff is so supportive and know all sorts of fun things to do around Grenoble. There are so many different things to do that even though I spent almost all of my weekends in Grenoble, I never ran out of fun activities to do: museums, movie theatres, shops, cafés, and of course hiking up the Bastille!

While I did spend most of my time in Grenoble, I took advantage of the trips that the program put together plus a few of my own. The trips that the program staff put together are full of fun sites and activities where you're sure to learn a thing or two about France in the process. The program staff also helped point out fun places to go for my own travel plans and the best ways to get there.

But the best part had to be my host family. I was placed with them by the program director and they were a great fit for my personality. Building a relationship with them took time, but I came to feel like part of their family, playing games, watching movies, or going on a Saturday hike in the countryside all the while improving my French with their help.

Of course, the semester wasn't without its challenges. The occasional strike would happen in the city, making it hard to get to classes on time. Days of mental exhaustion made speaking or understanding French even more of a challenge than normal. And perhaps the oddest challenge was learning to shower without a shower curtain (which is not that uncommon in France). Despite all these challenges, I had a blast during the semester. I made new friends, saw new places, and learned a lot both in and out of the classroom. I wouldn't trade my semester in Grenoble for anything and given the chance, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.