IES Abroad Reviews

I had a really great experience with IES in Freiburg. The highlight of the program is definitely the travel trips. We got to see many countries while going to informative meetings and getting to know the culture. We always had a guided tour of the city we visited which was very helpful in getting around and learning about the way of life. The professors really care about you and want you to succeed. Also, learning about the European Union while living in the midst of international crises and debates is incredible! Freiburg is the perfect home base for study abroad. IES connects you with activities in the city as well as in the surrounding area. It really was a fantastic experience!

Study abroad is an eye-opening experience. Japan is an amazing place to study abroad. The culture is different from America but after a week or two you will adapt to it. Coming to this program I wanted to make Japanese friends and hang out with them, what happened during the program went way beyond my expectations. The Japanese are very nice and eager to learn English and speak English with you so it was so easy to make friends and go to different places with them in Tokyo. Tokyo is a large city with many beautiful places where you can go meet and hang out. The amount of parks within this metropolitan city is very surprising. They take care of their trash and keep the city clean unlike many US cities where there is litter all over the place.

With the program, there is more than just Tokyo. You have a week where you can travel with your friends to anywhere within Japan since everyone has break. The program also includes trips to other famous cities where you might not even think of like Kanazawa and Nikko. Even though Japan is small the different areas have different specialties.

In the end, study abroad is about having fun, making friends, and lifelong experiences. You have to be self motivated to explore all of Japan and create these memorable experiences for yourself. In the beginning it may seem like you have 4 months but it flies by when you have amazing friends by your side.

As a student majoring in Spanish and International Relations, studying in Madrid was a like a capstone to my undergraduate studies. In Madrid, everything that I had spent semesters studying at my home university came to life as I spent my free time traveling around Europe; it was nothing short of magical.

Studying abroad is both an exciting and anxiety-inducing experience, and I found that the staff at IES were always extremely accommodating with me at every point of my study abroad experience, from assisting me in the preparation of pre-departure documentation to supporting me in whatever situation arose while in Spain. What really set IES apart from other study abroad programs for me was how personal the experience was-- every administrator knew my name when I arrived and were constantly checking in to see how I was adapting. When you are living in a new country, these little gestures can make a world of a difference.

Academically, IES was very good at engaging students in Spanish culture. During my semester I had the opportunity to take classes at various art museums around Madrid, at local universities, take the DELE language certification exam and even participate in a part time internship for academic credit. Since most courses are taught at the IES Abroad Center, students have the support of a community of other US college students studying in Madrid, but are also encouraged to seek out friendships with Spanish students outside the IES community by living in Spanish dorms, taking a course at a local university and participating in language intercambios.

The program does a really good job of ensuring students experience all the wonderful things that Spanish culture has to offer by providing cooking and flamenco lessons, weekend excursions, and inviting students to dinners and performances around Madrid. Students have the option of living in a traditional homestay, an apartment with other US students or dorms with Spanish students. The choice is up to you, but can greatly influence your level of cultural and language immersion with dorms being the most social option and an apartment being much less immersive.

What makes IES so great is that every student is given the opportunity to make their study abroad experience fulfill both their unique needs and personal goals. Highly recommended for anyone considering studying in Spain!

I had an incredible time while studying abroad at IES Nantes. It was really a magical experience. The IES staff was supportive with anything and everything that I needed and the language assistants ended up being some of my best friends. I took three classes with IES and two with the university and found that to be a perfect balance for me in terms of having classes with actual French students. IES classes are not as rigorous as I am used to, but that is not to say that I didn't learn a lot while and will take the skills and knowledge that I learned with me through my various academic endeavors and the rest of my life. My French also drastically improved, both through making French friends, and because of IES having a strict "en français s'il vous plaît" policy. It was a very encouraging atmosphere and I felt very comfortable speaking French and being taught how to speak better by making many mistakes. My host family was wonderful. They were some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, let alone living with them in their house. I was immediately welcomed into their house as if I were actually part of their family, and they were wonderful in every way possible. Not to mention, I never spoke English with them, and my French drastically improved! The nightly dinners with my host family were simply magical -- I think that this is the memory that I will cherish the most from my study abroad experience. I also loved the way that I was able to learn about the French dining experience as a cultural phenomenon through a real French family. I tried my best to participate in the many cultural activities that were going on in Nantes, but it can be a bit intimidating at times. I was also looking forward to making more French friends, and while I did make a couple, it was hard to approach them in classes. That being said, the IES assistants did an amazing job of introducing us to various events going on in the city, and I did my best to attend every single one of them, which helped a great deal. The city had so much to offer!

IES provided me with an amazing opportunity to really discover what living abroad is like. Having a great homestay and really helpful staff created one of the greatest experiences of my life. Our program also included week long stays in both Saint Petersburg and Istanbul, 2 cities that are very different interesting and also places I normally wouldn't have visited on my own. Everyone at IES was ready to help whenever it was needed, whether it was a quick response to an email or an opinion from staff members at the center. Having homestays throughout the city encouraged all of us in the program to go out and explore new parts of the city, made even easier by Berlin's great public transportation. Berlin was the ideal place to study abroad in because it's cheap, filled with so much fascinating history, populated with very friendly people and full of really cool museums, bars and clubs. I wouldn't change my experience for anything and I highly recommend taking part in this program!

Dublin truly became a second home to me and it really didn't even take that long for me to feel comfortable there. A huge part of this was the amazing staff at IES Abroad Dublin. I cannot say enough times how amazing these people all were. Dublin itself is incredible as well and being able to directly enroll in a university and thus directly immerse myself in Dublin city life was so important towards my comfort in the city. I would suggest direct enrollment to everyone who goes abroad because I think it truly enriched my experience due to the fact that I could meet Irish students and become friends with them as well as have Irish professors. It made my education in Ireland that much better. The trips and activities organized by IES were also incredible. I met so many wonderful people through the programs and learned about the history of Ireland by actually seeing the sites. I truly hope I can return one day.

