Program Reviews

IFSA has created a wonderful experience in Prague:
* The housing was amazing, so much better than any academic housing I have lived in before. My flatmates were amazing people (also students) with a good mixture of other IFSA students and others. It was spacious, clean, right in the middle of Prague, and the neighborhood was beautiful with plenty to do.
* Prague College, the school, was a unique and refreshing experience from American university. It is so small that staff really connect with you, students are friendly and all very involved in student orgs, and class sizes were smaller than twenty in most cases. I found the work to be less demanding than American school (tests and quizzes aren't really a thing) but at the same time more rewarding (projects are the emphasis).
* The excursions were fantastic, and all memorable. Hiking trips, staying in the countryside, visiting new parts of the city, historical tours, etc. You won't be cooped up in Prague the entire time (not that being cooped up in Prague would be a bad thing).
* The staff (both of IFSA and of Prague College) are some of the best people. The resident director Jana was simply great. She took her job seriously and was always happy to share her knowledge and experiences. I always felt that any concern I could possibly have would be handled by her, and she was always had something fun planned around the corner. Plus, she plays the accordion pretty well and without her the Czech language is an enigma. The Prague College staff were, without a doubt, some of the most well educated and brilliant people I have met. Also, they are truly international group with some amazing perspectives. And, (I only include this because I know it can worry some students) their English is very clear. I have professors in America that I can hardly understand through their accents, but no such problems at Prague College.
* This last note is somewhat unrelated to IFSA and more a characteristic of the city of Prague: food is affordable. I spent $2,000 or more on a campus meal plan in the US that only gets me cafeteria-grade food. In Prague I was not careful with my spending, I ate out at restaurants every day, the food was amazing, and I still spent less than I do with a university meal plan. I miss it :(

In the fall 2018 semester I had the opportunity to study abroad in Israel with the IFSA Diversity and Coexistence program. I was extremely excited to go to Israel as I had always wanted to go see the country and experience life in the Middle East. IFSA gave me that opportunity and I could not have asked for a better experience! My IFSA support staff in Israel was amazing! Our adviser Monica was like a mom to me and the fellow students on my program. We could ask her anything and she was always there to help us and make sure we were having a great time in Israel in addition to academics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Monica organized excursion trips for us so we could see other parts of the country and meet with local peoples such as the Ethiopian community and the Druze community. I really enjoyed these trips as it exposed me to different peoples and the food was amazing everywhere we went! As a requirement of my program, I had to take either Hebrew or Arabic the entire time I was abroad. I decided to take Arabic and found that the IFSA staff and the Hebrew University staff are very accommodating and excellent as teaching Arabic. I learned a lot about the language and was able to read street signs in Arabic and have an elementary understanding of the language by the end of my time abroad. Learning Arabic was an extremely unique experience and one I was very grateful for. I did not take any Hebrew courses, but from my time living in Israel I did pick up on a few words. Other academic courses besides language at Hebrew University I found to be both interesting and challenging. As a history major I focused on history courses and had some amazing professors and learned a lot about the history if the state of Israel. All the professors I had were very engaging and offered support to their students. The academic side of my study abroad experience was very good as it provided enough challenge while also allowing you to still experience the country on the weekends by not being overloaded with work. The one thing that was not great about my experience was living in the student village at Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. My apartment was not very clean and had a lot of issues with things breaking such as my hot water heater. Things did get fixed, but it took time and the hot water was a recurring issue for my apartment. Other than that, I absolutely loved my time in Israel and would do it all over again if I could! I highly recommend this program!

My experience in the Argentine Universities program was great because I felt that I had a good balance between venturing into the local culture as well as the safety and security of being in a program with other American students. We could choose between a variety of universities in the city, from large public schools to elite private schools, so we could tailor the experience to exactly what we wanted. In the same way, we could choose whether we wanted to make mostly American friends within the program of around 80 students, or surround ourselves with Argentine students in our classes. I liked that I had the opportunity to choose how I wanted my study abroad experience to be, socially and academically.

IFSA also provided a lot of support academically and professionally. My advisor made me feel very supported in my classes and I was also able to do both an internship and volunteer at a school because IFSA's volunteer coordinator set me up with those opportunities.

The coursework was less rigorous than my home university. It was a nice break from all the academic stress I usually have back home. One thing that's unfortunate about Sri Lanka is that they do not have a highway system in place so it is very time consuming to travel. The process getting to your destination takes a massive amount of time. Therefore, I did not travel outside of Kandy as much as I would have liked to.
The on site staff will be the sweetest group of people you will ever meet. They helped me get through the four months I was in Sri Lanka. They are very approachable and easy to talk to. They will figure out our living accommodations and anything else you need help with. I luckily got along with my host families, but if there are an problems the on site staff are always willing to help you.

