EF Reviews

My son went to the EF Munich school from June 2018 until August of 2019. While his experience there was good, he was asked to leave his guest family and given only two weeks notice to leave in mid-May of 2019. The very next day he told the Munich school, and as he would be enrolling in a German University in the fall and would need his own apartment he went and found one and vacated his EF lodging by June 1. Accordingly we both contacted EF seeking a refund for room and board we had paid for from June 1 to the end of August. After some initial push back, in which it was claimed he had not given sufficient notice. On 9/17/19 after about 10 attempts to contact him since mid June, on 9/17/19 a staff member finally agreed to refund me $1220.31 (the cost of room and board from June through August. He also agreed to refund an additional $56.59. I was told this would be refunded to my credit card, and as my ex wife and I had both paid Stefan's tuition, she would need to call to give her consent that the payment go to me alone. After arranging all this I called his assistant instructions and left my credit card information. And… nothing happened. I followed up checking my credit card statement 3-4 weeks later, saw I had no refund, and on November 14, 2019 I contacted another employee, who the first had said was his boss. The staff member apologized for the problem and promised me that a check would be cut as soon as possible, on the next Wednesday, which would have been November 20. It is now December 4, 2019 and once again. Nothing has happened. I have received no check. I have been trying to email and phone the staff member for the last three days to no avail.

I draw several conclusions from this: First, EF is not being transparent about the actual cost of room and board with host families (which is arguably the single most important aspect of language learning in a study abroad experience). The miserly amount of this refund suggests that EF is paying host families a mere $13 per day. This can’t be right as that would barely be enough to pay for food, let alone lodging, and it is difficult to understand how it would be enough of an incentive for any host family to participate in the program. Although I suspect that they are actually being paid more than this refund suggests, I doubt they are being paid much more. What does this mean? It means that EF has rolled everything into a single fee that makes it impossible to determine what portion of their very expensive program fee is for housing and what part is for language training. Second, this also clearly indicates that EF’s customer service is abysmally bad. Having spent well over $40,000 I can’t fathom why any organization would treat its customers this way. I have made multiple inquiries by phone and email but I can’t seem to get anyone to respond and settle this matter. I can't tell if I am being lied to or if EF is simply incompetent. How hard is it to issue a refund you have clearly acknowledged I am due? They have admitted the debt. I have an invoice and an email indicating as much, but three months later I cannot get them to honor it. Beware!

Definitely, when booking the trip I was scared and anxious, but this trip taught me how to be independent and overall expose myself to new things. I'd definitely say this was one of the most memorable things in my life I've ever done. I'd say that the best thing about this program was the immersion within the culture and so much more room individuals of any Spanish level can still grow at EF Barcelona. One thing I wish could be changed would be adding more trips to parts around Barcelona, but still was very pleasing and I would really recommend! you will make friends from all over that will become some of your closest friends. I'd definetly say don't hesitate to take the trip and become a local for your stay it really creates an unforgettable experience.

I am incredibly grateful for the travel, service, and educational opportunities that EF has provided for me. I chose to do service learning in Tanzania and an internship in Sydney, Australia for my two modules. In Sydney, Australia, I interned at a non-profit organization called Our Big Kitchen (OBK). In Tanzania, I did service at the School of St. Jude in Arusha, Tanzania and at Mnarani Marine Turtles Conservation Pond, an NGO based in Zanzibar, Tanzania, that focuses on the rehabilitation of sea turtles. My Gap Semester with EF helped me develop a deeper appreciation for diversity and knowledge and pushed me to expand my horizons. My trip with EF taught me that no path in life is linear, and I flourish the most when I am paving my own. Thanks to our caring mentors and the focus they placed on professional development, setting realistic goals, and career trajectory, I have been able to thrive in college so far.

I was a student in EF Gap's first-ever cohort in 2018-19, and it was an unforgettable experience. I was fresh out of high school, tired of classrooms, and just wanting to be different, so I decided that a gap year was what I needed. However, there are SO many types of programs out there that I couldn't decide what I wanted. I chose EF because of the huge variety of experiences, including service-learning, internship, language study, and pure travel. The highlights of my trip were our time spent at the beautiful Ashridge Estate near London, celebrating Loi Krathong with my amazing group in Chiang Mai, Thailand, my social media marketing internship in Milan, Italy (looks GREAT on my resume), and of course the MANY great friendships I made with my cohort. When you're traveling so much and frequently moving from place to place, the people you are with become your home. Yes, there will be ups and downs, but that is inevitable when traveling. I am a confident traveler now, and I even spent 3 weeks after the trip solo-traveling. The EF staff are very helpful and reliable and have proven to be great connections to have upon my return to the US. If you're hesitating to decide on an EF Gap Year, trust me, do it. For the money, this program is the most cost-effective of all the programs on the market, by far! EF will not let you down.

