CIEE Reviews

This experience is great for anyone who wants to practice Spanish, even if they aren’t taking classes. Many people here speak English so it’s easy to get around. The staff are all very helpful and know great places and recommendations for you to see. Housing is fantastic, I’m at the Galdos residence. I feel safe in this city, using the typical caution anyone would when alone. The only downside is that the residence is a metro or two away from most museums and parks that you want to attend. The trips we go on during the week with CIEE are always interesting and if you don’t want to go you can opt out. Trips to other places in Spain can be expansive, Barcelona for example by train is over 200 Euro right now. Lots of American food if you are coming from the states and get homesick but also plenty of opportunities to try local cuisine.

I had such an amazing time in Madrid! I had amazing professors and took one of the best classes of my life (Beginner Spanish) I met so many other fun people participating in my program, and made lots of friends who shared common interests. I also had a wonderful time exploring the city and all of the food, drink, and beauty Madrid has to offer (especially Retiro Park). It was such an incredible study abroad experience for all of my friends and I, I would highly recommend it to other students. :)

I was able to work with CIEE in Santiago twice during my undergrad. The first time I participated in the Open Campus Program
and the second time I was in their internship program. Chile was one of my favorite places I’ve traveled to - the staff is AMAZING and I loved both host families I lived with. I made life long friends during both experiences and one is even in my upcoming wedding. I would recommend this program to anyone wanting a great study abroad experience and memories to last a lifetime :)

CIEE gave me the opportunity to fully immerse myself in Berlin's culture while also having the comfort of helpful staff and professors and other American students. I was very intimidated and worried I would have trouble meeting people and finding my way around, but this was the opposite of my experience. I was instantly able to meet other students through classes and excursions, and the Berlin residents themselves were fun to meet and talk to. Additionally, my professors incorporated the real world experiences we had into the course content to make it feel more tailored to us, especially in my class on European political systems. I would recommend this program in Berlin to anyone because there was truly something for everybody. The night life was exciting, the language was interesting, and the city had a rich history.

The people, professors, CIEE staff, bicycles, bars, public transit systems, football games, housing and all aspects were so great! The Danes were a wonderful group to get to know and made Copenhagen my favorite city to travel to. I loved being able to reach everywhere easily by bike, metro or bus and everyone was very willing to help if needed. It was quite expensive but the quality of what you get for the cost was well worth it. Definitely a place I would recommend for first time travelers and students :)

My experience was unique due to the challenges covid posed with going abroad and at the time of my group arriving In January 2022 Prague had just finished another lockdown and at this point they were opening most businesses again. It was a wonderful experience because of the support of the staff. I think that Prague might be a nicer visit in the spring or summer but if you don’t mind the cold too much and pack warm, there is still plenty to do. The staff also had planned some well thought out day trips for us. There is not much traveling you can do since the program I did was only 3 weeks and covid makes it difficult to cross borders now without recent negative test results but getting to Prague itself wasn’t so hard. The day trips that we went on were often outside for the majority of the day in the cold so I recommend really packing lots of layers and being prepared to walk outside in cold, rainy, or snowy weather for a couple of hours at a time. I will say that the trips are very interesting and will keep you pretty engaged the whole time.

My study abroad experience is so special to me. I had never been to Europe before nor had I left the United States very much, so coming to Barcelona for a whole semester was a big deal for me. I loved how supportive the staff and faculty were, and they were always inspiring me to make the most of my study abroad experience. I learned so much about the culture and about myself in Spain. I felt like I grew as a student as well as a person. I came back feeling more confident and inspired to travel. I will forever be grateful for the time I spent in Spain.

This is an awesome opportunity if you want to practice your French. You will hopefully make great friends, like I did, and have some amazing chances to travel. It can be kind of intense, but you definitely experience full immersion with your host family and classes. Just to be clear, you will be taking classes with other international students, not in the university classes with other French students. It is still super cool to meet the students from all over the world. I really loved the program, but sometimes the administrators were not very clear about how the academic part of the program would work until you were registering for classes.

What I liked the most about this program is that the classes are very flexible and interesting and the professors are very understanding. In addition to academic work, I had the opportunity to do an internship abroad; CIEE found the best fit for me and it was an incredible learning and cultural experience.

Additionally, CIEE gives students a lot of freedom and independence so we can immerse ourselves more deeply in the culture, but they are always there to help and answer any questions that might arise.

My experience was unique because I was able to go to someplace that is not really known as a tourist country. But it was so much fun because there were so many things that I could do and I would definitely go again! I was able to meet many great friends and most of my encounters with people outside of the school scene were really nice. There was only one bad experience that I had but other than that it was great to have friends to connect with that were from all over the United States. I would recommend this experience to others because it helped me become more independent and helped me realize that I can put my mind to things and accomplish them if only I put my mind to it.