My time spent in Shanghai, China was a life changing experience in which I grew personally from my experiences. It is inarguably the best 4 months of my life. I met 20 life long friends, and travelled and learned about different cultures in Southeast Asia. I felt safe and supported by my peers as well as the program directors. Although I was far from home, Shanghai quickly became my home, and my friends my family. I learned the mandarin language extensively through class, but I saw most improvement through the opportunity to use it daily when communicating with locals. The living accommodations were beyond my expectations in cleanliness, size, location, and accessibility to public transportation.
Shanghai is an amazing city especially for expatriates. It is the perfect blend of Chinese culture with American influences. I was able to have local Chinese food, but also American food when I missed home. I am grateful for IES for making my experience abroad the most amazing experience of my life. I hope to see myself as an expatriate back in Shanghai one day as a have an unbreakable tie with the amazing city.

I know I will sound like a broken record but deciding to study abroad in Freiburg on the European Union program was one of the best decisions of my life. The program incorporates everything I possibly could have looked for in a study abroad. I got a chance to break out of all the comforts I know from the US and live somewhere completely new. When I got there I was probably about as nervous as I’ve been for anything in my life. The minute you check in though the IES staff is already taking amazing care of you. Day 1 the office administrators are already completely invested in making sure you have a fantastic time abroad. The way they make you feel welcome and included from the first day to the last is truly very remarkable.

As for academics I would say the teachers you learn from are about as qualified as it gets. IES brings in experts from various political or economic backgrounds to teach these courses. Not only do these experts really know what they are talking about but they are also super approachable. If you ever need help or are interested in learning more beyond what you are learning in class, they are happy to engage with and guide you. By the end of the semester your professors will go beyond being your teachers and become mentors for more than just academic work. I met with almost all my teachers at least once outside of class to hang out and get to know each other better either as a class or individually.

The value of this program goes well beyond the classroom though, culturally and socially Freiburg is an awesome place to be. As a middle sized college town in south west Germany you get lots of incredible authentic experiences such as the Weihnachtsmarkt (world famous German Christmas markets that are pretty much a constant source of merriment once they start up). In terms of daily life there are loads of amazing pubs or restaurants to go to where you can meet locals or just relax and hang out with friends. In particular, the Irish Pub O’Kelly’s is an awesome spot. As for the food in the restaurants I could go on and on forever but what I will say is that it is incredible and very affordable. I got hooked on several things there that I have mild to moderate withdrawals from now.

One of the most unique features of this program is the academically integrated field study trips. Throughout the semester there are a few day trips and three week long trips to various member states and institutions in the European Union. Not only does this mean the program organizes all the travel with all of your friends from the program for you, but you also get to hear from people actively working with the concepts and within the structures you are learning about. Not to mention that since Freiburg is so centrally located with easy access to an airport travelling in smaller groups on the weekends is incredibly easy to organize. I went to 14 countries (including multiple cities in a couple of them) 9 of which were with the program. Basically if you are looking to see a lot of Europe this is a great program to do it. Plus, you learn stuff about the places you are going to that would be very hard to do on your own.

I will wrap up with a little more about the community IES sets up on this program. Beyond being friendly the staff at the center does a great job taking this huge group of students from all over the US with different backgrounds and bringing us together. By the end I felt really friendly with almost everyone on the program and there were 69 of us so that’s saying something. Over the course of 3 and a half months being there I not only learned a ton about the European Union but had an amazing time making fantastic memories doing it. The program is pretty politics heavy academically, but if you can go on this program I highly recommend you do. Freiburg and the people I met there will always have a special place in my memory. I grew in many ways I never would have expected when I left but am so happy I was able to. If you choose this program and go with an open mind, I will basically guarantee you will have a magnificent time too!

I could go on and on forever about my experience studying abroad in Berlin and that's because I had such an amazing experience. IES in Berlin made sure that we felt welcomed, they got us set up with everything that we needed like a phone and a visa for staying more than 90 days in Germany etc. They also walked us through other things like how to assimilate into German culture and how to reassimilate back into American culture once we leave. They had plenty of options other than just taking classes, such as getting involved in German student organizations at Humboldt University, getting an internship, or volunteering with other organizations. They also had pre-organized trips you could sign up for and I absolutely loved those. Not only did they take care of all the details like food and housing and some activities and tours, but you could opt out at any time in case you really wanted to do something else. It was the perfect amount of autonomy mixed with ease of travel that I think was great for people our age who are perfectly capable adults but dont have the time or knowledge to plan out the best accommodations or find the best food. The trips were one of my favorite parts. When I was in Hungary, we were at a restaurant and the waiters called me over and I ended up cooking our cous cous dinner in a huge pot that they lit on fire! It was totally awesome and not the type of thing you can necessarily experience on your own. IES Abroad helped me feel like Berlin was my home and I felt like by the end of the program that I was very close to the staff and that we were family. I hope to return at some point soon so I can see everyone again (even though most of my American friends wont be there).

It is unbelievable how quickly I fell in love with the city, the culture and the overall atmosphere. Paris is a unique, beautiful city that I encourage all to experience with an open mind. The program enhanced my experience immensely. Whether it was the generous, loving staff or the intelligent and personable professors, I always felt safe and at home. I lived in an apartment and I will be honest, it was not the nicest, but if you need the privacy and independence that I personally needed, then it is the way to go. It is "far" from the center of Paris, but "far" only means a metro ride away. The metro, their public rail system, is easy to figure out. Overall, I would definitely recommend this program.