USAC Reviews

My time in Alicante with USAC was one of the best study abroad experiences I've ever taken part in. I lived in the provided apartment housing opposed to living with a host family, and while that may have resulted in a more cultural experience, my apartment was very large, clean, updated, and it had laundry and a dishwasher in unit, along with a balcony! The guided tours were so much fun and informative, the transportation was extremely reliable and we never veered from the schedule we were provided, which was appreciated. My Spanish class was so informative, and it's important to note that it was done in such a short amount of time, and Maria was one of my favorite instructors I've ever had, even in America. A truly great experience - - I would recommend it to anyone.

Overall,
USAC Reggio Emilia was everything I could have hoped for while studying abroad. Starting with the USAC Staff in Reggio Emilia, 3 of the nicest, most supportive people I could have hoped for. Housing was great (very nice apartments in close proximity to the school and city center with gated complex for safe living) and the academics were taught very well by accommodating teachers with intercultural backgrounds.

This was my first experience in Europe and it was amazing. I loved meeting students from both Italy and across the US. It was a memorable experience that gave me perspective when I met new people from different cultures. Learning Italian in the country where I could practice it made the trip both challenging and fun. I hope to travel back to Viterbo, Italy again to visit friends and have the experience of living abroad once again.

My experience with USAC in San Sebastian was great! I had an amazing and very supportive host family and there were always interesting things to do and see with classmates. I felt that my classes were appropriately challenging and would definitely go back if given the chance. I especially liked the chance to go to other parts of the Basque country and also the opportunity to go to France since I had never been before.

I had the incredible blessing of living with the sweetest host family on the planet, who adopted me as their own and made me to forget what missing home felt like. I set out on this study abroad semester with the goal of improving my Spanish language skills as a part of my Spanish major; I came home from this semester with a wealth of wisdom that I could never have anticipated. I loved to travel before this semester, but now I know the beauty of living in a place that was not your own, as a resident and not a tourist. I came home with a head full of knowledge about the culture and history and politics of Chile, with a heart full of awe at the beauty of diverse peoples and geographies, with a spirit full of new understanding about Who created me and what else He made when He spun Creation. I could never have fully anticipated the depths to which I would be moved and the angles in which I would be pulled during my five months in Chile. Yet sometimes I fall asleep with the simple, happy image of a still lake that is home to a small town called Frutillar, whose only landmark is a dock on the lake -- I have so many little sweet snapshots of memories stored in my mind that remind me of beauty all around the world, near and far.
My perspective has been greatly widened since my time abroad, and it seems that the ripples of that experience have yet to stop unfurling and teaching me new things about how to look at this life. Not to mention the fact that I can converse with a chileno now, which was an impossible goal when I first landed in Santiago, being that "Chilean Spanish" seems to be an entirely separate language upon first contact (and even after months of immersion, if we're honest, sometimes).
I wouldn't trade my time in Santiago for anything in the world. And USAC was a wonderful facilitator of this experience; I highly recommend the program offered in Santiago.

I did the yearlong program in Lüneburg and it was easily the best year of my life so far. The classes were straight forward and the staff was always willing to support you and aid you in your studies. Classes run from Monday to Thursday with exams on Fridays about every two weeks, so there are many opportunities to travel on the weekends if you plan accordingly. I had the opportunity to participate in an internship at a local high school or Gymnasium and observe English as a foreign language class. This gave me the opportunity to not only help the teachers in class, but also to expose German students to American English, the culture, and to help them understand current events in America. I also had the opportunity to get a language partner and that experience was really beneficial in helping my ability to express myself fluently, my understanding of the culture, and of course getting the opportunity to make a new friend. My housing situation was wonderful, I lived in a shared apartment with German students, who were really fun, and I was able to make German friends through them. Lüneburg is such a beautiful, unique town, unlike any German town I've ever been too. All in all, my experience in Lüneburg was spectacular and I have no regrets about my decision to study here.

The Gold Coast is a beautiful place to study and you have the opportunity to find your own housing and live right on the beach. There is something to do for everyone, from nature lovers to party animals and the Gold Coast is also a good starting point to travel to other parts of Australia as well as surrounding countries so that you really have more than enough things to do while you're studying abroad there. That's why you'll hopefully gain some very good time management skills.

As of the classes and the actual studying, the academic level is not as high as I expected it to be but in some classes it is still difficult to get good grades since there are a lot of group projects where everyone gets graded the same no matter what they controbuted to the group work.

Such an amazing location to get to call home for a semester. It was affordable, beautiful and full of so many things to do. My program was incredible. The classes transferred to my home school very well. I only had class two days a week, which gave me time to travel to 19 other countries. This program is very affordable and offers a great deal of programming. We had weekend day trips included (hikes, canoe trips) and those were really fun to go on. I feel like we always had support if we needed it, we lived in a great location and USAC was the perfect way to get to fall in love with Prague. I would do it again for sure.

