Program Reviews

My time in Dublin with ISA was probably the best three months of my life. I studied music, history, and the Irish language at Maynooth University just outside Dublin. The university was amazing with wonderful professors, lots of fun social events, and great programs and resources. I also loved the town of Maynooth: it has a great social scene, it's very clean, and I felt very safe there. The proximity to Dublin is also great because of the city itself, but also because of the access to public transportation.

My time abroad was absolutely amazing! I was able to meet so many people of different ethnic backgrounds through my entire time in London. I had such a great experience learning the culture and way of life in a new country. ISA supplied great opportunities to tour the different parts of London and neighboring cities, which was great for those students who didn't get out much. Being a student apart of the ISA program, we were offered the chance to make money while abroad by becoming a social media influencer, as well a becoming blogger. All around, I had a beautiful experience which taught me so much about myself and opened me up to new perspectives and understandings. Forever grateful for being an alumni of this program x.

This provides various opportunities culturally, academically, and socially. Therefore, one aspect I was able to integrate myself in the community was through service-learning at a local emergency department in Vithas La Salud hospital in Granada, Spain. This allowed me to immerse myself in learning new medical ethics and implement practices that are appropriate to cultural diversity and acceptable to community needs. These opportunities have assisted me to develop compassion and leadership attributes, meanwhile, integrating cultural perspectives and language influences in my journey aboard (not to mention GREAT on a resume).

My experience was unique just in the choices I made such as going to a semester and choosing Greece in the first place because not many think of Greece but Paris or England. ISA is very user-friendly and friendly in person as well, I would never regret studying abroad with ISA with so many choices. I got to meet so many people from different countries going to my college, my advisors were excellent with so much advise! The dorms were manageable with people from all over the US in the dorms. I wish I could go again!!!

I highly recommend this program to individuals who want to experience city life but not in an overwhelmingly large city. Although Valencia is the third largest city in all of Spain, it feels extremely safe, large enough that there is plenty to discover, and small enough that it is easy to navigate and get familiar with. The numerous historical museums, buildings, and cathedrals have a ton of history to rediscover, and the beach is only a metro ride away. I especially loved the daily routine of going to the street flea markets that happen in different parts of the city every day of the week besides Sunday.

My time in Cape Town, South Africa was the most incredible time of my life. Cape Town's beauty cannot be overstated, the ISA staff is incredibly kind, and there are infinite things to do. The hikes felt like National Geographic, and the beaches had the most beautiful water I've ever seen. Experiencing regular loadshedding was challenging but eye opening. Even with frequent outages, UCT provided me a wonderful education on their unbelievably stunning campus. Studying Abroad in Cape Town exceeded my expectations!

I always knew I wanted to study abroad, but I chose Bilbao specifically because I wanted to experience the culture, language, nature, and people of Spain without having to deal with ginormous cities like Barcelona or Madrid. Bilbao is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. It's surrounded by green mountains on either side with plenty of hiking and multiple insanely beautiful beaches 20 minutes away on the Metro. In Bilbao, I lived in a homestay, and between my host mom, Elena, and my program manager, Genoveva, I always felt safe. I also felt supported in my academics at the university and adjusting to the homestay. This freed me up to experience Bilbao, Spain, and Europe. I took many trips to the historic cities near Bilbao, like Pamplona, San Sebastian, and Guernica. I experienced nightlife with some great friends I met on the trip and got to eat some of the best food I'd ever had. On a normal day in the first month, I would walk across the river, with a great view of the Guggenheim, and into Universidad de Deusto, which is this beautiful European building full of smart Basque students and teachers. After my language, history, and culture classes, I would most likely take the metro to the beach with my friends, where we would relax under the sun and cool off in the Cantabrian Sea. Then we'd grab a pintxo, probably tortilla de patata, and head home to have dinner with our host parents and siblings. I will never forget all those beautiful moments I had while studying abroad, and I can't recommend Bilbao, or anywhere in Spain for that matter, enough! It's also great if you're looking to build your resume. There are local programs that hire students to teach local kids English.

My experience in Argentina was something that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. I learned an incredible amount, gained self-confidence/reliance, and widened my perspective. The program was very good at offering a wide variety of experiences, and the value for the payment was extremely high. My program coordinator Gabriela Gamper was crucial in making the time as good as it was. I have her to thank for the quality of my experience. I firmly believe that if Everyone went abroad for an extended period, the world would be a better place.

The city of Paris was amazing and ISA was the best ! They made sure we had the support and knowledge needed to thrive. They engaged us in so many rich and meaning activities, and we had a couple weekend trips to Normandie and the Loire Valley. It was great to see other parts of France outside the busy rush of Paris. The culture in Paris is amazing from the gastronomy to the art and to the beautiful architecture. I love that Paris is such a walkable city with so many different shops and pâtisseries and bistros. There’s so much to explore.

I think about the month I spent in Malaga this summer with ISA almost every day. It was such a beautiful experience. I stayed in a residencia right in the city center and could walk to shops, amazing restaurants, parks, and beaches. I had 11 roomates from all over the world, some of whom were in the same program. Prior to the trip though, we were given pictures of a different apartment, however, and told that we would only be staying with ISA students which turned out to be untrue. This wasn’t an issue, just a discrepancy. Some of my roommates struggled to sleep because our residencia was right above a popular club but i had no issue with noise in my room. ISA staff was very helpful with the move in process and getting me connected with the landlord. We took weekend trips to Granada, Seville, and Cordoba that were included in the program cost which was really nice. However there was no information prior to the trip on these so it was it was a nice surprise when I got there. I also took a weekend trip to Morocco with friends from the program which was amazing and very convenient because there is a full international airport in the city. The academics were engaging but the not too overwhelming and the professors were understanding at UNAM. I got to meet a lot of other international students which was really fun. Our group leader Iker was awesome. He helped us settle in and organized excursions every week in the city, and was always there to answer any questions or offer support. These excursions included tours of local monuments and a flamenco dance class. Overall I think Malaga is very underrated as a study abroad city. It is big enough to be exciting but not overwhelming, it is not too touristy but a lot of people do speak english in the city center shops, and it has close proximity to other places to travel. It is such a beautiful, charming city and I would highly recommend it.