Program Reviews

I loved my study abroad experience so much that I stayed an extra couple of months through my summer vacation. The people in Ecuador are very sweet and excited to share their culture and country with visitors. Studying in Ecuador gives you so many opportunities for exploration and adventure. Though you spend most of your time in Quito, you get to experience so much more including Guayaquil, the Galapagos, Mindo, Baños, and Otavalo. I feel that going to Ecuador let me really take advantage of my study abroad experience by cramming so much into the semester. While you are still going to classes, it is almost like a semester long vacation.

Not only was New Zealand the best place I have ever been to, but this program helped me feel so comfortable in a place I have never been. Ashley was my program director and from when we got off the plane to when we left, she was always checking in on us and planning excursions. I really didn't know what to expect when going to New Zealand when studying abroad besides that there is so much of the country to explore. Right away it was easy how to figure out how to get around and being in the program made it so easy to make friends. I got to travel the whole country and even go to Australia. Most people are in the same boat as you when you get to New Zealand so it is easy to find people who want to travel and explore. I am so grateful to have had this experience and the only thing I would have changed was I would have started traveling earlier on in my experience. I waited a little too long to start exploring and ended up not doing one or two things I wanted to do. New Zealand is amazing and I wish that everyone could experience the country and culture.

Studying abroad in Cheltenham was a dream because of its convenient location, comfortable housing and exceptional support. Exploring and adventures were just a walk to the bus station away. Trips to Dublin, Paris, Rome, Wales and London were easily made on the weekends.
Living with British students truly immersed us in the culture and made it easy for us to quickly make friends. The support system we had in Cheltenham was part of what made the transition to a new country so much more exciting. Our resident director was just a text away at all times, and we all got so close it was like having a British family.
The only bad thing about this trip is that I miss it so much that I think about it everyday. I recommend Cheltenham to anyone looking to enjoy city life in a student dorm, make lifelong friends and see sites you have only ever seen in movies.

As cliche as it sounds, this program will change your life. As a geology student, I was most excited about exploring the unique landscapes from active volcanic fields to glaciers. I wasn't expecting that the people I'd meet and the experiences I'd have would change my life and teach me what was really important. Ashley, the resident coordinator, and the BCA program was excellent at answering my questions, making me feel welcome, and guiding me through several truly New Zealand experiences. I don't think I would've had as valuable of an experience in NZ without this program.

I had a lovely time in Dunedin, it is by far the best decision I’ve ever made! Even when moving houses halfway through the semester The BCA directors helped to make sure I had all the support and help I needed during this time. When I got sick, Jan even brought me soup! Not only is BCA easy to work with they are so supportive and helpful, they make it easy to feel at home in your new city. We took so many trips as a group and saw so much, the time I spent there will never forgotten!

I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone. I did the program back in 2014. As the description says the program starts in Vienna, which still to this day is my favorite city in the world despite traveling to 20+ countries. In fact this part of the trip forever because I met my now fiance on the program in Vienna. However, enough personal the language courses in Vienna are enjoyable but not too much so that you can't enjoy all the city has to offer. IKI Language School in Vienna is a great start to the program. Then in Marburg I was fortunate enough to be selected to live in the castle as part of the Collegium Philippinium. During my time here I took classes both within the university and through BCA. I highly recommend Kris Riggs photography class, I still use these skills till today. All in all if your on the fence I'd recommend you go on this trip without a doubt it will give you a lifetime full of memories!

I can only recommend this program to anyone who is serious about learning German. My experience started in Vienna, where I took two months of intensive German classes five days a week in preparation for my academic year in Marburg, Germany. Although I wasn't able to apply much of the German I learned there at the time, I was quickly able to put everything from my Vienna lessons to good use after moving into the Schloss (a student-residence building on top of a hill in central Marburg, connected to a 13th century castle). The Schloss, in particular, is a fantastic place to learn German, as you are put into a close-quarters environment with native and international speakers of German, and to live there without speaking the language is impossible. This, coupled with the fact that the students living there are a tight-knit, active community that loves to include as many people from the building in their events as possible allows you to make friends very quickly and start building personal relationships within your first days of arriving. Living in the Schloss was the perfect housing option for me, personally, as I fear I would have been outgoing enough to start making friends speaking only German until months after my arrival, had I not been interacting with so many familiar faces on a daily basis. Additionally, as a part of BCA, you have access lunch in the Schloss every Monday through Friday prepared every day fresh by a private cook hassle-free. It is here that one can also truly be engulfed into the German culture and learn to use the language in more casual and comfortable settings than the formal German taught in the classroom. Beyond that, the on-site classes organized by BCA are engaging and challenging, but also American-friendly in a format that one does not often experience in Germany (meaning that your grade is not calculated solely by an exam, a paper, or presentation at the end of the semester, but rather gradually calculated over the course of the class and weekly homework assignments). With smaller class sizes than what you might expect in university course, the instructors are able to give more frequent feedback in a more flexible curriculum, ranging from the subjects of German literature, grammar and language, translation, and even on analogue photography. As far as fun and support go, to mention them explicitly, you cannot do better for yourself than what you will find in the Schloss. The super-friendly and welcoming environment is the ideal place to get you speaking the language as quickly as possible in a way that few other housing complexes can compare to. As an instructor of some of the BCA courses himself, Kristopher Riggs was also a key source of support and information for me during my time abroad, both in and outside of the classroom setting. His knowledge of the German language and culture proved invaluable to me, as he was consistently available to answer questions and able to do so in a way relatable to American students. On the topic of safety, I have never had any experience in Marburg that made me feel unsafe at any time of day - even when walking back home at 4 in the morning alone.

