Program Reviews

I studied in Barcelona the summer of 2022 and it was incredible. Prior to this, I only traveled out of country to Canada and the Bahamas with my family so it was a brand new experience going to Europe by myself. I wanted to take the jump so I did, chose random roommates and decided to go to Barcelona. Right off the bat, I was greeted by some of the SAI on site team and driven back to my apartment. They helped me up and introduced me to my roommates. We got to know each other immediately. I had that weekend free and then started class that Monday. One of my roommates was in my class which was amazing so we commuted about a half hour on the metro together. My apartment was directly next to The Sagrada Familia (most beautiful location ever) and the campus was near the beach. My class was from 6-9pm Monday - Thursday. We would take the bus right after class to the beach every day. My class had students from the US, local students, and other international students. It was a film class and the premise of the class was to create a film on your own. We decided to film a local festival. This was an incredible way to immerse myself directly into the culture. On the weekends, I traveled from to Madrid to visit family one week, Ibiza one weekend, and the other weekends I just explored the city and local beach towns. By far the best summer of my life!

SAI genuinely cares about the well-being of their students and is supportive yet encouraging of trying new things and not being afraid to tackle a challenge! Especially loved the proximity of the office to FUA and the "open-door policy" in them encouraging us to come to them if we ever need anything. The SAI Viva Experiences were amazing and integral in helping us get to know the city and Italy as a whole, as well as engage with authentic Florentine culture through activities such as gold leafing, bookmaking, and cooking classes! I really appreciated how SAI hosted a survival Italian course during orientation. The program caters to a variety of academic interests, so there is truly something for everyone. Many of the classes also offer field trips and field learning, exposing us to the community and new places even further. Love, love, LOVED SAI and would recommend it to anyone who is ready to challenge themselves and grow a lot! I came here solo and had a wonderful experience, just do not be afraid to put yourself out there socially and attend some of SAI's cool classes.

I had a great time studying with SAI Programs. They made me and the other students feel welcome. They had lots of fun activities for us to do and helped us get adjusted well to our new city. I loved studying in Barcelona and the classes at UAB were just right for me, and not too difficult. Barcelona is also a great central location to study in because you can take day trips all over. Another thing SAI did that I liked was offer volunteer activities, so I got to work with a local elementary school and help teach English to kids while I was there once a week. I also participated in a soccer team that was full of SAI students. We competed near the beach downtown and played against other study-abroad teams in a tournament. I will miss my experience and I had a great time.

I had the most amazing experience living in Florence!! I stayed with a host family and truly connected with them and made lasting friendships. The city was absolutely beautiful and the food everywhere was amazing. The school I went to was amazing and we had cooking labs which I loved! The building I had classes in was also the culinary school so there were fresh pastries every morning in the cafe when I got my daily espresso during a coffee break in class. All of the staff were so welcoming and kind! There was also a ChatPal program through the school where I got to practice Italian and make friends and go out with local Italian students to really feel like a local. Also, SAI had so many fun activities in the city that really helped me integrate and learn about Florence which I was living in. From wine tastings with the owner of our favorite sandwich shop to day trips to the most magical towns, it was overall an amazing experience!!

My experience consisted of fun weekend trips to other countries, eating the most delicious pasta ever, learning that everything is walking distance in the city, and making memories with new friends in a new city. I knew I was going to love Rome, but I did not think I was going to miss it everyday like I do now. I had a such a fun time at the university there, taking very fun classes and exploring the neighborhoods of Rome. The food was amazing obviously and I never got sick of pasta. The people there are very different than the people are where I am originally from, so it was nice to experience people from a different culture and learning their ways of life.

SAI Programs provided me with all of the necessary resources to have an amazing experience studying abroad. I studied abroad in Florence, Italy for a semester program. SAI provided many resources to help me acclimate to my surroundings and build a community within my program. They also hosted a survival Italian course so that I could learn enough of the language to get by. Compared to my friends from other study abroad providers, I felt much more well-adjusted and prepared for my experience. I also had a great living situation and made lasting connections with some of the people that I lived with. SAI assisted us with any maintenance needs as well as helping us to monitor our utilities. One of my favorite things about SAI Programs in general were the Viva Experiences. During my semester, SAI hosted a large variety of experiences such as cooking classes, bookmaking, gold leafing, visits to a mushroom circular farm, hikes, and many more! I always had a great time on these experiences and felt that the price of the program was reasonable for how many great experiences we were able to have. Lastly, I loved the on-site staff. I was constantly in the office because I had a semester internship with SAI. The office staff were always so friendly and helpful. It was such a warm environment to walk into each week, and I am thankful that I got to know them.

I think my experience was unique because of the class I took. I took a film and documentary class. The first half was just learning the basics of documentary however we got to choose a topic to film ourselves. My group picked a local festival in Barcelona, Festiva Major del Poble- Sec. This festival had everything from Opra performances to Fire Dancers. It was a great way to get immersed in the local culture and meet so many people. I think this made my experience so different from others and gave me the oppurtuity to really explore local areas of Barcelona!

I spent spring 2022 in Rome and had the best semester of my life. My housing was a cute little apartment and under ten minutes from campus and my assigned roommates ended up being my best friends. I tried to go to almost all of the SAI excursions and they were always so much fun and the on-site staff was great. Even when not on SAI travel, they always had awesome recommendations for where to go and where to stay. I also ended up having to see a doctor while I was there which was super nerve-racking, but they were amazing at helping me find an English-speaking doctor and helping me organize everything. If you have a chance to study abroad with them, you won't regret it.

Studying Abroad with SAI Programs was an absolute blast! They were very easy to work with, handling all of the logistics of my trip before I even arrived. They were able to answer any questions I had about the program before and during my experience. SAI planned multiple fun trips and activities for the students to do spread out over the semester. Additionally, they went above and beyond by introducing us to some extracurricular programs around the city for us to be involved in that they felt fit our interests. Overall, an absolutely wonderful experience!

-Met a lot of new friends in the program
-The SAI staff was really helpful and nice, tons of nice trips hosted by them as well including well planned day trips!
-The Housing was amazing, better than what I had back home.
-SAI classes are decent comparing with home school classes (Parsons), the professors are generally helpful and nice as well.
-The city itself is amazing and enjoyable.
-Would 100% recommend.
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