Program Reviews

My time in Florence, Italy with ISA was the best time of my life! I could not recommend this program more. I made memories to last a lifetime and I am so grateful for my experience. The ISA staff was wonderful and very helpful. The opportunity to live and learn in a new country is so special - getting to try new food, meet new people, and experience a new culture is all a great part of getting to study abroad. I encourage everyone to study abroad in any capacity as it is great learning experience for young people.

I highly recommend this trip. I think everything went as well as things could possibly go. My professor was funny, helpful, and very knowledgeable. I learned a lot in my class. It was challenging but not too hard. I felt completely safe in Barcelona. I was able to work out at a gym, go to the movies, go grocery shopping, and pretty much live my life how I do back in the United States. However, I was also able to see all of the museums, the sites, and get a good slice of Spanish culture. I had taken 3 semesters of Spanish which helped me greatly get around the city. This was my first time out of the country and the ISA staff gave me the best possible experience I could have hoped for.

I would recommend this program! I had the best experience at Florence. The ISA staff were very helpful, and I learned so much. My apartment was nearby the city center which made exploring so easy. Florence is a smaller to medium city that was full of amazing foo and people. I loved being able to travel to new places and meet people from other universities studying there as well. I participated in the Chat Pal club as well when I was there. This allowed me to connect with locals and learn about their lives.

My semester studying in Granada was one that I will never forget. The city, the culture, the people, the language was all enough to make me fall in love with the experience. I learned so much about myself while only abroad, I learned how to be brave, how to push myself and my friends to achieve really spectacular things, and how take in the moment for everything that it is. Granada is a beautiful place and I am so fortunate to have left with memories that I will never forget and lesson that will help me become someone that I am proud of.

I had such an amazing experience traveling to Florence to study fashion marketing! For me, going abroad has always been about getting to experience something that I could never do in the United States. I wanted to travel to a different environment to learn more about my future career, and also about the culture and beauty built around the world. I've always wanted to go to Italy, and after doing some research, I picked Florence because the city is known for its rich art and history. Everywhere I went, I was looking at art. I am so happy I pushed myself out of my comfort zone because I learned a lot about myself and have memories that will last a lifetime!

I went abroad to Valencia during the spring 2023 semester and it was one of the best experiences of my life! I learned a lot about Spanish culture, traveled around Europe & Morocco and met lifelong friends. While traveling, I was also able to complete credits at UCV for my kinesiology major. The classes I took were all interesting and we were given many resources if we ran into problems. Both of the advisors were also amazing and were there when we needed any type of help. I recommend going to study abroad in Spain!

I spent 4 months in Barcelona, Spain during the spring 2023 semester and it was an amazing experience! The city is beautiful and the people are so kind and welcoming. I was able to learn so much about the culture and broaden my Spanish speaking abilities which was a definite bonus. The programming through ISA provided me with great resources to resolve any issues (no matter the size) as well as some great excursions to other parts of Spain. I also loved being so close to such a large airport so that weekend traveling throughout the semester was as easy as possible. I loved my semester in Barcelona with ISA and would recommend it to anyone!

I had a great experience with ISA in Galway! I participated in their service-learning program, where, instead of taking an academic course with a university, I interned with a local community radio station. There, I gained a lot of valuable experience working in radio, and I met a lot of incredible people! The program is structured amazingly, and places an emphasis on cultural knowledge and the overall impact of study abroad programs. I learned a lot from my coworkers about wider contemporary Irish socio-economic culture, and current relevant problems and debates.

I spent a little over a month in Málaga, Spain this past June and it was the best decision of my life! My ISA group had the very best guide named Iker who was a Málaga native & taught us Spanish while taking us on tours all over the city! He watched out for our safety by teaching us all about societal norms and how they differed from what we were used to. We went on phenomenal excursions including Sevilla, Córdoba, and the Alhambra in Granada! It was amazing to see different cities in Southern Spain and how they differed. I loved getting to live like a local and even participate in a local holiday celebration! I will never forget all of the wonderful people I met and everything Spain taught me.

I loved my study abroad experience because the teachers were supportive and let us explore. One of my teachers would even have tea time with us and offer us sweets as well. I appreciated the fact that we could be open with them. Not only were the teachers considerate, the places were so beautiful and I liked how we could visit places for free because of passes our teachers got for us. Not only did we visit the sites in Rome we also visited places all over Italy such as Florence and Assisi. Even though those visits were school related, it was still easy to go away and have your own adventure. Not only did we visit sites for school it was also easy to go visit other places in Italy during the weekend which was appreciated.