But more than anything, what I loved about this program is how much I confidence and knowledge I gained by being a part of it. When I arrived as a 19-year old sophomore in college, I didn't even realize how little I knew about the world and adult-hood. By the end of the program I had learned, of course, what one may expect (how to operate in another language, how to communicate past language barriers, basics of translation, culture, etc.) but also many very unexpected things (better ways to cook and clean, the basics of analogue photography and art, how to read maps and use public transportation effectively, how to learn a third language through a second language, how to explore my own interests and hobbies as a person, etc.). The main reason I give this program a 10/10 is not because I didn't struggle during my time abroad, but precisely because I struggled: and every struggle I faced, I was able to put the knowledge into good use and turn into future positive experiences. By the time the second semester started, I had already gone through so many unexpected situations and worked on my language skills so much, that I was able to put into use everything that I had learned and experience the intense integration I had been hoping to get out of the experience when I first signed up. Because of tireless help and support from my friends in the Schloss and from Kris, the resident director, I was not only able to meet and surpass my personal goals for my time in Germany, but also feel welcome and at home in a way I cannot say I feel even at my college in the US. If you are seriously looking to improve your German, have an integrative, unforgettable experience, and meet amazing people along the way, look no further than BCA's Marburg, Germany program from Kristopher Riggs. This program is truly something special.

I can't say enough about this program. It had all of the elements i could have wanted. Director who was laid back, smart, and really cared. Awesome location, starting the first month in downtown Vienna living in a energetic international student house and taking an intensive German ramp-up course with random folks of all ages from all over the world. Then to Marburg where we took courses all in German, some just with our study abroad group, others with only German students. Nice mix-in of excursions and tours as part of the program, but plenty of free time for you to just experience things on your own. Ended up playing with the Marburg ultimate frisbee team. Met a lot of cool Germans who i still keep in touch with. Great sense of camaraderie amongst the BCA crew. Marburg is a pretty epic city. Would do it again and would recommend to everyone.

My family history and love for the German language made me want to visit Germany one day. I was able to live abroad for a semester in both Vienna and Marburg, which changed my life. I had never ventured from home more than a week at a time, so I was nervous. The structure of the program made me feel comfortable but also gave me lots of freedom and independence. I was able to ease into the language with the intensive language study in Austria first. There were so many people from all over the world with different backgrounds here. I learned from them inside and outside the classroom. Life in Marburg was more my speed since I was used to a smaller, university town myself. I continue to encourage anyone who has the chance to live abroad to do so. It made me more confident, advenurous, humble, and grow overall as a person. BCA was a great program to study with too. Don't miss out on an opportunity like this. Make your dream come true!

My interest in Germany began with reading the works of Herman Hesse, a German author (in English). Along with Hesse, Germany has produced countless brilliant thinkers and authors, and I thought it would be worthwhile to experience their ideas in their untranslated form. So I went to Germany with a great interest in learning the language to an advanced level. In Marburg, students have opportunity to live in the Schloss (meaning castle), so named because it sits in the middle of the city directly adjacent to a castle. Schloss is a student housing apartment almost entirely composed of German students. Thrown into the mix with locals I was learning the language quickly, and experiencing incredibly powerful immersion in German culture. The town has a ton of cafes, restaurants, and bars for students to frequent with friends, and there are lots of events that let students socialize. While I was there I spent a lot of time playing beach volleyball as a member of a school club, and made a lot of friends through winning and losing on the court together.