WorldStrides Reviews

I participated in the 5 week summer program in Shanghai ,China. Before I left, I had a lot of questions and the staff at TEAN was very helpful in answering the questions. Once on campus,TEAN had someone that lived in Shanghai,close to campus and she was always there to help and translate if needed. I also liked the fact that TEAN offered activities so that students in the TEAN program could get to know each other.

Looking back at the 4.5 months that I was abroad, I could actually pin point the time period that I really started to transform and grow. It was after a 10 day trip up to Cairns, I started hiking every weekend, and adapted to a healthy life style. I was more energetic, constantly going to new places and seeing new things, and growing as a person. I became very independent, and truly enjoyed the changes that happened within me. Now upon my return to the states, I really feel that I've taken everything that I learned from abroad and adapted it to my current lifestyle in some way.
A little about my living situation- my flat was located across the road from Central Station, which was central to EVERYTHING! I was able to get around, and go absolutely anywhere that I wanted to. Westfield shopping center, suburbs, blue mountains... check, check, check!

TEAN is there for you every step of the way, and I highly recommend anyone to study abroad with them. I studied abroad at Bond University in the Gold Coast. Bond is a small private school that follows the same schedule as most American schools. I lived at the beach housing offered by TEAN. It was a beautiful high rise hotel which was a block from the beach and right in the middle of many restaurants and shops. Everything is taken care of for you at the hotel, including a weekly cleaning service. TEAN has a local resident director who plans events for us like surfing and professional rugby games, as well as tell us local places we should check out. I am so thankful for all TEAN did to help me have an amazing four months!

The program began very shaky due to a severe problem with the communication between the program and myself. There was also an apparent lack of communication between the TEAN Representative for Shanghai and the TEAN Coordinator. Yet despite this lack of communication (or delayed communication), I will admit that the TEAN Representative was always timely and very helpful, so the shortcomings were not her own. The program itself was very falsely advertised. I spent my summer in an attempt to improve my Chinese. The first five weeks were a complete scam in my money. The classes were very relax and verging on a joke (they took little to no effort to obtain a good grade). I learned next to nothing and wasted a lot of my time and money in these five weeks that could have been spent elsewhere. The next four weeks of language learning were a lot more intense and more time demanding, but many people opt'ed to not attend the classes or do the work (so it is more of what you make of it). The only let down with the last four weeks was that we entered the program a week late and had to play catch up (which many people complained about since we could have attended these classes, instead of the useless first part of the program). Fudan University is quite far from the Western parts of Shanghai and also is far from the nightlife districts. Luckily cabs are extremely cheap. The University was very unhelpful towards foreigners and sometimes borderline rude. Overall, I feel like I should have some of my money refunded. But I know the real world does not work this way, and I will probably have to eat my losses. The program is falsely advertised. The academics are a joke and you should only attend this program to have waste time in a foreign country, not learn (especially if you are attending to learn Chinese!).

From the very beginning of the abroad process, TEAN was always available to respond to any emails I sent at any time. I knew that they were going to be a very reliable and dedicated program, even before I went abroad. I was able to gain an experience unlike any other. I have never lived so far away from home, and I found that there were so many other people doing what I did. I made such strong friendships, and experienced things I never thought I would do (like skydiving!!!!). I traveled to Thailand, New Zealand, Fiji, and other cities in Australia, and each place had something special about it. I would 110% do it all over again and I think it was more than worthwhile. TEAN helped make my experience what it was, and I wouldn't have changed anything about it. Australia is an INCREDIBLE country and I would love to go back there someday soon.

I lived on campus at the student accommodations, located very close to campus and right in the middle of the city. A typical day would be going to class in the morning for 2-3 hours, I had Wednesdays and Fridays off where I would go to my internship which was in the middle of the city and less than a ten minute walk away. After class or work I would usually go to a late lunch in the city, where there is a surprisingly large amount of restaurants just on the main street (Queen Street). You could easily have a different kind of food twice a day for a week without having to walk more than ten minutes. There are so many activities to do in and near Auckland that we often did something every day - going to the surrounding islands, trips to the beach, or traveling. We would often cook for dinner and then go out for drinks.

Difficult things were the prices, everything is more expensive in New Zealand (though the exchange rate does help), the lack of a oven in the accommodation and the elevators breaking often.

Highlights were everything else, the area was beautiful! Traveling was easy since the islands are small. Car rental is easy. Flights are cheap. I would strongly suggest spending at least two week traveling the South Island if you stay in Auckland. The city is amazing. And the nightlife is fantastic.

Studying abroad was such a memorable experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I learned about people from all over the world and how their lives differ from mine in the United States. Studying and living abroad opened my eyes to various world issues and made me a much more independent and confident person. Nothing around me was familiar, so I had to be more aware of what was going on around me. I got the hang of Aussie life quickly, met friends, and figured out the best ways to get around the city. This experience was absolutely worthwhile and I encourage everyone to study abroad!