My Background: Before my study abroad trip I had no experience traveling out of the country. To note, I had very little experience traveling to other states within the United States. However, with it being my last semester in school, I wanted to push myself and try something new. Although many of my peers had warned me about Thailand being an underdeveloped country and that it would put a strain on me being able to graduate, or get a job, I decided that studying abroad in Thailand would be the best place for me to grow as a person and as an explorer.

The Program: Now that I have completed the program, I can genuinely say studying abroad through USAC was better and more than I could have ever asked for. The people from the faculty genuinely care about helping their students. My cohort was extremely diverse, filled with both introverts and extroverts. When I first saw this, I thought that there would be a lot of people feeling left out or that the program would become fairly "clicky". To my surprise, we all got along very well and although there were social groups, everyone was very inviting. In addition, the classes also assisted in bringing us together since a fair portion of them was more conversation or debate oriented.

Classes: Every course was approximately 3 hours long and held once a week - unless they were Thai language classes, held twice a week for an hour and a half. The course I found to be the most difficult was political science. However, for the most part, classes were fair and challenging. I would recommend that classes were to be split into segments since many were lecture based and/or discussion based. My two favorite courses were Supply Chain Management and Buddhism in Thailand. In Supply Chain Management, not only was the instructor very knowledgeable in his field but took us on four different field trips to see how businesses operated in Thailand. This definitely immersed me into the Thailand culture, and gave me great insight to the culture. In Buddhism in Thailand I learned about the history and methodology of Buddhism. Through this course, we were taken for two meditation sessions - teaching us to meditate in three different ways by a current monk (our instructors were retired monks). All in all, all of USAC’s instructors were very knowledgeable in their field and you can tell they taught because they enjoyed teaching.

Trips Visa: Because student visas only last about 90 days, students have one of two options; 1) going through their respective embassy or, 2) visiting a different country to renew their visa. I was told by my peers and instructors that the cost ends up being similar, hence traveling to a different country would be ideal. It was because of this that I had the opportunity to visit three additional countries while in Thailand – although there are a lot of opportunities to go explore many more. I had the opportunity to visit Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar - all of which were beautiful in their own way and filled with culture. I can whole-heartedly say that traveling and exploring both, inside and outside, of Thailand has taught me to adapt to new situations and trust my gut intuition. Most importantly, I have learned to be culturally competent within Southeast Asian culture; something that I truly value.

Transportation: Although Uber isn't used in Chiang Mai anymore, everyone uses one of two type of transportation GRAB, an app similar to Uber, or a red truck (you can order them through grab or flag them down). They typically cost between 20-30 baht within town, however, if you're trying to go far or out of town it will be within 100-200 baht. Also, it is always cheaper to go in a group, hence carpooling is recommended.

Food: My favorite places to eat were on Suthep Road - the food is good all around. If you have a sensitive stomach, I would recommend noodles, or omelets, all of which cost about 30 Baht (30 baht = 1 US$). If saving money is a big factor for an individual, the most financial food is street food, which is about 30-80 Baht. Restaurant can vary but for the most part can range between 120 and 250 Baht. If you end up missing home, I recommend Dukes (in Maya Mall). They have good salads, burgers, and pizza!

Gym: I HIGHLY recommend Moobastrongman Gym if you are into lifting weights. The staff is amazing and very helpful. If you are into cardio or into machine training, there is a gym at Unilift (dorm) that is free.

Grand Canyon: This is one of the most amazing waterparks you will ever go to – I have a picture below. There is a lot of freedom to run around. it is very fun to go, especially in large groups. If you take your student card, you also get a discount! There is also zip lining and other fun things to do there as well.

Trekking tour: My favorite tour within USAC was the trekking tour – it was amazing! You go on a weekend hike down a jungle, where you end up walking with elephants and bathing them. In addition, you also have the opportunity to go bamboo water rafting and stay in cabins with beautiful views. I highly recommend this tour!

My piece of advice is that if you go on this study abroad trip with a positive attitude and an open mind, you can expect to have a great time exploring, meeting amazing people and places. There is no doubt that you will have a new home away from home, Chiang Mai!

Have fun!

To be completely honest coming to India wasn't something I would have ever imagined for myself. But one day last fall I went to speak to my study abroad advisor on campus and she suggested India to me and something just sparked. When I got to bangalore I was nervous , this was the farthest I'd ever traveled alone. But my nervousness was eased when we met our sweet residential director. She and our other handler have been a god sent. They have done all that they could to make our time here fun and Memorable. The academics weren't as challenging as they are at home but what I've had to realized is that they did not want to overwhelm us with work because they wanted to give us a chance to experience the beautiful country that is India. A majority of my professors were extremely knowledgeable and I appreciate that they knew that we had questions that sort of went beyond our curriculum but they were willing to talk with us and answer all of our somewhat strange questions. I feel like with this program they had some really nice activities planned for us! Especially our south India tour which made getting over jet lag a breeze. We also had lots of free time and like most things in life you have to be willing to make the most out of your opportunities. For example Myself and my friends were able to take weekend trips and see different parts of India without being burdened down by excessive assignments. Bangalore is a huge and beautiful city. It's not deeply rooted in history like many other places in India but it offers so much if you are willing to step outside and explore all of its diversity.