IES Abroad Reviews

My semester in Shanghai was the ultimate study abroad experience. I went in knowing no Mandarin and never having been to Asia. I was incredibly nervous to be going into this with no preparation besides good packing! Getting out of my comfort zone was the best decision I have ever made. Not only did I learn Mandarin and about Chinese culture, but I learned so much about myself as well. Can't wait to go back!

Vienna is an amazing place to spend a semester abroad and the city has perfected mixing history with modern day. The academics are manageable and the professors are very understanding and are willing to work with you should you need it. The apartments are nice, but are definitely smaller and different from what American students are accustomed. The public transportation is affordable and very easy to figure out and is also very convenient. The city is safe and a lot of fun. It was so cool being able to walk by St. Stephen's cathedral every day or see a palace on the way into the city. I highly recommend Vienna to anyone thinking about studying abroad.

I had the adventure of a lifetime studying in Madrid with IES Abroad. I lived in an apartment with other engineers and a local Spanish student, took classes in materials science and manufacturing systems as well as Spanish Art and Architecture, and enjoyed passing time wandering Madrid and its many parks, shops, restaurants, and plazas. While I traveled to many other countries during my time abroad, Madrid will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to IES Abroad. The staff was helpful and always available to help me feel comfortable and to help Madrid become my new home. My peers and I enjoyed participating in a cooking class, watching a spectacular live flamenco show, taking day trips to nearby cities, and meeting students from all over the United States, Spain, and the world. I am glad I was given the opportunity to take advantage of all that Madrid had to offer, and I encourage others to do the same with IES Madrid!

I signed up for the Study London track on a whim; I knew I wanted to go to London and I knew that I wanted to do an internship, but that's it. However, I am so happy that my school's Study London program was cancelled. Being able to go abroad with IES provided me with once in a lifetime experiences. With the program, I was able to meet and make new friends from different colleges around the US, expand my professional career with an internship, travel to different areas of the country and overall showed me so much of what London had to offer. The staff were helpful, the accommodations were amazing, and I can now saw that I feed reindeer in the highlands of Scotland.

If you have the opportunity to go to London with IES, do it!

I had an incredible time on IES Amsterdam - Study in Amsterdam. The support from the IES staff as well as at the University of Amsterdam was more than helpful. I always felt safe and comfortable during my time abroad, and Amsterdam is a very comfortable and homey city. Housing, although sometimes complicated, was also very good. You have the choice of an apartment with a roommate or can do a single room at the Student Hotel. Location wise and the condition of the apartment was great. The only negative was courses being offered. While I enjoyed the classes I ended up taking, it was difficult (near impossible) to take courses I needed. We didn't know what our schedule would be until days after arriving, which can be a negative for certain students. In the end, Amsterdam was the best city to spend four months in and I appreciated all that IES did for us, including organized field trips and tours.

Living in Madrid for four months really opened up my eyes to the way in which the United States influences the rest of the world, as well as how Americans are perceived by others. It made me more understanding of cultural differences, and I came back to the U.S. feeling much more informed. It was a great way to take what I have been studying in Spanish classes for so many years out into the real world, and I was able to further develop my conversational speaking abilities to be more like a "native."

My semester studying abroad at University of Canterbury through IES Abroad was one long road trip, both literally and figuratively speaking. Literally, it was a semester full of spontaneous weekend (and weekday, sometimes) road trips. These trips taught me so much about myself, about others, and about this incredible, diverse country. These trips pushed me mentally and physically, made me overcome fears and build trust in myself and in others, encouraged me to engage in meaningful conversations, and made me appreciate this beautiful, wild world we live in and learn what I can do to help preserve it. Over the 5 months I spent down under, I summited numerous mountains, become a vegetarian, had yarns with people old and young from all over the world, jumped off a mountain, drank way too much goon (bagged wine), swam with dolphins (and sharks), and put thousands of kms on Gus (my beautiful car that I bought my first month in NZ). Figuratively, it was a journey with many ups and downs. It was not always easy being away from home – my younger brother graduated this year and for the first time (ever???) I felt homesick. Further, it was not easy balancing school and travel – especially since classes aren’t mandatory and there is SOO much to do and see in this country! However, there is no doubt there were many more “ups” than “downs”. And when there were downs, IES Abroad and the other study abroad students gave me all the support I needed. 10/10 would recommend studying abroad in NZ with IES Abroad.

