USAC Reviews

The USAC South Africa program is easily the best thing I've done. My time in Stellenbosch provided me with valuable education, an immersive cultural experience, and lifelong friends. For this particular program, the on-site team are all Stellenbosch University staff, so there aren't representatives from USAC helping you in person while in South Africa. However, they were super helpful during the months leading up to my departure, answering my barrage of emails and questions and generally making the process much easier and less stressful. This trip was my first time ever leaving the United States, and they addressed all my concerns to make sure I had a truly positive experience.

As far as my actual time in Stellenbosch, it was an amazing mixture of interesting classes (I chose the General Elective program and took South African Political History; Equity, Leadership, and Transformation in the Global Classroom; and HIV/AIDS in South Africa) intertwined with memorable excursions. Some of my favorite outings were: shark cage diving in the cold waters of Gansbaai, wine and chocolate tasting at Spice Route, hiking Table Mountain in Cape Town and Jonkershoek Mountain in Stellenbosch, bonding with my peers at braais (Afrikaans for barbecue), boating out to Robben Island and learning more about anti-apartheid activism, and meeting with community members at an HIV/AIDS clinic in Mbekweni. South Africa is a beautiful country with a troubled history, but the people I met were wonderfully kind and loved sharing their culture with us.

Aside from the planned excursions, there are so many opportunities to explore Stellenbosch and Cape Town on your own, or see more of South Africa through the Garden Route tour. On colder, rainy days, it was fun to curl up with some tea and blankets in the "Wi-Fi room," or grab a hot chocolate from the Neelsie. One of my favorite things about the program was that our group consisted of students from 19 different countries; I now have friends all over the world I can visit, like Germany, Egypt, Italy, Australia, Tunisia, and, of course, back in South Africa.

This program stretched my comfort zone and increased my confidence. Now, rather than feeling hesitation at the possibility of traveling and volunteering abroad, I'm monitoring flights everyday waiting for another chance to try something new. (FYI--you'll probably listen to Africa by Toto more times than you can count).

Santiago, Chile is an incredible location to study abroad. Full of history, beautiful architecture, and with its own unique culture, Santiago is perfect for immersing oneself in South America. As far as activities, there is next to nothing that Santiago--and especially Chile--cannot offer. Within the city, there are a plethora of museums, gorgeous parks, wonderful restaurants, scenic views, and other sources of entertainment. Outside the city, beautiful hikes, ocean views, and even skiing are but a weekend trip away.

Unfortunately, for most Americans, Chile is one of the more obscure countries that many people aren't familiar with, but this offers an exhilarating opportunity to broaden one's cultural horizons and global awareness. Personally, because of this, I felt Chile to be completely and intimately mine. It wasn't the typical study abroad trip to Italy or France where multitudes of students flock every summer to be more tourist than student, it was an opportunity to become engaged as an international scholar in.

If you're looking for an opportunity to travel to a beautiful country with views that rival any and all others around the world, choose Chile. If you're looking for a country that will allow you to deeply immerse yourself in the real life of the culture and not be just another tourist, choose Chile. I was challenged academically, I was absolutely challenged culturally, and met some incredibly wonderful people along the way--because I chose Chile.

I studied abroad in the Fall of 2016. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in schooling. It gave you the freedom to explore and discover while having a central located area to come back to, and call home. I met tons of friends, and saw many countries. I got to meet locals, and other travelers alike, and hear their experiences while sharing mine. The city of Luneburg is gorgeous and feels almost medieval. I highly recommend this program!

My semester abroad at the University of Brighton was amazing. The classes I took were very interesting, and because they were only once a week, I was left with time to explore Brighton, London, and countries. Gatwick Airport is only a 30-minute train ride from campus, making it very easy to travel, and London is about an hour train. Brighton as a city is everything I could have wanted, small enough to always feel safe, but big enough to never get bored. The bus (the 25) goes from Falmer Campus straight into the center of town, making it easy to go to the beach, pier, pavilion, lanes, or to one of the countless coffee shops. At the university, the study abroad staff are all extremely kind and willing to help with anything, they also make the field trips (Bath and Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Paris) so fun! Overall, Brighton was an amazing experience!

