Program Reviews

Summer 2017 has been one of the best one's of my life! Currently a Senior at the University of Texas at Austin I had the grand opportunity to intern abroad as an education intern. From the food, the amazing strangers who instantly became friends, the breathtaking architecture, navigating the metro, to simply relaxing at the beach reading a book, Barcelona was everything and more that I wished for. I love traveling independently, as a student with a congenital physical disability accessibility was important for me. The program personnel were extremely communicative to ensure all my accommodations where in place for when I arrived. This made my stay comfortable and allowed me to experience the city to my full potential. My work environment was enjoyable. A good experience lies in your attitude. Yes you will experience challenges, but that is part of life. Enjoy every second and capture a mental image every moment. Go out by yourself, and explore. Meet strangers, get acquainted. Most of all be positive and make the most of your time in beautiful Barcelona.

I had a great time studying abroad in Costa Rica. San Jose was a good location because it's the capital and you get to see museums and all the history but you are also in a central location to take buses to beaches/other parts of the country. This was my first time going abroad, so it was so helpful to go with a third party program that would coordinate my housing, some meals, academics, some excursions, etc for me. Now that I have travelling experience, if I were to study abroad again I would arrange it myself (do direct exchange instead of a program) to save money. I liked that the program had excursions at the beginning to help you get acquainted to the culture/country. As time goes on, you get more comfortable with travelling and navigating the language/money/culture, and you can plan your own trips. In my last month, I planned a trip to Nicaragua with 3 other girls, and for our week off we booked everything ourselves and traveled all over Costa Rica. Basically, the excursions are expensive but worth it at the beginning, but once you know how to travel you should plan trip with friends to save money plus you get to choose exactly what you want to do. When students got sick, they initially paid for the hospital bill themselves, and were reimbursed later from CISabroad. My pre-departure advisor Jessica was THE BOMB - so helpful and kind and understanding. She checked up on my several times and was SO much more helpful than my school study abroad advisor. I felt taken care of and supported as I prepared to leave the US.

I think back to July and it feels like a dream. From backpacking by the rice paddies of Pai, sharing mango sticky rice with newfound friends, or finding banana blossoms on hill tribe pathways, I found adventure on the other side of the world. Not only did I experience into a new culture, a new lifestyle, and language, but I found lifelong friends. I stay in contact with my roommate and other members of my group through social media. I talk with several of them at least once a week.

We all stayed together at the Chiang Mai Gate Hotel, which was well-known by locals and taxi-drivers, making it an easy trip to the university and a quick walk from all the weekly walking markets and food vendors. Whether it was attending school, getting lunch, or going out for the night, I could not have felt safer.

It's also amazing that a trip abroad can make me feel so connected to the rest of the world and have that connection be maintained. I learned so much and retain the memories through collected journals and photos. I was part of a program that helped me find fellow adventurers from all over world, bringing us together and showing us all that Thailand has to offer with weekend excursions and activities and the freedom to plan a few independent expeditions.

The program that I was a part of offered so much support, from pre-departure assistance and advising, to post-trip career support. I had a great on-campus advisor to guide me through the process of applications, financial documents, and departure checklists. As far as my time in Thailand, the on-site coordinators were always available for contacting, which was a blessing when I became ill and needed medical attention. I was unsure on getting medical assistance when I had only a beginner's understanding of Thai, but the on-site coordinator was kind, beyond words, to ride with me in the tuk-tuk to the hospital and sit with me in the waiting room while I saw the doctor and received my medicine. Also while travelling, the program linked us to "Thai buddies" at the university. These amazing individuals taught us so much on the local language and culture and we all had so much fun going out and exploring the city together. I consider them great friends and stay in contact with them to this day. I know that when I revisit Thailand, I have amazing people to travel with in future.

Now, post-travels, I have the support of fellow CISabroad alumni ambassadors and alumni relations coordinators in sharing my story. Through their guidance, I have learned how I can best use this experience in the path ahead of me, and as a result, I'm planning on applying to do my dietetic internship abroad in becoming a registered dietitian. I am also using my experiences to fuel my dream to practice nutritional education abroad.

