Program Reviews

Studying abroad with IFSA-Butler was an experience I will never forget. Belfast, Northern Ireland provided the perfect environment for both studying and exploring, and I couldn't be happier with my choice to attend classes and live for a semester at Stranmillis University College. The stunning scenery, rich culture and history, and welcoming people characterize the region, and it is no surprise why this is one of the fastest growing tourist locations in Europe.

My experience was enhanced by the support and guidance of IFSA-Butler, the American study abroad organization who planned by trip and ensured that the transition went smoothly. They were there every step of the way--from buying to plane tickets, to picking classes, settling in the dorm, providing enriching cultural experiences while abroad, and ensuring credit transfers when back home. I will never forget some of the outings they planned to facilitate our understanding of the unique cultural differences that make Northern Ireland/Ireland so special. For instance, we played Gaelic football in Dublin, visited the Peace Walls in Belfast, and went kayaking in a fjord in the Atlantic. Overall, I am so happy I chose IFSA-Butler and would highly recommend it to anyone else looking for a unique study abroad experience!

Studying abroad in Pune is a decision that I will forever stand by. Although I had many challenges, overall my experience from homestay, classes, traveling, to food, were positive. I had a really enjoyable homestay. I stayed with a woman who was super kind, compassionate, and understanding. She really was a second mother to me and I'm still in contact with her now. I think the homestay really added another dimension to the experience because we were able to celebrate festivals with extended family members, visit aunts and uncles houses, and learn more about the food, religion, and traditions from someone's everyday experiences.

I loved that Pune is big enough that there is a lot to do, but not to big that you never get a feel for the city. By halfway through the semester we all really knew the city, its layout, and how to find our way around. I also like that there are a lot of young people in Pune and a lot of colleges so you meet a lot of people (Indian and others) your own age. India is also huge, and during travel week in November (a week with no set programming when you can travel wherever) you are able to really take advantage of everything the country has to offer in terms of languages, cultures, food, etc. and traveling is reasonably cheap/easy. I really enjoyed the times I had with the other people on my program when we went traveling and had the chance to leave Pune. Traveling in India made me a lot more confidant in my ability to travel anywhere. I also made some really good friends in Pune who I am still in contact with. What I did not like about Pune/India was that things are often not as efficient or fast as they could be. When things went wrong (and things always go wrong during study abroad no matter where you go) it sometimes took longer or there were more steps to finding solutions.

I enjoyed the Alliance program a lot! I felt that the staff at the center were really friendly, helpful, and in many ways were like a family to us. The program coordinator and her assistant are really willing to hear your feedback, concerns and do anything they can to help with a smooth transition and enjoyable semester. They help you navigate your homestay, traveling around India and Pune, give recommendations for things to try/see/do, and by the end we were all like a mini family (not to sound too cliché). You also have two excursion weekends all together which are really great bonding times. The center was nice enough. It is at the Gokhale Institute which is really pretty and there you can get breakfast, have your classes, and all the staff are based there.

Most of the time I felt safe and I made the same good decisions I would make in any city I don't know very well. Having said that, I'm not a person who is shaken up very easily. There was a young woman on my program who felt uncomfortable in certain situations where there were large crowds, but I think as long as you are assertive and stick in a group you shouldn't encounter any issues.

The food did get a little repetitive after a while, but being able to eat out for lunch and some dinners offered a nice dose of diversity. Almost all the homestays are vegetarian and so no meat will be allowed into their homes (they also consider eggs to be meat), but outside of that you kind find chicken, etc. in most restaurants. I personally never got sick or anything, but I also spent the summer leading into my program interning in India so I could have been more acclimatized than others. A lot of food will in some way be "Indianized" no matter if its pizza, KFC, Italian food, etc. so just don't expect anything to be EXACTLY the way you would find it in the US.

I'm going to be honest, it was challenging. Not just in adjusting to a new culture and being away from home, but in the daily encounters I experienced. Varanasi is a whirlwind; it hits you right in the face. There are winding alleys and cows, dirt and pollution, traffic and beggars. But there is also the Ganges and the ghats, friendly shopkeepers and delicious lassi, hundreds of temples and beautiful sunrises. I came in with a lot of questions, and left with even more. But that shows me that it was worth it. Studying abroad was a taste of reality, a sliver of the "real world," if you will. I saw poverty and discrimination, but also hope and beauty. And I was in a supportive community that helped me process these difficult realizations. The program staff is incredibly attentive and sacrificing to the students' needs and wishes, but they are also there to talk things through and give insight into a new culture and way of life. Plus, you have your American roommate and your Indian host family. Not to mention that the classes deal with pressing issues that you experience on a daily basis. Gender studies and peace and conflict studies, religion and Hindi. These are relevant courses with an interesting Indian perspective. While it is important to note that the teaching style is rather different, there are plenty of field visits and places to connect what you are learning in the classroom with what you are experiencing in the city. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of my semester was my Culture in Practice class. Students can choose a variety of topics, and I decided on textiles. Three days a week I traveled by bike to my textile teacher's house (about a 25 minute ride away), where we learned about the various Indian textiles and created some of our own. From batik to natural dyes, from block printing to weaving, we were able to tangibly experience an important part of Indian culture and history. Our textiles professor was incredibly hospitably, constantly serving us sweets and teas, and treating us as part of the family. Now, I am hooked on textiles and on India. I realized that India is massive and diverse, that it has beautiful aspects, yet there are dark, rough edges too. Varanasi is crazy and chaotic, but full of life and connection. I couldn't walk down the street without the various shopkeepers greeting me. Sure, there were times I wanted to go home, but now that I am home, I want to go back.

