Program Reviews

I spent a semester in Tokyo, Japan in Fall 2019. I was the only one from my college and state going on this IES Abroad program. I wasn't sure if my Japanese was sufficient to navigate around in the city or to ask for specific help whenever I needed it. It was the first time I would be away from home for so long. So I was excited to see how it would turn out, and I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to adjust to life in Japan because Japan and Georgia, USA are entirely different. However, IES Abroad allowed me to make a Japanese friend through email (e-pal) and meet my future classmates through Facebook so I would have someone I know meet me at the airport. There were 40 international students and 20 E-pals that would grow to be some lifelong friends. All of us were so unique and came from different backgrounds, majors, and language levels. The staff that worked at the IES Center were like family to a lot of us. They really looked out for us and helped us learn how to adjust and cope with occasional homesickness. The program had trips to Nikko and Hokkaido that allowed us to explore the differences that exist in various prefectures of Japan.
I lived with a host family, and they helped me adjust to the lifestyle and practice my Japanese. Every morning my host mom would say, "what is today? What is the date? What will you do today?" in Japanese, and I would have to respond in Japanese. In the evening times, my host parents would ask me: "how was my day? What did I eat for lunch? What did I learn?" and so on. It was great and not at all as overwhelming as one may think. They were patient with me and waited for me to think out my response and would gently correct me when my grammar was wrong. I am vegan, which means that I do not eat meat, dairy, fish, eggs, or any animal byproducts. So my options were a little bit restricted, but my host mom had vegan cookbooks and researched my dietary needs. So she would make new dishes or modify well-known dishes so that I could eat with the family. So this is something I am extremely grateful for because not many people are willing to do this or occasionally adjust their meals to accommodate someone for four months. I truly felt like I had a new family and hope to keep in contact with them now that I have returned to America. I made many lifelong friends while I was in Japan, and this experience helped me grow as a person. I hope in the future I can come back to work and live in Japan.

An amazing program that exceeded all of my expectations! I managed to develop my French exponentially through all the field trips, supportive faculty and program directors, interactions with my host family, social outings coordinated by the program and more! I also loved the course offerings and how easy it was to take courses at the university and adapting to a foreign education system. Overall, I managed to make a lot of new friends who I am still in contact with, learn a lot about French culture and create unforgettable memories!

I chose this program to improve my French comprehension and speaking skills, but I left with some of the best memories of my life! I was able to speak French every day with my host family, my French and American friends, and the amazing staff. I took classes at the local university which offered a unique view of everyday life. There were a lot of nice restaurants and creperies to eat in and a lot of them offered great deals for students. When I wasn't working Nantes had a lot of things to do, including museums, the chateau, shops, the Machines-de-Ile, and much more! Overall one of the most awesome adventures I've ever been on!

Before I went abroad to Madrid, Spain, I had many reservations about what my experience would be. With only traveling out of the United States two times beforehand, I thought that living in Europe for an extended period of time was always going to be challenging. I was afraid that not only I would react poorly to my new surroundings but also I would not enjoy being away from home for so long. However, as I adjusted to life in Madrid I found that the reservations that I had were simply doubts. Throughout my time abroad, I was able to become immersed in the city’s culture by eating at various restaurants, visiting many important monuments and public sites, and learning about the historical significance of Spain in my program’s classes. Most importantly, I met a wide variety of people who were kind, generous, sympathetic, and open. Through study abroad, I was amazed by how I became more aware of the world around me as I was able to make life long friends and have many memorable experiences. I am incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to have studied abroad in such a beautiful, dynamic, and encapsulating country.

My experience in the IES London Theatre Studies program was nothing short of life-changing. As a theatre student, I needed to make sure that wherever I studied abroad was preparing me for my future career. London was the place that I could live and work surrounded by the industry that I am studying and IES Abroad was the perfect way for me to do this. Academically, I got loads of hands-on practical experience by attending productions, going backstage and doing workshops with professional artists working in London. I would recommend this program to anyone interested in the entertainment industry or the performing arts in general. On top of academics, the IES community will always hold a special place in my heart. The administrations genuinely cares about the well-being of their students and I felt like I could personally connect with them. I wasn't just a number in the program, I was treated as a complete human being and was given a community that helped me thrive and live up to the best of my potential. After returning home, I am confident that London is somewhereI would love to move to long-term after graduation, and I wouldn't have realized that if it weren't for my semester studying abroad with IES.

