CIEE Reviews

My overall experience in Poland was excellent. The staff was excellent and very supportive from day one, but also took care not to smother you, and gave us students the freedom to make our own plans for travel. The class load in not very rigorous in terms of weekly assignments, but I would recommend that you keep up so you don't have to cram for finals. but because it was relatively lax, I was able to travel with other students almost every weekend, except when the program had organized trips. The opportunity to get reimbursed for travel within Poland was also a huge plus because you could go all across Poland for even more cheaply than it already would be, since prices in the country are so low to begin with. In sum, the CIEE experience includes a high amount of flexibility with class schedules and gives you an amazing opportunity to see different parts of the world.

They tell you during orientation that studying abroad will change your life, that you are yellow people living in a red world and that when you leave to return home, you will be orange people living in a yellow world. They tell you that studying abroad will revolutionize the way you view the world, the way you view yourself, and challenge every core part of your being and all that you think you know. All of this is somehow still an understatement to the beauty and irrevocable impact Alicante has left in my life. It is a beautiful thing to be lost in the right direction, to wander among a place where you don’t know the people or city but yet everything feels familiar, as if you are remembering your way around instead of learning it all for the first time: it’s as if you’ve found the place where your heart was always meant to go, always meant to love, always meant to experience. I wandered islands, I climbed castles, I spoke to oceans and drank in their answers. I watched the sunset from El Castillo De Santa Barbara, the sunrise from Playa del Postiguet, snorkeled off the Isla De Tabarca, met some of the most incredible friends and teachers, and found another home.
I had never realized how much I was missing out on in life by always working so hard and so fast that I never took a moment to breathe and look at the world around me. The culture of the United States is one of “time is money” and to enjoy is to be lazy or unmotivated or to doom oneself to fall behind; when in reality, taking time to drink a coffee and socialize or eat tapas and drink wine has given me more than any dollar amount ever could. I gained an appreciation for life in Alicante, one that I thought I had always had but really just spent my whole life chasing until I realized it has been inside of me all along and I just needed to take a moment and not be afraid to chase what set my soul on fire. I challenged myself to move to a higher program where all of my courses would be taught and tested in Spanish; and it was honestly the best choice I could have made for myself. I learned I was far more capable than I was giving myself credit for and the journey I embarked on and grew with my level of Spanish was unbelievable. I went to every single intercambios activity, cooking class, dancing class, surfing lesson, movie night, etc (all except for one when I was sick which ruined my perfect streak) and threw every part of my being into getting the most out of my 4.5 months there. I had never felt more out of my comfort zone and yet at peace than while abroad. It is incredible to learn about all of the ways human connection can exist and flourish outside of just speaking the same language. I traveled to several different cities in various countries: London, Salzburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Manchester, Valencia, Naples, Florence, Milan, Rome, Athens, etc. and saw all of the things I had only ever read about in books. & For the first time: I felt like I knew the kind of person I wanted to be.
Since I was young, I had always stressed about doing the right thing 24/7. I worked myself so hard in school, worked 2 or 3 jobs the entire time I’d been in college, and had originally intended to graduate in 3 years. However, during my Fall semester of Junior year, on a whim, I decided to study abroad instead of graduating early. I filled out an application for Madrid but a couple days before it was due, decided to switch for Alicante instead. It just felt right, and I trusted my gut. During my first week in Spain, I saw the words “Lo que será será” on a poetry book in El Corte Ingles, I fell in love with those words and bought the book. I told myself, that every moment in my life, every choice, every failure, every success, etc had all built up to what had brought me to Alicante. It was simply meant to be. I never wanted to forget all of the life lessons and memories that 4.5 months had given me, the level of peace and passion I found within myself. So on my last day in Alicante, I tattooed “Lo que será será” on my inner ankle, a place I would always see it and could be reminded of the person I wanted to be. I am now an orange person living in a yellow world. But I am slowly but surely finding ways to spread my color. No hay palabras que hagan justicia a esta experiencia. Estoy cambiado para siempre por la felicidad y el amor que encontré en Alicante y todas las personas que conocí. Ya me lo pierdo, pero sé que lo volveré a ver. España: eres la leche. Buen Camino.

The CIEE staff is really friendly, encouraging, and attentive to help students with any troubles they're having. Somehow they matched the students in my program to their host families with extreme accuracy. I loved my host family! We had a ton of the same interests, took family vacations together on the weekends, and shared food and music from our home countries. They truly made the entire semester a million times more memorable, and I felt like a part of their family!

I loved the program as well as Paris itself! I thought the center did an amazing job matching me for my homestay. That was one of the best parts of my time in Paris and why I learned so much. I am still in touch with my host and know I will be for a while so thank you for giving me such a wonderful and caring host! One improvement could be the excursions. We went to Bordeaux which was fun but I wish we got to go to a different francophone country to compare cultures.

