IES Abroad Reviews

After one semester Milan easily became my favorite city. From its busy, vibrant streets during the day to the glitz and glam of the fantastic nightlife Milan definitely has it all. There are a lot of colleges in Milan that draw in students from around the world, not to mention all of the study abroad students that call Milan home, and you have a big city with a large number of college aged people, it is the best of both worlds.

Living in Milan as a student is quite easy. My homestay apartment was beautiful and it was easy for me to move around the city thanks to the cheap, effective public transit that the city offers. This allowed me to explore so many parts of the city that I would have never gone to if not for the great access of public transportation.

If you can handle the hustle and bustle of the big city and enjoy exploring you will fit right in and be welcomed into the community that I call my home away from home.

The epitome of my time in Granada was the night that a group of about 25 students from the program hiked up into the hills surrounding the city and made a bonfire as the sun set on our time in Granada. It was such a special memory and really encompasses everything that made Granada so special, with the Alhambra in sight, marshmallows roasting over the fire, and friends all around. Granada really is a special place, and it is hard to really capture its essence in a few words. The staff at IES Granada gave us every opportunity to take advantage of everything the city had to offer, from sports, music, and food to theatre, movies and hiking. If we had an interest in volunteering or getting involved in any activity, our student life coordinators immediately helped us out and always delivered, getting us the necessary information and assisting us in whatever we needed. The program director, Javier, is hands down one of the nicest and most genuinely interesting and amazing people you will ever have the privilege of meeting. The IES center is perfectly located, with a rooftop terrace with a view of the Alhambra. I can't put into words how much the 4 months I spent in Granada mean to me, and I think my future will reveal just how much they impacted me.

Studying abroad in London was so amazing - since I've been back, I've thought to myself everyday that I want just want to go back and live in London forever.

If you are interested in public/global health, this program is for you. I went into this program with no prior education in public health and I learned A LOT. There was a good mix of students who had a lot of public health experience (typically public health majors) and none at all, so any level of prior experience is ok. This specific program provides you with a pretty set schedule of three required courses (one of them which is at Oxford University), which allows for one elective class. You are also placed in service learning (sort of like an internship) at a organization in the community 8 hours a week. Overall, of these courses were very interesting and the instructors were great people. The everyday workload is minimal but I felt like there were lots of papers.

The one class at Oxford University was pretty cool - being able to walk around this campus as a student was quite an experience. My complaint about this class was that it consumed my entire Friday - we had to leave at 7:30 AM and take three trains to get there, then get back around 5PM, so it made traveling a little difficult. Additionally, the workload was too much for a study abroad class (in my opinion...weekly papers). But, I'd say it was worth it. I learned A LOT not only about public health, but I definitely improved my writing and in-class speaking skills.

London is also a great place to study abroad. The fact that people speak English was great - a lot of my friends who studied abroad in countries with different languages were pretty stressed out because they had to work hard to communicate, but that is also an amazing experience in itself. London just has so much to do all the time, there's really something for everyone...I thought that I would be too overwhelmed by the size of London, but I really wasn't. I'm not a big-city person, but London had the right amount of homeyness in its smaller communities and quirky neighborhoods, that I had an easy time getting used to it. Public transport is so efficient and the fact that I could leave the dorm and get to Big Ben or the 2012 Olympic Pool just by train and walking was amazing to me.

I would say that the past portion of this program, which takes place in Kingston, Jamaica, was the best part of the program. One of our instructors and an administrator took the entire group to Jamaica for a week, and it was absolutely amazing. The hands-on experience that I got to do in the clinics is something that I will probably never have the opportunity to do again, and it was perfectly balanced with time spent at the beach and sight-seeing. This portion of the program is something I tell my friends and family about all the time, and I can't describe in words how awe-struck I was to see and immerse myself in the Jamaican culture and health system.

Studying abroad in Santiago with IES was by far the greatest thing I could have done with a semester of my college career. I was able to solidify so much of what I want to do with my life and I don't believe that I could have done that without this experience. I was able to make lifelong friends, improve my Spanish,realize my passion for environmental policy through my classes at the local university, and really build a home away from home.

I am planning on returning to work and live for a while after I graduate from college, there is just so much more of the beautiful Chile that I want to see and experience and even more of Latin America that I would love to get to know. I really do believe that without the help and guidance IES provided us my experience would not have been the same. They placed me with the most incredible host family, ensured that the classes I was taking both at IES and at the local university were what I needed for my area of study, and they helped us adapt to Chile in a broad sense as well as giving us the tools to navigate the culture on our own. I have attached a few of my favorite photos from my trip.

This was an incredible program that offered multiple opportunities to get involved!!! It was because of my time in Madrid I have become the person I am today.
Being abroad can help you become a more confident and knowledgeable person, but a key aspect of this is having a supportive program that keeps you safe while giving you enough room to grow. The staff at IES Abroad succeeded in doing this. It also helped foster positive relationships between everyone (locals and other Americans) while keeping it all-Spanish, which is key in developing confidence in speaking another language.
IES Abroad –Madrid was an incredible program, and I would be happy to recommend it to anyone.

Studying in Freiburg was life changing in the best of ways. Students are immersed in a society of outdoorsy, friendly, green-living people. Classes are starkly different than their American counterparts: a module system allows you to focus entirely on one subject for 3 weeks before moving onto the next. Although the classes broach challenging subjects, their interactive, discussion-based style allows for easy absorption of material (and many class days spent applying knowledge in the field while hiking!). Minimal work was required outside of class which allowed us to wander the cobblestone streets, throw potluck dinners and bonfires, and explore Europe.

