USAC Reviews

Choosing to study abroad was easy, choosing where to study was very difficult. I could not be more thrilled that I chose to study in Prague. The magic of the city never ceases to amaze, and the cities beauty will have you walking endlessly through the sprawling city finding new places to cherish at every turn. USAC provided me with the perfect environment to achieve my goals with my studies as well as to explore and immerse myself in a culture and city that would quickly come to feel like home. The many program arranged field trips are a must to attend and are very well organized and always informative and fun. The housing was perfectly located near city transport and within walking distance to downtown, the Charles Bridge, nightlife, and much more! There is so much to see and experience in Prague that it will be difficult to leave, but when the adventure bug hits the location of the Czech Republic (and Europe's awesome transportation) make it easy to travel to any number of amazing new places. Overall, USAC's program at Charles University in Prague is incredible and provided me with the most amazing experience of my life (so far!).

Great program! I studied abroad in San Sebastian over the summer and it was absolutely incredible. The city is beautiful and the people are really friendly. The USAC staff is really helpful and available when ever you need them. Not an experience you want to miss out on!

My time with USAC in Torino, Italy was one of the best experiences of my life thus far! I was offered help from USAC during the paperwork process prior to my arrival, I was thoroughly impressed with the living arrangements provided for me upon arrival, and their great staff was always available to help during my stay. They were wise in offering classes in Italian culture and language, for these proved invaluable when I attempted to live in Torino among native Italians. While in class, I found their curriculum unique and interesting and their teachers were wonderful. Outside of class, I spent hours wandering the city, traveling throughout Italy, meeting local Italians, drinking lots of espresso, eating pizza, and practicing my Italian language skills along the way. I HIGHLY recommend the city of Torino, Italy and the staff at USAC!

The location wasn't where I thought it would be, Hiroshima University is actually located in Saijo, about 30 mins outside of Hiroshima - so that took a little getting used to. But it was better in the long run - more country, more traditional, and known for its Sake! It's a small city, so don't expect city life like Tokyo.

The program was pretty good, lots of opportunities, and they were very accommodating - I even took judo, which was run by a world champ, and ended up scaring me to death! But I would do it again. The Japanese classes also taught me a lot - in one year I went from being able to say "I like to swim" to "The travel company furnished us with all the details of the tour."
The living accommodations that were available during my experience did not include homestays(we lived in dorms, super cheap, great way to meet students, but small!), but the program did provide a few short homestays that were probably some of the most valuable experiences for me learning about Japan and its language. I was very grateful for them providing these. However, if I were to do it again, I would make sure I lived with a family - even though you don't have as much freedom, you really learn so much more, and much faster this way.

It's a great location being in the middle of the Island - you can easily get to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukushima, and if you wanted Okinawa or Hokkaido. Hiroshima city itself is huge - It has a great Castle, tons of shopping, and the A-Bomb museum. This Museum really teaches you about the importance of Peace, and what the Japanese people went through. No matter where you are in Japan, you have to visit this museum. And the program employees will do as much as they can helping you with travel plans!

Studying abroad in the Czech Republic through USAC has been one of the greatest experiences in my life. Living in a country that isn't in your comfort zone is one of the most rewarding experiences one can conquer in their life. From the habitual daily routine that you start to develop and the businesses that you frequent life starts to take a different shape from what a person is used to, but in no way is it bad or unrewarding. Although there are some challenges with trying to learn a new language and communicating with people who do not speak much English, one learns to communicate and get what you want through other forms and techniques. There are few things that an individual can do in their life that will forever change their course, but studying abroad is one of those things; and I can think of no better place to study abroad than Prague in the Czech Republic.

The Dorms that USAC used were outside of the city walls and it was a walk to get back into the city. Though, once you get used to it, it was really enjoyable. I LOVED this city! I'm so glad i got to study there for a semester!

I can't wait to go back with my husband and enjoy the wonderful food and people!! If you want a real taste of Italy, Viterbo is the town!