As a student who had never travelled to Europe before, Wales was the perfect country for me to spend my semester abroad. IFSA-Butler helped me choose a program that would work for me and my studies. Once I had applied and been accepted, they played an active role in keeping me up-to-date and on-track before leaving for the semester. Once I had arrived, IFSA-Butler never stopped showing support, even when they handed me off to Cardiff University, where I studied abroad. Cardiff was a perfect fit for me, having great programs and even greater faculty and staff. The programming for international students was a bit confusing at first, but ended up being exactly what I needed. Throughout my experience, I was able to learn new things that applied to my majors and my own personal growth. Returning from my semester abroad, I only wished I had stayed longer because of the impact the experience had on me. Every person I talk to about it, I recommend that they study abroad because of the incredible opportunity it turned out to be and the amazing opportunities that have presented themselves to me after coming back to my home university.

I was fortunate to have the unique and interesting opportunity to study abroad in Lima, Perú during the Spring semester 2016. Through living with a host family, attending a Latin American university of more than 16,000 students, completing four courses in a second language, and traveling to a number of diverse locations around the country, I came to understand what it meant to live and thrive in a foreign setting. The values, lessons, and paradigms that I encountered cannot be learned in a classroom or domestic campus setting, and I feel that it is my responsibility to advocate for others to take advantage of similar opportunities. Through my completion of this program, I consider it my responsibility to share the positive (even some neutral or negative) aspects of studying abroad through IFSA-Butler.

From the beginning, the Peru staff were angels-Lali, Zivka, Maria Elena, and "Mama Laura" are some of the sweetest most caring women I have ever met. They all really wanted the students to feel comfortable and cared for. I was having a lot of medical problems and they all listened, tried to understand, gave me advice when they could, and even accompanied me on my many doctors appointments. On this note, I must say that the health insurance through CISI really saved me and my family financially. With all the medical issues I was having, I accrued more than $2,000 (US) in medical bills. This program (part of the program, for all students) covered 100% of these bills-hospital, doctor, medicine, everything. I would pay for the services upfront, but CISI sent my family a full refund for *everything*. This helped me more than I could ever explain.

The host family I was placed with was also mostly good. I lived with two laicas consagradas, or consecrated laypeople—ultimately, nuns who lived among regular people. This led to many interesting experiences (considering I am not religious myself) and occasionally some issues. It is common in Peruvian culture to not make problems very public or obvious, sometimes to the point of holding in too many thoughts/feelings, so passive aggression can become a factor that can build over time. A few times it did come to a head, but ultimately we were able to work through our differences and learn from each other (I hope). When this was not a factor, they were very grandmotherly and sweet. Our house was always very clean and I was lucky enough to have a few minutes of hot water every day for a shower. Two meals a day were provided.

The academics were slightly challenging because this program was entirely in Spanish, although I did pick one class through the university which I came to regret—Laboratorio de Arqueología 4-arqueozoología (Archaeology Lab 4-Zooarchaeology) taught by R. Villar. There were only 6 students in the class, yet class times and locations were constantly changed and everyone in the group knew about it except for me for 8 weeks. No emails/texts/etc were sent to everyone, but somehow everyone knew where to be except me. This did not happen in any of my other three classes, so I find it unlikely that I was just being a confused foreign student. She moved the midterm date a week early (also without anyone telling me). We had a component that required us to make our own bone tool, but I had difficulties due to my medical condition (which we discussed, she told me not to worry about that component), and although I completed it and brought it to the final to turn in (which no one came to because they had cancelled it without telling me), she still gave me a D for the project. Overall, it was a very bad experience and has been my only C in a class in my entire college career; I wish I would have taken a different class. Other than this, I learned a lot through my other classes—especially through my advanced Spanish language class through IFSA-Butler. My teacher Rossana Díaz Costa was awesome and really cared about all of us, both academically and as a friend. Peruvian social reality was an eye-opening class, although we mostly talked about the ex-President Alberto Fujimori and his daughter Keiko, who ran in the elections this year.