The eight weeks I spent living in Alicante, Spain with the CIEE Summer Intensive Spanish Language program were some of the best of my life. The city itself is beautiful, surrounded by mountains and beaches, and very easy to navigate. There is also something to do, whether its going to the beach, climbing to the castle, or just trying a new "helado" place. My host family was so generous and welcoming. I got to travel all around Spain with an amazing group of friends. And I did it all while improving my Spanish!!

My time at the University of Botswana was one that I will cherish forever. The campus is beautiful and the local students and staff are some of the kindest people I ever met. As a student of color from a predominately white institution, I didn't expect to experience the mass amount of culture shock that I did. However, with the assistance of an amazing director and her wonderful volunteers, I quickly felt at home. I decide to spend a semester abroad in Botswana because of the limited knowledge my peers and family members had about the country. I sought out an experience that I could call my very own. This required the courage to try something new and welcoming the idea that I had much to learn. Gaborone, Botswana is like no other place on Earth. There is such a strong sense of community that it seems as though everyone knows one another. I highly recommend this program for all those interested in studying abroad.

My experience studying abroad this past summer in Seville, Spain through CIEE was an amazing one. I was nervous to embark on this trip by myself, but knew I wanted an intense Spanish immersion experience in a city with rich history and culture. My four weeks spent with CIEE flew by, and that was thanks to the incredible staff, who were so helpful and accommodating, as well as the rigorous but fun education I received. My housing situation worked out perfectly, and fit the criteria I requested, and I thoroughly enjoyed my teacher and class material. My Spanish improved so much in the month I spent there, and classes were never boring or too overwhelming. The staff at CIEE were available always to answer any questions, and made sure that my experience in Seville was positive and memorable. There are so many things to do and places to see in this gorgeous city, and CIEE made it very accessible for everyone to make the most of their time there. All of the people in my program were awesome, and I made some great friends that I am still in touch with today. Seville holds a very special place in my heart, and CIEE plays a large role in that! I would definitely recommend this program and company to anyone looking for an incredible immersion and/or cultural experience!

My semester abroad in Lisbon was the most rewarding 4 months I've had since starting college. Living in a homestay with locals and meeting Portuguese students at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa allowed me to engage with and adopt the relaxed Portuguese way of life. My fondest memories of Lisbon are watching the sunset from a miradouro (overlook), getting drinks with friends from school, and talking late into the night with my hosts. Lisbon is not as touristy as London or Barcelona, so I feel that I was able to develop my own intimate, personal relationship with the city.

The program staff was helpful and relatable, and professors were accommodating to foreigners since they are accustomed to Erasmus students visiting their university. Classes were not nearly as rigorous as my courses back at UPenn, but this was a pro rather than a con for me.

I am incredibly grateful for my experience in Lisbon, and highly recommend it as a study abroad destination.

I enjoyed my time with CIEE. I was placed with a wonderful host family that I am still in contact with and I will always cherish those times. The social planning staff are really wonderful and welcome students into their culture, I learned a lot from Jean Paul and Linda!

Unfortunately I felt that the academics did not reflect the purpose of students' study abroad experience. Classes were either Tuesday Thursday or Monday Wednesday Friday when I personally believe they should both be twice a week classes to allow students the opportunity to have a 3/4 day weekend. This change would allow students to take cheaper flights and trains to travel which is an integral part to the study abroad experience. There was no leniency in the attendance policy which was actually stricter than any class I have had at my home institution.

Technology was sometimes banned in classes which hindered students who like to keep online notes, or for students like me who like to use class notes in our papers that were pre-assigned. This ban is not student friendly and was tedious.

Although the academic portion of the program was flawed and often superfluous, the staff in Paris really care for the students and I felt incredibly welcome in the center solely because of the staff.

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I studied abroad with CIEE in St Petersburg for four weeks and I absolutely loved it! Before going on the trip, CIEE helped to prepare me for my study abroad experience by providing everything from a comprehensive program handbook to detailed instructions on how to acquire a visa for my trip (which is a pretty tricky process when it comes to Russia). All of this was made available on their website, which was easy to navigate and to use. When I got to St Petersburg, CIEE staff were there with signs to pick me up at my arrival gate, and they accompanied me all the way to my host family's residence that day. My host family was kind and generous, and they were also really experienced with this sort of thing -- I was not the first student that they had hosted through CIEE, and they clearly knew what they were doing (which was a relief since everything about this experience was new to me). On my first full day in Russia, the CIEE Student Services Coordinator took us to their office in St Petersburg, and there we had a comprehensive orientation during which we discussed the program schedule and expectations along with cultural differences between the US and Russia, and then afterwards had a field trip around the city to acquire practical things like metro cards and Russian burner phones. For the rest of the trip, our small group went on many field trips together to really incredible sites, all with CIEE's english-speaking tour guide, who enriched our tours with interesting facts and personal stories. We also did really cool cultural excursions, like visiting a баня (banya -- basically, a Russian sauna) and taking a Russian cooking class. Throughout it all -- and despite the fact that I knew ZERO Russian going into this experience -- I never felt unsafe or overwhelmed because I knew that the CIEE staff in St Petersburg would be there to help me if I needed it. All in all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip, and I am glad that I chose to take it with CIEE.