I participated in this program in the summer of 2009 and it was an absolutely amazing experience. Galway is a beautiful city on the west coast of Ireland that is near the Connemara Gaeltacht (Irish speaking areas of Ireland). The teachers that I had were amazing and they were able to get through quite a bit of material in just a five week time period. I participated in the music class and learned how to play the tin whistle within the first week.
There were several field trips that were part of the five weeks. During the time of the program, Galway has three different festivals, the Galway film fleadh, the Galway Arts Festival, and Race week which are all important parts of a summer in Galway that not many people get to experience.
I found my teachers and the rest of the support staff to be incredibly nice and helpful and worked hard to give us such an amazing experience. I also created a close group of friends who I still keep in touch with and can't wait to see again.
I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to spend time in Ireland or someone who just wants to get an experience that they will never forget.

I was initially worried that choosing to study in Brighton (as opposed to London,) would be a mistake, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Brighton is a young, ALIVE city. The University is a 15-20 minute bus ride on the 25 away, but seriously, we grew to love those buses so much. The classes are simple, but they have pretty long papers at the end of the semester.

Housing was great. I was in a flat with 7 other USAC students from all over. Everyone had their own bathroom, which was really nice! Grocery shopping was a challenge because of the bus, but the 25 stops right in front of it. Easy!

It was difficult to get to know local students, but it can be done, especially if you're interested in drinking every night. Literally. I was not, but I had an amazing time with the other USAC students.

The fields trips that you can choose to go on are WONDERFUL. Seriously, sign up for all of them. They give you something to look forward to when Brighton gets a little old. The trips to Paris and Bath were especially amazing. It's so worth it!

Getting to London on your own is also really easy from Brighton.

USAC Chengdu was a great experience. I spent a summer term there and fell in love with the city and the language. Since going, I have decided to study abroad in China again, this time for a whole year, and without that experience in Chengdu in the summer I would not be where I am today in terms of knowing what I want to do career-wise.

I had taken 2 semesters of Mandarin before going and my Mandarin greatly improved while I was there. The downside is that the locals speak Sichuanhua which is difficult to understand and is a different dialect, so opportunities for speaking are still good, but be aware that other places (Beijing) would be better suited for the actual experience of speaking and practicing.

The classes were small. My Chinese class had 3 other students in it. You get a lot of attention, and Wentao Song, the director, is wonderful. One of my teachers, Jiangbo, was incredible and everyone loved him so much, we spent hours playing the "Mafia" card game and got to know him some more. Field trips were great- especialyl Emei Shan, where we got to hike up a mountain and see monkeys.

I would not trade this experience for anything. It was the best summer of my life.

I initially decided to study abroad in Italy for two reasons. The first was to see the homeland, the country where my parents were born and raised, while the second was to improve my fluency of the language. I could not have made a better decision than attending the Università degli Studi della Tuscia and going to Viterbo. If you want to experience a real Italian life, Viterbo is where you want to choose. You can go to the other much larger and more famous cities, but then you'd also be getting an Americanized version of Italy, the one created for tourists. If that's what you want, you might as well visit any Little Italy that you can find in various cities across the U.S. and save yourself the airfare. Viterbo has everything that you could ever want from excellent and personalized education to caring and helpful USAC staff to a true experience of living in a medieval Italian town. I still remember waking up in the morning and getting ready to start the day while listening Italian life happening outside my window. But then the most wonderful thing happened: the moment I stepped outside my door, I became part of that Italian life. I walked the historic streets, visited the same cafés and restaurants, bought fresh and local food from the daily market, interacted with the locals, never missed a town festival, and most importantly, I made friends with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Our group shared a bond that summer in Viterbo that no one else knows or can attain. You can have the same thing when you decide to go and I can guarantee that you won't regret it. If I could redo my study abroad choice for that summer, I would choose Viterto all over again, every single time.