I loved my study abroad experience and I loved the area. Freiburg is a medium-big traditional German college town in the Black Forest. This means that there were a lot of typical German traditions with a mixture of a feeling of open-mindedness. Freiburg is amazing also in the sense that it is a city with a lot of environmentally conscious policies and goals, which means that people have the right of way above cars and cyclists in the downtown area.
I learned a lot about myself when I was away from my support group and family that feels way different from college. I felt like an adult which is incredibly exciting. I also learned to be more open-minded because I got to see the many ways that Germany tries to help its future through the development of different renewable energies like Biogas and how there is a cab service that is free for women after a certain time.
The academics offered where tough courses that challenges students in their ability to understand and retain information in german. The academics offered where tough courses that challenges students in their ability to understand and retain information in german. That being said the spacing of everything was weird because of where they decided to place breaks. That made it so that Midterms happened 2 weeks before the final and most teachers did not give prompts for the final until the week before the final essay was due which was terrible. Everyone in the administration was very nice and very good at giving us helpful tips on how to feel less homesick and trying to get students out of their dorms and explore the general area.

I was absolutely in love with this program. Each member of the faculty was continuously super helpful and helped us get through any practical or personal issues we faced when there. They also made a clear effort to get to know each of the students and do all that they could to make sure we were comfortable, well-informed, and happy. I loved each class I took. Studying international relations, I feel as if these classes I took at IES honestly gave me a deeper engagement in many ways my own home university's classes lack at times. The faculty and staff also organized more than enough activities to help us get acquainted with Paris and experience the city in a way we most likely would not have been able to do otherwise. From my French classes to my personal conversations with the faculty, as well as my homestay placement, my proficiency and comfort in the French language grew immensely. I can honestly say that my months with IES were the happiest months I have experienced in university and the only regret I have is not being able to stay for the full year.

This program is absolutely amazing! It is focused on experiential learning which was so invaluable. We visited hospitals, clinics, and social justice organizations on a weekly basis in addition to our courses. We had two larger trips during the semester that led us all around southern Africa. I felt so immersed and exposed to reality of Cape Town. The courses were community health-based and I could not speak more highly about the staff. It truly felt like a family in such a tight-knit program.

Great organization in the most beautiful place in the world!

I studied with IES Abroad Rome for the full academic year during my sophomore year of college and had the time of my life. IES was easy to work with both pre-departure and on-site. Before arrival, any questions that I had were answered promptly and thoroughly and the whole experience was very nice. The on-site staff in Rome were all wonderful. They are kind and dedicated people who are committed to ensuring that students have the best experience possible while they are abroad. All of the professors that I had the opportunity to study with were amazing. They were all very knowledgable in their field and made the classes both informative and enjoyable. My homestay was also amazing. It was located in the center of Rome, very close to the IES Center and with easy access to anything that I could possibly need. All of my classes involved field studies that took us all over the city and allowed us to see the things that we had been learning about in person. It really made the experience immersive and helped me to gain a deeper appreciation of my host country's history and culture. Overall, I had an incredible experience with IES Abroad and would recommend them to anyone wanting to have a truly fun and enriching experience.

This program was more incredible than I could have imagined. I loved the life and energy in the city of Santiago, and lived a 5 minute walk from the IES center. My classes and professors were fantastic and taught me so much about culture, medicine, and helped me to improve my Spanish greatly. I loved being able to shadow medical professionals in the public hospital- I even befriended some surgeons and got to play tennis with them on the weekends! The program allowed a lot of weekend time so my friends and I took advantage of every opportunity to travel and explore all of the amazing nature and experiences Chile has to offer like surfing in Pichilemu, skiing in the Andes, sand boarding in the Atacama Desert, summiting a volcano in Pucón, and hiking through Patagonia after my program finished. I made some incredible friends, both from in my program and from the class I took at the local university with Chilean students. My abroad experience was the greatest experience of my life and I learned so much about culture, medicine, Spanish, travel, and about myself while in Chile with IES Abroad.