I came to Shanghai with high expectations, excitement, and a huge desire to explore and learn about the world's next superpower. TEAN seemingly offered to help me deal with all the necessities. At least that was what they advertised. Through reviews and promises to deliver I finally chose TEAN to help me take care of the stress of moving to a new country for 10 weeks. However, things start to look suspicious after the initial deposit. No communication was issued for a good amount of time after I was forced to dropped a few hundreds dollars. TEAN withheld information regarding the program until the last minute forcing me to fork out more cash to pay for my plane ticket as well as my visa. The stress of finals and the dire shortage of time regarding my visa made the trip so much more stressful than I expected already. I came to China without any basic knowledge of Chinese, thus, I needed TEAN to do their job of getting me settled in. TEAN utterly failed at this aspect. We were all promised to have an airport pick-up service to drop us off at our dorm, despite this promise, only a few students were actually lucky enough received this promise. Needless to say, I was not one of them. With my non-exisistance knowledge of Chinese and the cab drivers with their non-exisistance knowledge of English, I was utterly overcharged for a 40 minute ride. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning . Fudan, one of the top universities of China did not have English speaking individuals at their "international" students dorm. Because I did not understand what dorm personal were trying to tell me, they basically yelled at me until I found a fellow student to help translate. So much for TEAN's help when I have to find a random student to help. Fortunately, I did not run into many issues the first five weeks of class with the exception of my room key being deactivated for no reason and the constant lost of electricity (this was inconvenience when I have to sleep through the hottest nights in Shanghai). TEAN inability to be organized as well as their inability to deliver unfolded during the second five weeks of class. First, we moved from our dorms into apartments. Since my roommates and I didn't complain and caused a ruckus regarding our room assignment, we were placed in a sub-par apartment. They basically bullied us into a place that was cheaper than the others because it seemed like we would take it with no complaint. We had no microwave, a broken ac, no cooking utensils, broken lights in various areas, and no beddings. To add salt to the wound, classes for the second half of program has already started. We came to class a week late. Throughout the second part of the program TEAN students had to play catch-up in a more difficult language program. This was unacceptable. TEAN promised an immense amount of things, yet, was unable to deliver. Beyond school and the apartment was the issue of my visa. TEAN's director DID NOT warn us that some of us might encounter the issue of our visa not being issue for the correct amount of days. We did not receive both acceptance letters for the two programs we were enrolled in, thus, was unable to get our visa for the right amount of days. The solution? I had to hand over another $200 for an "extension" of eight days in Shanghai. Making the total cost of my visa nearing $400. Please don't make the same mistake I did with TEAN. Find another program.

I decided to study abroad because I wanted a summer that I would never forget. I also wanted the opportunity to travel and experience new things. The program I participated in was absolutely great. To start off, I became extremely infatuated with the city after living there for only a couple days. London is truly hopping. The great restaurants, shopping, nightlife, I could go on for days. In addition to the NYC feel, London has great architecture and history rooted within the city. The ISA program was so easy-going and fun. Many activities were planned but not mandatory (even though everyone wanted to go to everything!). The education abroad team found the perfect medium between guiding me to find things to do/places to see and allowing me to venture out on my own. The education abroad team was terrific and so loving. They truly took good care of us! The best thing about this program was that it allowed me to see some the most beautiful, jaw-dropping sights. The Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Houses of Parliament, Stonehenge, and the Roman Baths just to name a few. I have absolutely no regrets in choosing this program. For future students studying abroad, just dive right in. It is going to be the greatest experience of your life!

London became much than a study abroad location, but a home. This was my first time to leave the country, let alone travel by myself. I felt completely safe and sound (being a young 20-something female and the baby of the family, this was important to both myself and my family). This is partly due to ISA's on-site 24 hour staff and partly the city of London, itself. I knew that if I ever got into a jam, I could simply call one of the three ISA local staff members, and they would be ready to assist me anyway they knew how. London was fantastic for many reasons. It is a friendly city, where if you ever get lost, you can ask anyone on the street for directions, and, more often than not, they will be willing to help. My day to day life involved exploring the city through simply meandering the streets both by myself and with friends as well as attending class. I explored any and every museum I could and found many local hangouts that appealed to my hobbies here in America. Such places were poetry bars, book stores, coffee shops, and art galleries, as well as local dives, pubs, and parks. The ISA staff was great preparing us to go abroad, willing to answer any question that came our way. The local London staff did made sure that we were enjoying ourselves to the fullest extent through checking up on us, to informing us of cool (and free) events happening around the city. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and was so thankful to have chosen ISA as my provider.