Studying abroad reinforced my strong connection to France, and helped me become even closer with some of the locals there. I made life-long friendships with other Americans and international students, locals, and possible future employers as well as with the IES center staff. The after-class scene was also full of fun opportunities to engage in clubs, volunteer work, or simply enjoy a night out, all the while improving French language skills. Also, I did apply and receive independent housing which improved y mental health and physical activity.

I had an amazing experience with the IES Abroad EU program, and there honestly isn't much I can say that was bad about my semester. Not only did I love living in the beautiful, sunny, and student-filled city of Freiburg, but I also learned so much about the EU that I never would have back home at my own university. The course excursions and extensive program travel were a highlight of my semester, and the trips were well-planned, offering us the invaluable opportunity to travel across Europe and visit many cities, while getting a unique political, historical, and cultural perspective on them that I likely wouldn't have gotten by visiting on my own. Both IES Abroad in general and the IES staff at our center in Freiburg were so helpful and organized and really made an effort to make all students feel comfortable and engaged while abroad.

Freiburg is an absolutely wonderful place to study abroad; it is a charming university city bustling with bikers (Freiburg is very eco-friendly!) and there are tons of things to do in one’s free time. Not only are there tons of restaurants, pubs, cafes, and bakeries to enjoy if you want to enjoy the wonders of German food, but there are also opportunities for shopping, enjoying local parks and the river Dreisdam, or venturing off on a short train ride into the neighboring Black Forest, where you can bike, hike, or ski! The EU program has so much travel incorporated into the semester, often to large European capitals, so having a home base in Freiburg, where it’s not overrun with tourists, was really great.

I lived in a student apartment complex with five German students and one international student. We each had our own rooms and shared two bathrooms, a kitchen, and living area. This living situation was nice because I had a lot of independence and my own space, but I still was able to engage with German students, practice my speaking, and learn about their lifestyles, studies, and interests.

On the topic of costs, which is often an important factor to studying abroad for many people, I would say that doing this program was really affordable, largely because the cost of living in Freiburg is fairly low. There are many options of where to buy food (stores and the local Münstermarkt), and groceries, toiletries and other living necessities were very inexpensive and much less than what you would pay for the same thing in the US (for instance, I could find a jar of jam for 1 Euro or a loaf of good German bread for 2 Euros). Although I’m vegetarian, I found that there were still many options for food, both eating out and buying food at the store. Freiburg also has tons of restaurants, pubs, cafes, and even a pretty good (and very inexpensive) student cafeteria, so there are lots of options for students at very reasonable prices. I won’t lie, the abundance of bakeries and cafes in Freiburg made me quickly addicted to the large array of delicious fresh German bread, pretzels, and pastries.

Although the course workload was definitely vigorous (probably more than other average abroad programs), I learned so much and gained a greater perspective on the EU, world events, and various European cultures. I might also briefly note is that this program is definitely focused on politics, international relations, and economics, and less so on intensive German-language development, understandably. However, being someone who really wanted to practice my German a lot, as I’ve been studying it for many years, I will say that I was a bit disappointed that most students on the program had little to no German language background, so I could not have those types of language engagements with them. Nonetheless, I still had many opportunities to practice German out in public and at home with my flatmates. I would recommend, however, for anyone thinking about studying abroad - to take a semester of German beforehand or have learned a little bit. It makes getting around and having simple interactions with locals much easier!

Overall, my experience in Freiburg and with the EU program was one that I truly will not forget. From visiting many beautiful and historic cities across the EU, to enjoying the Biergartens in Freiburg, to spontaneously deciding with two other students to venture on a 60km bike trip from Freiburg to France and back, the experiences I had were really irreplaceable. Without any hesitation, I would recommend this program to any student interested in the subject matter or who wants to experience life in an active, but charming German university city!

I studied abroad spring of 2017 in Barcelona, Spain, and I could not recommend a program more! From enthusiastic and helpful staff to simply being in an upbeat city, it truly elevated my undergrad experience. Although academics may be surprisingly difficult to students, there was plenty of time to immerse yourself in the culture of the city and also to Travel! The program also created opportunities for students to meet and travel with other students, as well as explore important aspects of the city! Additionally, I never spoke Spanish before this semester, which turned out totally fine, but also allowed me to learn a lot of another language in a relatively short time! If I could do it again I would definitely pick IES Abroad Barcelona.