WorldStrides Reviews

I really loved my experience while in Christchurch. It was a great place to travel from if you plan on doing a lot of that. It was also a very good experience to see the effects of a natural disaster and what they are doing to clean it up. The university was doing very good and there are a lot of different events put on for students to have a good time. The only problem with going to Christchurch is that you can't go into the CBD because it is all fenced off because of the damage from the earthquakes, and if you don't like aftershocks you may not like it here because you will most likely feel some if you spend at least a month or two here. Other than that the people are great and if I could do it again, I would in a heartbeat.

I recommend studying abroad to anyone who is thinking about it. You learn much more than a classroom can ever teach you and you make friends that will last your entire lifetime. Don't be afraid to take a risk and try something new, you never know what will happen!

The four months I lived in Buenos Aires truly were the GOOD LIFE! ISA is a proactive, helpful, and friendly program that had an office 5 blocks from campus in Buenos Aires which provided free printing, tutoring, computer/internet service, and any other advice needed about life abroad.

I studied at the University of Belgrano, where I took three distinct Intensive Spanish Classes. We were in class five days a week, but that schedule never prevented us from exploring the bustling city, enjoying the lively night life (which goes from 12 am to 8 am!), and travelling to some of South America's beautiful terrain like Patagonia.

One of my favorite memories abroad was on an ISA sponsored trip to Iguazu Falls at the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. We spent 3 days standing under thundering waterfalls, learning about the area's indigenous people, and bonding over Argentina's famous steak. Classes were intimate with about 10 students and were taught by energetic, passionate Argentine Professors. Most importantly, classes were great tools to improve my conversational, grammatical, and cultural understanding of the Spanish language. They were not academically challenging in the sense of workload, but everything was in Spanish which is a challenge in itself. However, most of my learning truly took place outside of the classroom.

Every day after class, my friends and I would eat Choripans (a delicious sausage-bread-sauce combo) in a park near campus, and then would go exploring through the city. Our afternoons would consist of riding bikes through the Ecological Reserve on the Rio Plata, enjoying free museums, and finding handmade crafts at vibrant street fairs. At night, we would often meet up with our Argentine friends we met on campus and would have "Asados," which is the local version of a BBQ. Argentines are generally very welcoming and personable, and were eager to make friends with us international students and help us with our Spanish speaking.

I lived in a home stay, and highly recommend it to anyone studying in Buenos Aires. My "mom" cooked me a delicious breakfast and dinner every night and was attentive to my needs. She was extremely helpful in helping me navigate the city and providing a place to call home, but also gave me complete freedom.

Another perk of the laid-back South American lifestyle is that things are relatively cheaper than the United States, except for electronics, which are very expensive. I would recommend bringing an extra camera charger/cord and computer battery in case anything happens (which is possible with different electric currents).

The only challenging aspect of life was is Buenos Aires is not the safest city. Pick-pocketing and armed robbery is common and so it is essential you are always alert of your surroundings and never walk anywhere alone. ISA and my host mom were both very knowledgeable of safe and unsafe neighborhoods, legitimate and illegitimate taxi cabs companies, and vigilance practices, and thus I never encountered any threatening situations.

Overall, Buenos Aires truly provides it all- an engaging academic environment, a thriving metropolis never lacking places to explore, a home, family and support group to guide you, a culture to learn about and enjoy, unmatchable natural beauty, and an opportunity to grow and adventure in ways you never could imagine. I would return to Argentina with ISA in a heart beat to relive la VIDA BUENA!

The ISA staff was extremely supportive, friendly, and accessible. If you were to find yourself in any sort of trouble, a staff member would make sure you were taken care of. For example, I got really bad food poisoning and a staff member took me to the hospital, and saw the doctor with me. They walked us through the student visa process while other programs left students to figure it out on their own. ISA even has an office very close to the university that has free computer use and is always open to students during normal business hours. The staff also provides free tutoring. ISA organized really fun excursions. A trip to Iguazu Falls was included in the program price, making it an exceptional deal. I highly recommend ISA for Buenos Aires. I had a lot of friends in other programs and they all told me how they wished they had done ISA instead.