Santiago, Chile is a wonderful place to study abroad especially with the USAC program. This was a very exciting and entertaining program from the culture to the lifestyle to the program directors and professors. At first it was hard for me because I did not know the language as well as I probably should have, but I progressed and learned a lot thanks to the directors, advisers and professors, they helped me to learn words and phrases and made it easy and fun for me to learn and not be discouraged. I would recommend for future students to learn basic words and phrases to get around and have small conversations so you don't always have to rely on others for knowledge. Learn quickly and talk to your peers and supervisors in Spanish and make a strong effort to learn the language and be willing to mess up, even if you don't want to look dumb, it is necessary to learn and talk because practice makes perfect. This helped me to progress and my host family was wonderful, I could talk to them and they helped me through my struggles in the language. I recommend making a budget and each time you spend money put it in to a chart and label them with food, trips, transportation..etc just so you know what is spent and so you can be on budget, this was important to my time as I was able to do everything I wanted to do and still stay within a budget. My favorite memory was traveling to the South of Chile with the program group and bonding more with the USAC family and having fun all together as a group. Overall it was a wonderful program and I progressed in my language, knowledge and personal goals, I highly recommend this program.

Studying abroad is an eye opening experience. I gained new knowledge and learned how to live in a different country all on my own. I gained personal growth experience more than I would have ever imagined that I would. I stayed with a host family and was able to learn the language easier than just taking a class. Being surrounded by a different language 100% of the time really helped me with the learning process. I went to Brazil knowing zero Portuguese and left being able to hold multiple conversations.

As it was my first time traveling outside of the country by myself, overall it was an amazing experience! Not only did they make the process super simple, the program was fun and life changing! I love how the classes were small and we were able to really learn and get to know the professor. The country was absolutely beautiful, the onsite staff was really kind and helpful and I would really recommend anyone who is interested in studying abroad to go with USAC!!

I lived Bilbao. It’s a great place if you like the city but also beaches and mountains. This coast is one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever been and the staff is really great. My teacher became a mom away from home and answered any questions we had. There are also tons of nearby towns that are beautiful and easily accessible. Bilbao is one of my favorite places and if I could study there again I would!

If you are considering study abroad in Gold Coast, Australia... do it! You will not regret a thing! Griffith University is an amazing campus that is well organized and does everything for and by the students. The academic professors are very involved in their lectures and they are very concerned whether or not their students have learned the material or not. My suggestion is to study abroad early, so you can take the easy courses and not stress too much about the grades. Unfortunately, I did not do this and had to take some more difficult engineering courses. I spent a lot of time studying and going to classes everyday, but I don't regret it. Overall, Gold Coast is a great little city that has plenty of activities for anyone. It has several beaches and outdoor activities to take part in (i.e. surfing, snorkeling, camping, hiking, climbing, etc.) and the city life is pretty nice as well. Public transportation with the Translink Tram is great and affordable for all students, eliminating the need for a bike or car. The accommodations for Griffith University Village was good because of its proximity to campus, but for better housing, you may want to search elsewhere. The GriffithMates club on campus did several day trips to explore the city and its surrounding areas. People in the Gold Coast are very casual and laid back, they dress comfortably and many people are just looking for a good time. I have met so many students from other countries aside from Australia. Gold Coast is really a large mixing pot of other cultures and backgrounds that you can have the chance to meet. Australia is very similar to America in its set-up and culture and modernism. If this is your first time traveling alone and you aren't looking for too much of a change in culture shock, Australia is a great place to start!

When I started searching for a place to study abroad in Spain, I had no idea what Bilbao was or where it was at. Thank goodness I stumbled across this hidden gem! From the ease of travel to other cities in Europe to the diverse culture in the city, there is no other place I would have rather stayed.

This program is great for anyone that’s on a mission to graduate on time and still get time to study abroad. I took Spanish classes that counted toward my Spanish minor as well as classes that counted toward my business major, all while staying on track to graduate. On top of my core classes I took a surfing class which was more fun than I ever could have imagined and a great way to get out of my comfort zone! I regret not taking the culture class which provides field trips around the Basque Country, so I would recommend that to any student planning to go through this program.

I appreciated the opportunity to live in an apartment with other students from the program instead of living with a host family (also an option) since I was nervous about being in a new country. My first apartment wasn’t ideal, but with the help of the amazing staff I was able to move somewhere more suitable which made my experience much more enjoyable.

I use the skills I learned abroad every day, including the ability to talk to people I don’t know at all and being more understanding of people in America that don’t speak English since the people in Spain were so friendly when I stumbled through their language.

Overall it was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone looking to go to Spain.