IES Abroad Reviews

The Arles Summer program was an incredible experience for me. The program is small, so you get to know the staff and other students really well and feel a strong sense of community. Arles is the perfect town to study abroad, in my opinion, because it is safe and small while also being full of culture and activities. I enjoyed my classes and the program excursions, and the best part was my homestay. My host family was unbelievably kind and generous, and they made me feel very much at home. The immersion aspect of the program really helped me improve my French, and overall I was very satisfied with my progress and experience!

This program was filled with great staff and amazing programs. I had to arrive a day late and Jackie, the coordinator, was super understanding and helpful! She made sure I got to orientation on time and even had one of the teachers call me at the airport to make sure I was okay! This was the first year that they had the acting students and the general Irish studies students room together and it was a great choice! I made amazing friends from both programs and we still stay in contact to this day. The field trips to Northern Ireland and Causey Farm were great and worth the extra expense. Everything was beautiful and the local people really are some of the nicest I have ever met. Ireland is perfect if you want a city and country side experience. Dublin is not too overwhelming like New York or Chicago. It is the perfect blend of night life and tourist activities. Plus, IES will provide you with a bucket list of everything there is to do in the city. The country side; however, is even more amazing, filled with rolling green hills and centuries old landmarks. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Classes were easy to understand and staff was very accommodating. Madrid is a central hub for transportation, so it is so easy to travel around Europe (and even Africa! I went to Morocco for a weekend). I highly recommend studying through IES, it was amazing to meet students from all over the country and I definitely will not forget the memories I made while abroad. Six weeks is the perfect amount of time, not too long and not too short!

I had the opportunity to fully immerse myself in a culture different from my own. Participating in a full immersion program helped me to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself to try new things and continue strengthening my Spanish speaking. Living in Spain's capital, Madrid, I never ran out of things to do. My favorite part of living in Madrid was running from my homestay to see the magnificent sunset at Parque del Oeste and run by the Palacio Real. There are so many great food options, and for dessert, I definitely recommend San Gines for the best churros con chocolate. Overall, my experience studying abroad in Europe was better than I could ever imagine. I had the opportunity to travel to many different countries and experience even more cultures. I loved my experience and highly recommend that everyone studies abroad.

I spent the entirety of the 2016/17 academic year in Berlin with the IES Language and Area Studies programme, and at the end of it my only complaint was that it wasn't longer! The classes offered by IES were all wonderful, taught by a great faculty, and I also really enjoyed the courses I took directly through the the local universities. The IES courses especially really made being in Berlin even more worthwhile. Learning about German literature and politics (to name just two examples) while actually being in the country made IES a complete experience.

One of the best things about IES for me was having the student centre right in the middle of Berlin. It was great having a place to meet up with other students and hang out between classes, and the location couldn't have been more conveniently located. I loved nothing more than getting out of class and walking a few blocks to the nearby park to have lunch. The staff at the centre were all wonderful. The few issues that did come up over the year were all easily handled and I never had a concern that should something go wrong, I would be on my own dealing with it.

I can't stress enough how amazing Berlin is as a city, and experiencing it through IES was one of the best years I've ever spent. I learned loads and greatly improved my German, worked an internship, and made many new friends. It was everything I hoped and more!

Going to Quito, Ecuador was a complete cultural immersion. Through IES, I took classes at the program center and at the local university, USFQ. All the while, I lived with an incredible host family whom I learned a lot from. Never did I ever think that my Spanish would improve so much after spending 4.5 months in Ecuador, but it sure did. I also traveled almost every weekend throughout Ecuador. One weekend my friends and I would be hiking an active volcano in the pouring hail and the next we were sunbathing on the coast. We had the amazing opportunities of visiting the Galapagos Islands and Amazon Rainforest, two of the most amazing places I have been to date. If you're seeking adventure, a cultural and linguistic immersion, and a step outside a comfort zone; Ecuador is the place for you.

Japan was everything I could want and more. There never was a dull moment in the four months while I was there and the staff, without a doubt, was one of the many reasons why I loved my experience abroad. It was first time ever leaving the country and despite that, I was never afraid! The staff became like a home away from home and all the friends I made helped to make me feel welcomed and never lonely. I would go again in a heartbeat if I could. I wake up every day and I miss being in Japan. I miss traveling by the trains, ordering udon and takoyaki, I miss coming back to my homestay and speaking Japanese to my homestay parents. Leaving with "Ittekimasu!" coming home and saying "tadaima" and hearing "okaerinasai". It's the small moments that stick with the most like that.

I spent a semester studying abroad in Japan and I had a wonderful time. Although advertised as being in Tokyo, the university and housing were actually located at least an hour outside of the city. This was the one thing about the program that I found disappointing. I was still able to go into the city every weekend and many weekdays, but it made it more difficult. However, I know some people enjoyed being a little outside of the city.
The highlights of the experience were the IES staff and the university. The staff went out of their way to help every student have a great experience in Japan, from helping with ordering concert tickets to recommending food tours. They also set up the E-Pal program with KUIS, the partner university. This matched each IES student with a KUIS student before the program started and was a great way to make friends. Many of the students at KUIS study English and are interested in foreign cultures, so there was a really nice exchange. The emphasis on friendships with the Japanese students was a highlight of the program and certainly helped my language skills improve. There was also a student government made up of IES students and E-Pals. They organized events. I thought this was a good idea, however the students who ran it while I was there didn't put in very much effort, and it seemed that all the students missed out on some opportunities as a result.
The academics on the program were not challenging and sometimes not particularly engaging. The language classes were well taught and interesting, but some of the other teachers for the IES courses didn't seem particularly qualified to be teaching their subject. This was a little frustrating, but in the end I was glad to have the extra time to explore in Tokyo.
Overall, I really loved my experience in Japan. The commute into the city and the academics were disappointments, but in the end the friendships I made with students at KUIS made up for the location, and the time I spent exploring in Japan made up for the academics.

I loved everything about my study abroad experience in Dublin. Having the opportunity to live, work, and experience life in the country my family comes from was truly an unparalleled experience for me. The classes I took through IES were interesting and culturally relevant allowing me to obtain a great understanding of the country I was living in as well as fostering a global mindset to learning. In addition to the coursework, I truly benefitted from being able to intern and experience the work culture of a foreign country first hand. The outside of the classroom trips and excursions that IES planned were really wonderful ways to experience different historical sites around Ireland without having to plan my own tours. The way IES schedules their classes I was able to travel throughout Europe on the weekends with ease. Through the IES Abroad Dublin program and specifically their Entrepreneurship and Technology track I was able to forge strong life-long friendships, learn more about Irish culture and experience it through my internship, and most importantly discover a new version of myself that is more confident and self-assured.

Experiencing Morocco with IES Abroad was life-changing to say the least. Not only was I paired with the most wonderful host family imaginable, but the program also arranged immersive travel experiences to the Sahara and to a remote Amazigh village. The staff at the IES Center in Rabat were welcoming and ready to help whenever we needed it. They also went to great lengths to have genuine connections with my fellow students and me throughout our time in Morocco, helping us to feel comfortable enough to ask questions and seek advice. On the administrative end of things, IES made every aspect of the experience really easy to understand. From the moment I submitted my application, a very coordinated system of knowledgeable people made sure that I was always in the know about scholarship opportunities, deadlines, updates, safety information, and useful tips. Moreover, IES offers plentiful opportunities to go above and beyond the regular program structure through opportunities to participate in internships, take classes at the local university, and research.