IES Abroad Reviews

Being a language-intensive program, the Chinese classes were structured and challenging. Teachers were phenomenal and very willing to accommodate you no matter what your level of Mandarin was; they also incorporated a lot of fun activities and field trips into class time, which made learning interactive. And the teachings weren't just on formal grammar patterns but included a lot of colloquial terms/phrases that you could use to impress the locals with.

The better thing, however, was how you could use that Chinese with your peers and, of course, in the greater city. Classes can take up a good portion of your day, but most students usually have Wednesdays free; it's a great day to enjoy the city and use what you've learned in class.

I am very glad I chose IES Abroad for my study abroad experience this past spring. The staff was all very knowledgeable and helpful, and I ended up assimilating into the culture very well through their help. My host mother was wonderful, and cooked wonderful meals all semester. I chose to take both program classes and university classes, and I'm really glad I chose to do it that way. I wasn't overwhelmed with taking classes with Spanish students, but I was able to still experience the Spanish university system. Salamanca is a wonderful city that's not too big and not too small, so it was relatively easy to become familiar with the city itself, which was great. The history surrounding Salamanca is almost unreal, with famous people living there such as Christopher Columbus, Cervantes, Miguel Unamuno, and other very famous Spaniards. Another wonderful thing is that the food was absolutely delicious. Salamanca is known to have some of the best and cheapest food in the country, so I was able to try a bunch of different kinds of Spanish foods, which is one of my favorite parts. Now that I'm back in the US, I can't stop thinking about the next time I will be able to go back.

This was probably the one of the best decisions I've made about how to spend my summer. I've always wanted to visit France and learn the culture by living there and this was my dream come true.

My host family was awesome. I lived with a mom with two children. She was extremely nice and spoke slowly to me at first so that I can understand. During family meal times, she would always try to start conversations with me and ask me about my day. It was difficult to talk to her in French at first but it got better day by day and I learned a lot about French culture and living in Arles as she has been living in Arles for awhile. I loved playing with the kids as well. They would teach me random words of objects and animals in French while playing with me.

The staff for Arles program was amazing as well. They were extremely supportive and informative. I asked them many random grammar questions since I wasn't taking a grammar course on the program, and they would help me out until I would understand. They also helped me a lot with pronunciation and made me feel more confident when I was speaking French to the natives.

I loved Arles. The town is absolutely beautiful, with old Roman architecture and cultural sites all around the town. People are very nice too. I visited Paris for a weekend and that really made me appreciate people in Arles. French people in Arles speak slower and are a lot nicer. There were French guys once in a while who would cat call and yell out things on the streets and that made me feel uncomfortable at times but I didn't feel like Arles was a dangerous place where I could never walk anywhere alone (doesn't mean you should walk around alone at night though just in case...). It's small and everyone knows each other.

The courses were not intellectually challenging, especially because I don't normally take any humanities/social sciences courses during my school year (I'm in the engineering school at my university). So this was a different experience and most of all, I learned a lot about French culture in the classes which helped me to understand lots of cultural differences as a foreign student living in a new country. The professors were enthusiastic and extremely understanding, especially on the difficulty of understanding and communicating in all French.

The weather in Arles was always sunny and beautiful. There were couple days that rained but it's not like Paris... It rained everyday that I was in Paris when I visited (4-day weekend). Tons of mosquitos at night though... so don't forget an insect repellent!

I loved Arles and I would love to go back again sometime in the future. I would definitely recommend this program. You won't regret it!

I chose IES Nantes because I was looking for a program with classes entirely in French, the option to enroll at the local university, homestays, and lots of extracurricular opportunities. I was not disappointed. All of the classes at the IES center in Nantes are taught in French by French professors, but they are used to teaching American students so the course structure and expectations somewhat more American. If you're looking for a challenge, it's easy to enroll in courses at the Université de Nantes. All IES Nantes students are housed in homestays, and I had a fantastic experience with my host family. We got really close, still keep in touch, and I'm looking forward to visiting them as soon as I can! Nantes also has a lot of opportunities to get involved in the community. I joined a couple of bands, but other students joined choirs, the Catholic student association, soccer clubs, etc. It was a fun, genuine way to meet other French students--and to work on my French! I had a great year and I'm really happy with my choice of program.

This summer, I had the opportunity to intern in London. It was such a great mix of professional and personal development. I was able to learn how to work in a real business as well as adapting to a new culture.

London is one of those cities that really pushes you to walk and explore. There is just so much art to London. Sometimes, I would catch myself just staring at its buildings and architecture. An amazing experience was taking a walking tour of Arsenal's Fly Emirates Stadium. I have been passionate about soccer for a long time, and being on the pitch was one of the best feelings of my summer. Queen Elizabeth Park was a fantastic park that I highly recommend for anyone. I went on a Sunday and was able to witness how people spend their family time. There was cultural food and live performances. The energy of the people really excited me for the rest of the week.

London had great weather for most of my stay. One of my favorite days during my time abroad was Friday. After getting out of class around 1, I would have the rest of the day to myself. I would walk with some friends from the IES Center to Piccadilly Circus to Green Park. Green Park was located right in the heart of London's busiest streets. You could see business people coming outside and hanging out. Buckingham Palace is another beautiful sight to sit down and get inspired.