I could not have been blessed with a greater group offering better support. I am beyond thankful. Thank you to CISabroad for bringing us all together in Chiang Mai.

I truly loved my program with CIS Abroad, for multiple reasons. Primarily, CIS Abroad is committed to making a once-in-a-lifetime experience affordable. I was able to live in Rome for one month and Barcelona for one month, in addition to visiting southern Italy, France, and Portugal, all for one lump sum that was much lower than the tuition for any other multi-country program I looked at. The classes I took were rewarding and challenging in all the right ways, and my professors were very well respected in their fields as well as very accessible. If you want a program that is administered by the same group of people across Europe, and you want to feel secure that your program will be safe as well as incredible, then CIS is the organization to go with. I highly recommend them.

This was the best experience of my life. Madrid is the most livable city and the people are so lovely. I really enjoyed being in the city and with tons of help from Sara the CISabroad adviser in Madrid, I got to make great friends, go to wine and tapas tours, see the palace and make life changing memories. Universidad de Nebrija was also a great university and offered classes in both English and Spanish which was great. I highly recommend this program.

This January, I had the opportunity of a lifetime and got to study abroad in New Zealand through CIS Abroad. I always knew I wanted to study abroad, but it was an overwhelming thought with all of the options of places to go, figuring out how to make it work with my university and all the little details in between. CIS Abroad helped make the entire process smooth and enjoyable. I had an advisor the whole way through who helped me make sure I was as ready as possible for my trip abroad. Once I was there, I had the most amazing 2 months of my life. I created life long friendships, got to see the most spectacular views and most of all I got to experience a different culture and truly appreciate what they had to offer. I highly encourage everyone to study abroad!

My semester at Bond University was an awesome 4 months. I was able to meet heaps of awesome people, see unbelievable sights, and hang out with loads of cool animals. The experience really opened my eyes to how big and awesome the world is. The professors at Bond are very experienced in their respective fields and offer practical insights into subjects. Bond University offers tons of opportunities to get involved. Join as many clubs and teams as you can as this will be your best opportunity to meet people and really get immersed in the Aussie culture.

This was my first time going abroad! This place was BEAUTIFUL! The dorms that you stay in are great! They are way better than I could imagine! Scotland has an excellent transportation system, which was very easy to use! I got super lucky and only had classes on Monday and I traveled Tuesday through Sunday! Took the train for the first time ever, which was super easy to get to and use! Scotland is a GREAT place for hiking! I hiked every week! If you go to Scotland highly recommend traveling around Scotland but then also traveling outside of Scotland! Traveling to near by countries is very cheap! Much cheaper to go to while in Scotland compared to if you were to fly there from the USA. I wish I would of known that, I would of traveled more outside of Scotland and planned more trips! HIGHLY recommend studying abroad! Or even just going abroad!

My time in Japan was a beautiful, fulfilling experience. I learned so much and grew while doing so. For me, studying in Japan could not have been more different from my university experience at home - I got to a tiny STEM school outside of New York City and got to study at an even smaller, women-only, Catholic, liberal arts school in Tokyo. I feel very lucky to have been able to learn Japanese in Japan with Japanese students helping me along the way. I not only learned inside the classroom, taking not only a Japanese class but also Global Citizenship and Cross Cultural studies, but I also learned each and every day outside of class. I visited dozens of temples, shrines, cities, and mountains. I met people from everywhere from China to Australia. I tried foods I didn't even know existed. I learned more about myself than I could have ever expected. I hope to be able to go back to Japan someday and learn even more.

Edinburgh was the most incredible experience I have ever had in my life. It was also the hardest goodbye I have ever had in my life. So many firsts came from this experience, and I met incredible, open-minded people whose energy hyped up the entire experience because we were living every day like it was our last. There are no words to sum up the entire semester, only a feeling that hits me so hard when I hear a word, a phrase, a Scottish accent, or even from seeing pictures, all the memories come flying back and it is like I am back in the most magical place I have ever lived in.
We never said "no" to any opportunity that presented itself because we knew our time would end. I felt so accomplished and excited for everyday to find out what new things I would come across, or learn. I have no regrets from my semester abroad, and it is an experience I will never forget. I will be back.