I chose a program in a Spanish-speaking country for the language immersion, but the reason I specifically chose Argentina was the literary scene in Buenos Aires. A well-travelled aunt promised that I would love the urban atmosphere and the unbelievable literary culture of the city (there's an independent bookstore almost every two blocks in some barrios). The IFSA-Butler program offered an academic concentration through the massive, prestigious public school of Argentina (Universidad de Buenos Aires or UBA) and still left me several credits to take in classes of my choosing at any of the local universities. My study abroad was a deeply engaging and rewarding experience but the part I most want to champion is the IFSA-Butler literature concentration because I learned so much and so differently than I had ever experienced before in an academic setting. The concentration, freely offered to any interested IFSA students to help them shape their course schedule and engage with the local literary scene, is only three classes: Contemporary Argentine Literature, Castellano (essentially a Spanish language class), and Literary Methodology. Each course is taught completely in Spanish. The contemporary literature class was incredible: taught by local author Martín Kohan (whose work is available at many of the bookstores throughout the city), he gives both a sort of crash course on Argentine history and culture and unique, almost tender insights and in-depth analysis that could come only from lifelong study of the lives and work of cornerstone Argentine writers including Jorge Luis Borges, Rodolfo Walsh, Julio Cortázar, and Roberto Arlt. Some form of Castellano is a required course for all IFSA students, but in the literature concentration we read more extensively and had a smaller class size (only two students!) which gave us lots of opportunities for practice and direct tutoring on our pronunciation and grammar. Finally, the literary methodology course, taught by an IFSA professor who also teaches for UBA, was the first course of literary criticism that I have ever taken and will certainly not be my last. We investigated what it means to read critically and how one can and should, using Argentine hero (and famously voracious consumer of literature) Che Guevara as the prototypical reader for our studies. This guided track helped me to understand the context of Argentine literature as I browsed bookstores and poetry readings across the city, opening my eyes to an entire regional kingdom of literature that has never been offered in classes at my home university as anything other than "Latin literature" -- losing all of the regional, historical, and cultural richness of work that is the product of a specific people, time, and place. Thank you to Diego, Darío, and Martín (along with all the rest of the IFSA staff) for giving this English major so very much to think about.

I spent my sophomore spring semester abroad in Auckland, New Zealand. It was a phenomenal experience that I think about at least once a day. The country itself is so green, clean, and open once you got outside of the major cities. The cities, though, still were incredibly eco friendly with green spaces and were safe so that you could walk around and feel safe. The nightlife was fun as well, and I often spent my afternoons after class walking throughout Auckland streets and discovering hidden gems. Of course, I could not have enjoyed my time in New Zealand nearly as much without the support of IFSA. I never felt isolated or alone with the help and support of my onsite coordinator. We had weekly catch up meetings with snacks and coffee to debrief any troubles we had during the week, whether it be midterms or homesickness. My IFSA group was incredibly close knit, so we often spent nights out or days studying together too; but our relationships were definitely enhanced due to our united IFSA experience. After all, when we first arrived, we all arrived nervous and vulnerable. However, after our 3 day orientation in the middle of nowhere, we had grown quite close through shared meals, games, and group activities.
The University of Auckland is a top notch institute to study at. I took my professional electives there, and was lucky to be able to take classes in a wide range of subjects (public health, history, business, and environmental science). I highly condone taking a pacific studies course to fully understand the origins of New Zealand.

I loved participating in this program! I was fully immersed in the country via food and cultural experiences. In the Fall, there were a lot of festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali. It was truly one of a kind to get to dance and celebrate with the local people, especially on such big holidays. I also loved having the opportunity to walk around the small college city and to interact with the people. I would wake up on the weekends and hop on a autorickshaw and just explore the neighboring areas and food spots. I felt safe enough to travel by myself too, which was a major plus point. I gained a real sense of independence and learned so much about the people and customs. I was able to learn some Hindi and a traditional classical dance called Bharatanatyam. The best part was probably all of the food I was able to eat. Food is a huge part of my life and just seeing people on the streets crafting these culinary masterpieces was like heaven. I tried to eat everything in sight. I think the key to India is learning to let go and being willing to try everything, even if only once.

To be honest, I was planning to study abroad in 2019 or 2020, which will be my senior year as an undergraduate student. Unfortunately, during Fall 2017, I went through some challenges that required some extra time and energy so my results were not up to my normal standards. This temporarily affected my confidence. After all that, I decided to challenge myself to prove that I can accomplish much more than my previous expectations. I was trying to find something that would give me my power and confidence back. Then, I found out that studying abroad at Oxford University which is one of the greatest universities in the world, is the most challenging thing that I could do during the summer. I was confidently sure that the experience will re-charge up my ideas with positivity and will help me prove my method in the possibility and existence for all our dreams; excitingly, it did!

I would say IFSA was a unique program because it gave students the freedom to explore and be apart of the city and country however we wanted while also provided a backbone to fall back on if needed. There events in and around London and the weekend trip to Lake District national park showed a commitment to teaching while also recognizing that were all college students who just want to hang out.

I was also really happy with their support system. When professors went on strike that semester, IFSA providing tutoring and other support systems for anyone who needed it. Though I did not take advantage, I appreciated how much they cared for the students in a rough situation.

Overall I really enjoyed my experience. I really enjoyed the classes I took at UCL, and being on the IFSA program led me to meeting new people not just from London but from around the US as well, many of whom I now consider to be good friends. Also, this goes without saying, but London is an incredible city, and I wouldn't have wanted my abroad experience in any other place.

This program has truly been an amazing experience for me. IFSA did a great job of serving as a resource to help navigate all aspects of my London experience. While the school itself kept me engaged academically, IFSA did a great job of introducing me to social activites and travel destinations to explore outside of the classroom. This was beneficial because sometimes it is hard to sift through the abundance of online research sources available to find things to do, so hearing recommendations from an organization that is familiar with what is appealing to study abroad students made my life so much easier! I would certainly consider going on another study abroad experience with IFSA!