Our group traveled to multiple places in Peru including Arequipa (student-run trip), Cusco and Machu Picchu, El Carmen, and other places (through the program). Each of these trips focused on a specific part of Peruvian culture. Cusco and Machu Picchu focused on the indigenous Peruvian lifestyle and sustainable farming while El Carmen focused on the Afro-Peruvian community-which I found quite interesting and unexpected. These trips really allowed us a nice break from hectic Lima and gave us a chance to experience and learn together outside of a classroom setting. The trips were some of my favorite parts of studying abroad.

IFSA-Butler also set me up to volunteer with a local archaeological site called Huaca Pucllana so that I could complete my community work in a place that aligned with my studies and interests. I am an archaeology major, so this was a great opportunity. I met a many of the archaeologists at the site and was even able to become good friends with a few of them. Some of them directed me to resources I could use for my thesis when I returned to the US. I spent over 80 hours in the lab cleaning and organizing archaeological materials like plant remains, bones, shells, and ceramics. Although I wasn’t able to dig (they began digging during finals week), this was still a valuable experience and was a great addition to my resume and understanding of my field.

There were many positive and negative things about studying abroad, but they were more or less personal matters. The things provided by IFSA-Butler were consistently excellent and helped me a great deal during my time there. I would recommend this program (or others through IFSA-Butler, as I would assume they have similar standards) to anyone who is considering going abroad and who wants a program that will take care of them, challenge them, show them around the world, and ease the process of reintegration to the US.

It was DEFINITELY worthwhile. I learned so much about myself through the inherent challenges of living in a new country, especially one like India. Pushing your boundaries and going outside your comfort zone is the most rewarding gift you can give yourself.
The classes expanded my knowledge a good bit without feeling overwhelming. Some classes were based on paper writing and others on tests.
The resident director on campus was the best lifeline. She built a great relationship with the study abroad office along with our public health professors to be our advocate on campus.
I shared a double with a current Manipal student. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are well cleaned by the housekeepers. A storage closet is provided to stock up on blankets, hangers, etc to reduce cost.
Meals in one of the mess halls on campus are provided in your program fees. Similar to any mess hall on your own home campus, you get tired of the food they serve but Manipal is surrounded with other restaurants and canteens. A meal off campus would cost $2-3. Laundry was $5 a week. Local transportation would be $0.50-3.00. India, compared to the US, is very cheap.
We often rode the local bus to get to various places in Manipal and Udupi (the next closest city) which was a great opportunity to meet locals. We took the bus to a local art gallery to take art classes by a local woman and her other clients.
I had to visit the hopsital on campus two times throughout the semester; once for stomach problems and the other for ear infections. The hospital on campus is one of the best in India from what I've heard and experienced. Healthcare is very affordable compared to the US and the program fee includes insurance. Check the CDC for a list of vaccinations needed.
Find a credit card that doesn't charge a fee to withdraw cash.

I AGONIZED over whether to pick a program in Scotland or in Ireland. The most important thing to me was being in an interesting place where I could both explore independently and have the opportunity to make really close friendships. Scotland ended up being PERFECT for me. I fell in love with Edinburgh, with my classes, with the people I met. The IFSA-Butler staff are SO NICE and knowledgeable and helpful about literally everything - from practical questions like registering to class to finding a hostel in Nice for Spring Break. It was a big program, sure, but there definitely was a strong sense of community in our cohort and I wouldn't trade the experience I had for anything.

My semester in Beijing was an unforgettable experience and going there was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It was a great way to really study and use the language, learn about and experience first-hand all the amazing historical relics that China has to offer, and grow really close with some incredible classmates, teachers, mentors, and locals. I highly recommend going to the coffee hours at the Beijing American Center! I met a lot of new friends there that I still keep up with nearly a year later.

Wales is often overlooked, and even forgotten about in general, so getting to say that you studied abroad there is pretty cool. The culture in Wales is very unique and very fun to get involved in and explore, from castles to learning Welsh, it was a totally unique experience. IFSA provides an incredible support system to help you have the best time possible, including great excursions around England, culminating in a weekend in Northern Wales adventuring in the mountains. Cardiff University is an excellent school so while I was having fun around the UK and Europe, I was also enjoying classes that were both challenging and enjoyable.

I always wanted to study abroad and heard of horror stories from people about bad providers. However, this story was not true for IFSA-Butler Ireland. They took amazing care of me and made sure that I was having the greatest time of my life. They hosted amazing events and awesome trips to Northern Ireland and Western Ireland. There office was always open and always had a pot of tea ready for students. I would recommend non-stop IFSA-Bulter Ireland!!