Aside from introducing you to the green lifestyle and educating you on international forestry subjects, this program offers guided excursion and the perfect location to travel on the weekends (or a plethora of hiking trails and cool places to explore within walking/biking distance!). I've returned home with a new perspective on forestry, diversity, and international relations, along with German conversational skills. More importantly, I made life-long memories and friendships.

What I loved most about going abroad was the independence. I had the opportunity to explore a new city entirely on my own. Well, not entirely on my own because I made a lot of friends along the way. I learned the language, ate the food, and soaked up the culture.
One of my favorite things about this program was the academics. I took classes that I never would have taken at my home school. All of my professors were engaging and clearly experts on their topics. Many of my professors took our classes outside the classroom so that we could learn about our topic first hand. My art history class, for example, took place in a variety of museums so that we were looking at the real art as we learned about it.
I also loved that the program offered a lot of field trips. I went to Normandy and Champagne with IES which are two places I certainly would not have gone to on my own. In Champagne we learned how the champagne is made and the way in which it is marketed to consumers. (The Champagne trip was for my Intro to Marketing Class). The program also had events on weekends where a faculty member would take students to different neighborhoods in Paris.
I recommend studying abroad in Paris even if you don’t speak French that well. I was very nervous my first few days in the city because my French is very poor, but I found that I had no problem at all! Living in Paris allowed me to practice my French. I found people to still be very nice to me even if I didn’t understand what they were saying or messed up my French. Don’t believe in the stereotypes!! The French are very nice!
I loved studying abroad in Paris and truly believe that I am a better person for having done it. The friendly faculty of IES were always there for me when I had questions or needed any assistance. I highly recommend going to Paris and having an experience like no other.

My decision to study abroad is one I will neither regret nor forget as it provided me the opportunity to grow academically and personally. Immersing myself in a new country enriched my global understanding; however, as much as I learned about Chilean people, history and culture, I learned more about myself.
As I waited at the Minneapolis airport for my thirteen hour flight to Santiago, a range of emotions swept over me: from excited to frightened, to homesick to exhilarated.Before embarking on my IES Study in Chile, I had never left the United States. I worried about how I could communicate with my host family and others. I had doubts about how I would manage all my classes and assignments in Spanish. I worried my GPA would take a irrecoverable hit or that I would be need to spend so much time studying I would miss the opportunities to explore the country.
All these concerns plagued me during my flight, but the moment I saw the IES group at the Santiago airport, I was at ease. The program and its staff provided resources, answers, orientation and ongoing support before, during, and after my trip. Beyond addressing students’ expected nerves commencing a study abroad program, the IES staff also helped me build confidence, acclimate to the country, and encourage me to embrace the uncomfortable by stepping outside my comfort zone.
Before I left for my study abroad program, everyone I knew who had travelled abroad gave me the same pep talk: it will change your life, you will come back a new person, and you will want to continue to travel. At the time, I listened, but it did not sink in. Now, I comprehend what they meant. My semester abroad did, in fact, change me. I gained confidence to communicate, adapt and find my way in another country. I gained curiosity to discover and appreciate another culture’s beauties and differences. I gained critical thinking skills that strengthened my independence, guided me through obstacles and made me more self-reliant. Most of all, I gained a sense of who I am and how I fit into a world much bigger than my home, my school or my country.

The Study in Amsterdam program through IES gave me one of the greatest adventures of my life so far. I experienced more in four short months than I had in both my freshman and sophomore years of college. While the classes I took at the University of Amsterdam were not nearly as challenging or time consuming as my classes at my home university, I still found them to be engaging and they allowed me to interact with not only the Dutch students attending the school, but the students from all over the world as well. Because I only had classes three days a week, I had plenty of time to explore the city of Amsterdam, and to take weekends to travel Europe with new friends. I also took advantage of some of the field trip excursions offered through IES, which were fun ways to hang out with the other American students in my program. The IES administration was very supportive, always ready to help with whatever I needed, and shared information frequently regarding happenings and events around Amsterdam. IES also had a few casual, "check in" group hang outs throughout the semester, in which we discussed our feelings toward topics like initial adjustments, homesickness, and upon leaving, "reverse culture shock." Overall, my study abroad experience was a growing experience, a chance to discover new places, an opportunity to establish friendships internationally, and to fall in love with the city of Amsterdam. My time with IES has left me excited to return to Amsterdam, and I can't wait for that day!

London is an amazing city to study abroad in because it exposes you not only to a local culture, but an international culture. As one of the international capitals of the world, London is absolutely massive and is home to an ethnically diverse population. This dynamism is part of the reason I fell in love with the city. You could walk from the Tower of London, an iconic British and ominously medieval emblem of dark ages, across the Thames to the colorful Borough market, which overflows with food stalls from all corners of the world.

IES and the IES staff did a really excellent job of making sure that we didn’t leave London without having explored all rich deposits of culture that the city had to offer. The program often offered free trips to different neighborhoods in London. One of my favorite day trips was to Camden Market, in Camden Town. The streets leading to the market are lined with brightly-colored store fronts housing eclectic vendors. The market itself is home to some of the best food I have ever tasted. Literally I don’t think I could even name every country represented by the all the different culinary options there. At one stand you get can get traditional paella, at another they have Jamaican jerk chicken, or you can go to the curry cart and enjoy some of the best Indian food you will ever eat in your life. The food in London is amazing and I don’t think I will ever again have the chance to try Mesir Wot from Ethiopia and Thai green curry in the same place again (just one of the many reasons I love London). If you love food, trust me, you will love London too.

These outings were led by student assistants, whom are British university students working with IES. I really liked having these trips because it gave you an opportunity to talk with the student assistants in a more relaxed setting and ask about things like nightlife or their favorite restaurants.