Korea University was a beautiful campus. It's surroundings consisted of many shops, restaurants, and night life activities. The campus was big, but in the summer program, all classes are held in one building, which was great and very convenient for me. The dorms is the only thing I would say was what I had the most trouble with. The dorms, or CJ-International house is situated at the top of the hill, which I might add, is more like a mountain. The climb back to the dorms was always something I dreaded. The staff and support were great, friendly and very willing to help. They provide a pillow, bed sheet and blanket upon arrival at check in. They also provide you with an umbrella which you will definitely need for Korea during Monsoon season. It was overall very enjoyable. I met great people and the professors were nice. Grading was very fair and professors were very open to learn about new cultures and easy to approach.

During the week I would go to class for about 3-5 hours a day, Monday-Thursday. I thought I did learn a lot in most of my classes, but I do think I could have been challenged more. That being said, I did love the amount free time I did have so I could actually go out and practice the language with the locals. I felt like I learned a lot of content within the classroom and more language outside of it. I truly enjoyed myself in Granada. I made many American and Spanish friends.

I would highly recommend finding an intercambio (student language exchange) or two who are about your age. They most likely will show you the ins and outs of the city you live in, and introduce you to their friends who are also native speakers.
The food in my opinion was great. I just wished my host-mom would have incorporated more fruits and vegetables to our meals.
Another tip would be to join a gym while abroad. Naturally you are going to want to try all the different food and drink options because you only live once, but if you stay physically fit, you won't put on the extra pounds when trying all these fun, new food options.

The school was nice and small. The actual university has over 80,000 students, but the class sizes were never more than 30 students. I just wish I could have had classes with native speakers instead of mostly American students. My professors were pretty awesome, I didn't really have a problem with any of them. They also gave us tips on what the locals do in the city.
I always felt safe in Granada.

The social scene was a big change for me. People eat dinner at like 9 or 10 at night, then get ready to go out, and stay out until 6 in the morning easily. I absolutely loved it. I am not a morning person, and this lifestyle really suited me.

I was at Notre Dame Australia Spring of 2011 in Fremantle. I felt I got a true Australian experience being in Western Australia. The atmophere was very laid back and everyone was very friendly. Due to the west coast of Australia not being as popular, you get the chance to meet more of the locals. Fremantle is a small port city outside of Perth with a lot of charm. Campus and the dorms are very close to the beach ( about a two minute walk from the Indian Ocean, which was awesome!). There are an abundance of restaurants, shops and markets nearby as well.

Classes were small and welcoming. The classes I took were interesting and allowed you to be involved and meet other students( I especially enjoyed my archaeology and digital photography classes.)

The education abroad network was very helpful every step of the way before, during and after the program was over. I felt it was a great value for my money including the support and the 5-day orientation in Sydney was awesome. I took advantage of all of their help in attaining my visa, passport, booking my flight, getting a cellphone, etc.

I feel I took back a better understanding of different cultures and people and why people are the way they are. I think UNDA-Fremantle is a great place for someone who is laid back, but loves an adventure. I seriously recommend this program to anyone interested in going to Australia! I wish I was still there!

The University of Wollongong is in an ideal location no matter what you do for fun. For those that like to surf, Wollongong has some of the best beaches in Australia located just minutes away from most of the housing communities. Like to hike/climb/explore? The city is located between the ocean and the mountains with tons of trails to hike and rock climbing routes. The city's public transportation is very efficient and has a free bus that runs until 10 on weekdays and 8 on weekends that gets you to uni and downtown. The nightlife is great with tons of clubs and pubs depending on what you prefer and the dorms provide safe transportation to and from these venues. You can also get to Sydney easily if you like the large city scene and going out at night is not hard because you can take the train back as late as 4am. The school system is also one of the top in the world and the staff is extremely helpful for internationals and make sure you understand how things may be different than you are used to. The only down part to my experience was the first 2 weeks I was here(end of July) it rained almost every day and was cold but the locals said it was the worst winter they've ever had. Since then it has been paradise! Definitely consider UOW if you want to get away from the large cities like Sydney but still want to have all the activities conveniently close.