Although I was always interested in the concept of studying abroad during college, I was on the fence about spending four months in a country where I knew no one. However, I am so glad that I took the chance to go abroad with the Paris Business and International Affairs program of IES Abroad.
First off, the program has great classes for Business and IR students. I am an International Affairs major so the program's offering of History, Security Studies, and Political Science classes perfectly complemented my major. The program also has a language requirement, which is quite useful in not only being able to communicate in the local language, but also to navigate certain cultural differences. We also had excursion trips to Versailles, Normandy, Brussels, and Geneva that were either offered to everyone in the program or were course-specific. These visits supplemented my understanding of French and European history, politics, and culture.
The program's study center is located within Paris, but many of the people in the program, including myself, lived on the outskirts of Paris. However, thanks to the efficiency of the Paris metro system, commuting was hardly an issue. I actually liked living with a host family right outside of Paris because the I area I lived in, Issy-les-Moulineaux, was les touristy and I had the opportunity to practice my French more and be a part of everyday French life. If I wanted to go into Paris, it was on average a 20 minute metro ride. My host family was a retired couple who I had dinner with three times a week. They often would give me advice on which museums to visit and had a huge knowledge of French culture, especially art. It was always interesting comparing American and French customs with them.
My first friend in the program was a girl who lived in the same building as me and we occasionally has dinner at each other's places if one of our families was out of town. She became my morning metro buddy to our class and I still keep in touch with her. The Paris program was made up of around 60 people, so naturally we all became close and bonded over being in a foreign city and seeing each other on a regular basis in class and usually spent time outside of class as well. I made many close friends in my program and they made my experience in Paris even better. It felt surreal picknicking with them in front of the Eiffel tower after class on Thursday or having fresh crepes right before trekking up the winding steps to the top of the Notre Dame, which was worth it when you were able to see the spectacular view of the city.
The staff of the program were such a strong support system. It was typical to have one of them greet you as you headed to class since the program consists of two building located close to the metro station Denfert Rouchereau. The staff led tours within Paris and excursions outside of the city as well. It was the norm to hang out in their office and talk to them about everything ranging from how you were coping with Paris to what American TV shows the French liked. I really felt that the staff and students became my family away from home. There was always something to do offered by the program such as having a lottery to win tickets for different events such as concerts, soccer games, and culinary classes.
My study abroad experience with the Paris BIA of the IES Abroad program was amazing and I highly recommend the program if you are looking to be part of a close-knit community in a big city. The program provided me with life-long memories.

Studying abroad in Granada, Spain with IES was a phenomenal, life changing, eye opening, opportunity providing experience that causes you to grow into a better, independent, more aware, and educated citizen of this world we live in. This is what my life reflects now that I have returned home. My time in Granada provided me with a variety of experiences - learning how to make travel plans, communicating solely in Spanish, using public transportation, meeting people from all over the world, and more - that enriched my life.

Granada is home to La Alhambra, el Sacromonte, el Albaizin, amazing Spanish people, beautiful vistas, extraordinary food, marvelous music, and vivacious life. IES Granada supported my interests in the Spanish language, had weekend trips all over southern Spain, provided an amazing host family, and the staff was there for me throughout my entire experience. The staff truly cares about each individual on the program and is there to be a resource and support you in any way necessary.

The program is also tailored to the group of individuals who come and their interests. There were many hiking trips organized during my program because that was something my group was passionate about. The hiking was phenomenal! There were also different workshops available for students including a cooking workshop and a leather workshop. They were both very fun and didn't cost any extra money!

My experience in Granada was phenomenal and I strongly recommend studying abroad with IES.

My time at the University of Sydney was undoubtedly the best experience I have had in my life thus far. Although initially somewhat nervous about traveling so far by myself, IES staff made me feel comfortable and excited. Orientation and resources provided by IES allowed me to become comfortable with the city of Sydney right away, and within only a few days the Sydney University Village felt like home. With the Uni right across the street, my day to day life consisted of walking to class, hanging out with my roommates and friends, and then heading out for a night on the town near the Opera House and Sydney's CBD. I fully recommend studying in Australia, especially in my favorite city, Sydney.

Attending the IES Abroad Summer Psychology program in Vienna was the best decision I have ever made. If the cost or unease about the quality of the program or any sort of bad nerves is causing you to hesitate when making your decision to study abroad with IES than worry no more. Completely discard any doubts that it will be anything but the most amazing experience of your life. Apply, Accept, Fly.
Vienna is the most beautiful city I have ever been to, the food is amazing and all the Viennese wine is even better. The Austrian culture is richer than the chocolate cake you can find at everyone of the million cafes concentrated in the city. All of the famous European cities are awesome, I don;t think anyone could go wrong with any city. What I found the most important thing to consider about studying abroad (after I had done it) is the quality of the Institution, i.e. What can they offer you and what can't they. My favourite part about my Summer in Vienna were the field trips. I absolutely loved the field trips we would take and other small outings in the city. Dr. Stipslits was a great person to be around and I always loved what he had to say. IES always did a fantastic job entertaining us and taking us to great restaurants. IES was very accommodating to me. Friendly staff at the reception and helpful advice and administration when it came to more technical things.

I had an AMAZING experience with IES Abroad Rome. It seriously was life changing and I became such a stronger and more independent person because of it. I lived in an apartment with an ISC (Italian Student Companion) and six other American girls. These girls are still some of my best friends today and we continually plan to meet up to see each other. The center itself was beautiful and the instructors were very knowledgeable. The classes were so interesting and I loved going on field studies every week to see the city and learn about the history and art of Rome. My favorite part about IES Abroad is that you are truly able to immerse yourself into the culture as much or as little as you want. If you want to increase your Italian language skills, you can take higher levels of Italian and can even take courses at local Italian universities. If you want to participate in cooking activities or olive oil tastings, you can sign up for that. It truly was a great experience and I'm looking forward to the day I return to Rome and reunite with my IES Abroad classmates!