WorldStrides Reviews

I studied in Lima during the fall semester of my junior year of college - Fall 2012. ISA as a company prepares you well before you go overseas, doing its best to pair you with a more the. Adequate family who either has hosted students for years and/or are personally known by the on-site staff. The on-site staff provided a comprehensive day-long introductory course to the city, and culture. They helped us as a group of foreign students understand the socially acceptable behavior and the faux paus as well. The biggest challenge, but wonderful adventure, was understanding and getting used to using the public transportation 'system'. The staff consists of mainly native Peruvians. They were available 24/7 by phone, e-mail or to physically accompany/assist us with whatever we needed. Once, when my roommate & I had signed up to run the McDonald's "Mujeres Corremos 2012" 5k race our director & one of her employees genrously chauferred us to the packet pickup. The group trips to Machu Picchu, the Amazon, etc, were extremely well planned & exposed us to the insanely diverse & beautiful country that is "el Peru". As a result of the staff's & my host family's help, and my love of adventure I became comfortable maneuvering by myself around the city. Moreover, my roomate and I were placed with a great family. We had siblings both younger and older. All of them helped us get around before we were comfortable on our own
Our Mom took us to the zoo one day! And shopping to various districts. Not only did they adopt us into their family (celebrations too) our parents taught us about many cultural & historically & politically important issies or events. I am extremely grateful to have been placed with a family who so highly valued our well-being. FYI - Lima is HUGE. There's never a dull moment. Festivals, mercados, restaurants and clubs always provide something to do. Honestly, I can truly call Lima home. I highly recommend this program for its quality staff and great cultural & learning experience. Porfa, vente! Lima te está llamando!

Studying abroad through ISA has been one of the best decisions I have ever made! My semester in Peru was the higlight of my college years.
The ISA on-site staff was amazing and always went above and beyond for us. We were introduced to the city and given time to explore before classes started. My host family was amazing and was well-trained, making for a comfortable stay.
ISA planned several included trips throughout the semester and it was great to do all of that traveling together with a knowledgeable leader each time.
Some experiences that Peru gave me:
sand boarding, eating cuy (guinea pig), eating anticuchos (cow heart), eating passionfruit, paragliding, piranha fishing, swimming in the amazon river, sleeping in the amazon rainforest!

I had a blast in Perú. It was such an amazing experience visiting a culture so different from mine. I fell in love with the public transportation in the sense that I could get anywhere in the city for very low prices, although it could get somewhat uncomfortable when they packed the buses brim full of people. ISA helped all the students become familiar with the bus routes and how to get to and from school. I will never forget the traffic in Lima.

This was the best experience I have ever had. I learned so much more from this program that I could have imagined. ISA did a great job pairing me with a wonderful host family, school, and fun excursions. We took a trip to Iguazu Falls in Northern Argentina that was beyond phenomenal and by far my favorite! Overall, I would do this again and again if I could. Amazing. I miss it so much!

Studying abroad in Florence was one of the best decisions I've made while going to college. It was a chance for me to grow and to get to know myself and other people from not only the U.S. but also Italy. ISA gave me an experience I would have never expected. I expected the use of tours and guides to be boring but I found that the guides were so useful in learning about the places we visited and their history. It was like I was stepping into a part of history. My study abroad experience is one I can never forget and will be continuing to talk about it for the rest of my life.

one of the things that made this trip so wonderful was the helpful staff of ISA. They were very friendly and willing to help you with whatever you needed, homework, finding a good restaurant, or finding places to travel they were there. They also organized a lot of events (mostly free) that we were able to participate in. The events ranged from going to see a movie, or see a flamenco show, or play soccer in the park. If there was different staff then I think the trip would not have been as fun. They made the culture shock less shocking and helped us get the most out of our excursions and our trip in general.

The program in Morocco was great! The staff was super helpful and really friendly! The adventures around Morocco were awesome, especially going camping in the Sahara desert! That was by far the coolest thing I have ever done! There were some downsides as well. The teaching style of Moroccan professors was very relaxed and I did not learn as much as I could have. Also, if you do an elap internship be prepared to do create your own project and have little to no guidance. It was very difficult to get anything done. Overall, however, I really loved my program and think it would be a great experience for anyone who is open to different and exciting cultures!

ISA was an amazing experience. Buenos Aires is an awesome city and the staff at ISA know how to make it better. ISA is experts on BA and all it has to offer. They were very caring and helpful when I had an emergency, and that is why I will always treasure this experience. My family was amazing and I felt like they actually cared about me. My teachers had wonderful lessons and I was excited to go to class each day. I learned so much and I felt so confident and valuable after I returned to the USA. The stories and experiences I have will last forever.

I am a heritage student from Kentucky and signed up to study summer school through TEAN at Chiang Mai University. I was enrolled into three classes total: Thai Language, Cultural Foundations of Thai Society, and Thai Dance. For school, we had to wear a uniform that consists of white tops, black skirts (long pants for boys), and a belt.

The staff of TEAN and the professors who taught my classes were all so nice and helpful, also extremely enthusiastic with their jobs and actively wanted me and my peers to enjoy our time in Chiang Mai. We were put in a dorm called Uniloft with a Thai roommate--which made the program even better. The dorms were really nice, clean, and had air conditioning (oh and a swimming pool and a 7-11!). All of the Thai roommates were awesome and helped ease us into Thai culture by teaching us things that you can't get in a classroom.

TEAN did a good job at making sure we were always comfortable and adapting well into our new environment, and provided us with various excursions (as well as academic field trips, which were also great).

Chiang Mai is a beautiful and generally safe city, filled with locals as well as foreigners since it is a cultural city with a big tourist business. Since this is a summer program, expect to run into plenty of people from all around the world. I made friends with Thais as well as Canadians, other Americans, Italians, etc. Also because this is a cultural city, you'll be surrounded by so much history. I fully took advantage of the fact that I was surrounded by museums, historical monuments, and hundreds of temples--as well as the old walls of the ancient city itself.

This program helped me to see my own country from a different point of view and realise how special and unique it is. If I could study abroad in Chiang Mai again I most definitely would. :)

During my time in Chiang Mai, I had so many experiences I will never forget. The city and its people were absolutely beautiful, and TEAN's program allowed me to experience the beauty of Thailand in an incredibly authentic way. From the minute I saw the city, I knew I was in the midst of an amazing adventure. It was love at first sight!
The orientation and the excursions were exceptional! I made amazing friends along the way too! TEAN helped facilitate our experience in the city with a great balance. TEAN and the staff were available to help us, but never suffocated our own ability to have an amazing adventure. The staff was there with great advice on places to go and things to do. Overall, I can say only awesome things about my experiences with TEAN in Chiang Mai.