This semester I decided to study abroad at the University of New South Wales and it is a decision I absolutely do not regret! I would recommend this school for a few reasons; the main three positives I want to highlight are location, versatility, and pleasantness.
UNSW is in a prime location because on any given day, one can take a 10 minute bus ride from campus to the heart of downtown, take a scenic 20 minute walk down to the beautiful Coogee beach, or drive up north for about an hour to visit the breathtaking Blue Mountains and rainforest – all straight from campus! If you study here you’ll likely live in one of the adjacent neighbourhoods that would put you possibly even closer to these locations! (However, there are many, many available options such as living on campus, as I am doing and am absolutely crazy about.) Another great thing about the location is that no matter if you’re a small-town, simple-pleasures kind of person, or if you’re a hustle & bustle urbanite, you’ll be able to feel totally comfortable. The campus is right in residential areas where you can feel secluded and safe, like you’re at home, and really close to the busiest commercial area in Australia, where there is always some event going on and you’ll never run out of places to see and things to do. Personally, I love the mixture of both atmospheres because I come from an extremely small town in the Midwestern USA, but I’ve always craved the city life, so this location is prime.

A great thing about UNSW is its versatility. What I mean by this is that no matter what type of experience you want to get out of University life, you will no doubt be able to find it at this school and in the greater-Sydney area. The student population is extremely diverse and multi-cultural, so one is able to learn vast amounts about the special unique culture of Australia, as well as pretty much everywhere else in the world. I have personally met people from countries I did not even know existed, and by now probably have a connection with someone in almost every region of the planet. The social scene is very versatile, offering many student organizations and opportunities to meet new people, and if one sets their mind to it, it is very easy to search the internet on any given weekend and given countless activities hosted by the school’s various clubs and offices, as well as the myriad activities hosted by organizations in the neighbourhoods of Sydney. Academically, UNSW offers the most majors/fields of study of pretty much any school in Australia, and practically all the programs are top-notch. I am personally a Psychology and Communications major and I feel confident that even though I’ve been afforded the luxury of taking some electives and having an enjoyable class experience here, that simply having UNSW’s title attached to my résumé will be a great asset to my future prospective pathways. For the sake of this review, trust me when I say no matter what you’re into (or even if you don’t know what you’re into and what to find out,) that UNSW will allow you to continue enjoying it and explore it even further – academically, socially, and intrapersonally.

Finally, I thought I’d mention the pleasantness of studying here overall. While I must say after travelling some and meeting so many people that almost the entire population of Australia seems happy and agreeable, I believe this particular community of UNSW in the Sydney area has a certain enjoyability about it that I was never able to find back home. I have had the fortune of being able to live on-campus in a community full of internationals and about 90% native Aussies, and I have never felt more accepted and actively involved with my peers as I do now. I’ve learned so much about the people here & abroad just from making friends and they have pretty much gone out of their way to make sure that I enjoyed my time here. The community is great, and the natural geography is even greater.

In about 3 short months I’ve been in ocean reefs, on the sunny coastline, in the snowy mountains, in the desert, lost in an expansive bustling downtown, in the craziest night-clubs, in peaceful gardens, and so, so, much more. A lot of these opportunities were thanks to the specific location of my school, the specific people I’ve met here, and the unique trips offered by the offices of UNSW alone. I really recommend studying here, and going abroad overall, good luck!

Let me start by saying that if you are looking at studying abroad in Australia definitely think about attending La Trobe University in Bundoora.

Students/ Social: I found that students were very welcoming of international students and were very helpful when I had questions. During my first days on campus I met a ton of people wanting to get to know me. It made the transition easy because it felt comfortable. Social wise there is always something to do, like going out to eat or party with friends. I was never really bored.

Campus: The Campus is really easy to get use to. it is kind of big but still manageable. The colleges (dorms) available have a lot of opportunities, I stayed in Glenn and loved it, it has a meal plan for breakfast and dinner but lunch is on your own. one thing to keep in mind is the kitchens in this college are small so if you like to cook or bake a lot i wouldn't recommend it. I have also heard great things about Menzies (one of the other residents) the kitchens there are bigger but meals are not provided. the perk of this college is the gym membership. There is also a bus stop on campus, and a tram stop just outside of campus.

Education: I found the education system different to that of the US so be prepared for a change. personally i liked how all class lectures and notes are available online to look back over if you missed something in the lecture. So far I feel like the assignments are really big and take a lot of work, but they are spread out so you don't get to stressed. Because of this there are hardly any little assignments, quizzes, or tests. Also the professors are very helpful and always there if you have problems with understanding or working on an assignment.

Sites/ Location: the La Trobes Bundoora campus is fairly close to the city of Melbourne. It is about a 40 minute (give or take) trip by tram. I think every time i have gone to the city i see something new. It is nice to go there and site see on weekend so you can leave the campus a little.