Program Reviews

I honestly had a great semester! SAI plans a lot of excursions and really want you to get involved in the community and enjoy your time there. The variety of classes is great and they really try to take advantage of the location with lots of trips/tastings/sight seeing/museum visits/etc. I enjoyed going with a provider program and meeting friends from all over the country/world. I had never really considered Italy for study abroad before, but I'm so glad I picked it. It's the perfect blend of history, art, culture, language, and food! Florence in particular feels like it's straight out of a story book. The city itself isn't very "nature-y" but there's lots of green to be found if you look in the right places. The SAI office in the US is very helpful in the planning and preparation part of study abroad - I'd give them a 9/10, whereas I would give the staff actually in Florence and 6 or 7/10.

SAI, has been very helpful from the beginning to end. I'm currently studying abroad an am enjoying every minute of it! They are a home away from home, they know how to help and are always available! Study abroad in Florence and do it through SAI!

We went on visits of furniture companies and we built a full scale model out of cardboard. I was able to sit on my model piece, but I found it difficult that the teachers wouldn't let me do what I felt like as a designer. My design changed a lot in the process and it was a great design but I didn't feel like it was my own creation. The cardboard was a difficult medium especially since we didn't have a lot of resources for the rest of the materials we needed to build it. We never got scissors and it was almost the last day when we finally got hot glue. Our lunch was suppose to be from 1-2 pm everyday but it was sporadic and on the last day we didn't get a lunch break. I learned a lot about the design process and how to make a full scale model, however, I wish the professors were a little more helpful and more structured. The time allocated wasn't enough to build a full scale model and I had to come in early or stay late multiple times and it was expected of me to do so.

This program was incredible. We had an amazing apartment for the two of us. It was beautiful, within walking distance of everything, and I always felt safe within the apartment/ surrounding area. Mireia, our program coordinator, was unbelievably accommodating, helpful, and always full of suggestions of places to see/eat/explore. Although I did not go on all the excursions, the ones that I did go to were fun, and allowed me to see some things that I'm not sure that I would've seen otherwise, such as the Dali museum. This is a small program, but it is easy to make friends at the university, because you are integrated with the other programs. Overall, I highly recommend this program for a cultural, fun, and new experience!

The summer program in Florence was fantastic. Not only did I have a great chance to study Italian, but I also became immersed in the Italian culture. I highly recommend the one week "Cultural Introduction to Italy". It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about Italy. The teachers were very good making my classses easy.

This program was so great! It took all the stress out of studying abroad, as they take care of everything. The apartments were pretty nice, especially for college kids and especially for Europe! They had some issues, but that has to be expected in old buildings. The staff worked hard to fix everything quickly! The staff was readily available from the application process until checkout and were always lovely and helpful. I would recommend this program to any of my friends!

This was the best decision. I loved every bit of Florence. Our apartment didn't have hot water for over half of the trip and our toilet would break every other day but it was the experience that we were there for and I wouldn't have changed a single thing. I can't wait to come back to Italy and see all the things and places that I didn't get to before.

I greatly enjoyed my time at FUA with the SAI program. It was a semester I will never forget! Great time, great people, great city!! The staff is helpful and very nice. They plan excursions that are really fun . . .I wish I could have gone on all of them.

I am a 38 year old redirecting my life and found a new start at FUA. Thanks to FUA, I am on my way to starting a new career with a bright future. I would recommend any student looking to travel and study abroad or anyone looking for a fresh start to try FUA program.

Study abroad is really what you make it, however, with the resources, activities, advice and various other services SAI provides, you are much more likely to make it the experience of a lifetime. There is no doubt that SAI made my time in Florence more comfortable. The staff will become your family and they really do go above and beyond to help ( they pretty much planned a week trip to Greece for me and a friend). They will help you with all your questions, problems, or concerns about being abroad that make you feel better about going off into the world. You will have bad experiences ( we lost heat/ hot water in the cold for 5 days and lost internet several times ) but really you cant avoid them, Study Abroad Italy in Florence was still the best experience of my life hands down.