The introduction to the program and the closure in Hult University in the U.K. was very good. The tours were good, the hotels ,mostly well located. The housing and assistance could greatly improve, I will give my comments on the three areas. LANGUAGE ( 6 WEEKS) ROME: The Academy was in the best area in Rome, two blocks from the Trevi Fountain. I petitioned to stay in the Residency which was next to EF. I was told to stay with a host family in order to better immerse myself in the culture. I was assigned an apartment with a landlady who rented rooms, no family experience, pasta for dinner every day, we were not allowed to store any food, in a very remote insecure area of the city. After several weeks of asking for a change, I was assigned to stay in a B&B near school, but this is not the experience I was looking for ( I was not living with students and not living with a family). I was sick for a week and one came to see me, call me or sent a Dr. ( WE ARE ALL 18 , MANY HAD NEVER BEEN ABROAD). SOCIAL SERVICE ( 6 WEEKS) TANZANIA: The Safari was the best experience I have had. The social service program did not give me any sense of accomplishment, for we were not involved in "real" program ...we stayed a week in each place... not enough time to get involved.... the last place I stayed was really awful, but since it was located in a beautiful beach resort I was able to take advantage of this. INTERSHIP ( SIX WEEKS) MADRID: After making a point that location was important I was assigned an apartment in a nice location but not a good street.... a street full of bars open until dawn...not the best place for 4 young girls to stay. The apartment was bare...no headboards, nightstand....one pair of sheets..one towel...no cleaning utensils provided...the small washing machine never worked....very bad rating in AirB&B.... that for the lodging...regarding the Intership we were not assigned to work in a company related to our interests... it was more like a part time job you can get back home. in a store at the mall... in contrast with my cousins that got internships this last summer in great companies. I think EF has a great platform with all the Ef Academies it has worldwide...but they have to be more conscious for the other services they are providing.... there is no one to in direct contact to make sure all is fine...and when we have a petition, comment, etc no one comes to really supervise what is happening and how to best solve your needs.

The EF Gap Year transformed me into a world traveller and gave me more confidence and knowledge to take on college. My fellow gap year friends are like my family, and I now have friends all across the globe. This experience shaped me into a different person than I was before my gap year. My language study (Barcelona) and internship (Madrid) gave me the confidence to live in another city alone, learn to speak another language, and be able to adjust and develop a community. My favorite parts were Volunteer Service (Thailand) and the Australian Immersion program. Those modules I became very close with my cohort, and had the most fun! Although, it isn't always fun and can be hard and lonely at times (especially away from your family), however, I grew the most during the hardships and it became so much stronger in the long run. I can't wait to travel abroad again. I loved the EF Gap Year, I wish I could do it again, and recommend everybody to do it!

This past summer, I spent two weeks in Paris, France with EF. Prior to that, I had studied just about two years of French in school. When I arrived to the school and my host family, I was very nervous considering I had never really spoken to a native French speaker in my life. However, my host mom was the best mom I could ever ask for, the teachers at EF were super charismatic, welcoming, and funny. I felt extremely comfortable in the environment. I also learned a great deal of French just from two weeks and was able to skip a year of French when I got back to school in Hawaii. My host-family's house was a little far, so sometimes it was hard to get to and from there every day, however that was only a minor issue. Nonetheless, I made so many life long friends that I still keep in touch with everyday. Not only did I learn French, but I was opened to a whole new world of people and cultures. I really got a globalized perspective on life from this trip. I am definitely going back next summer for even longer. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience and completely worth the money!

I can't stop milking the fact that I have a moderate amount of ADHD and the teachers were able to captivate my attention without even trying. Everybody at EF is so friendly and fun to be around that I wish I stayed longer than two weeks. Now I'll be a little more organized so you can skip through all the info you don't care about and get straight to what you want to know. This is based on my experience.

HOST FAMILY or EF RESIDENCE?

Host family (is what I chose) is basically like getting adopted and having to live in a new home. It's very cool because you get the full immersion into the Korean culture. My host family didn't speak much English, which I was thankful for, because this meant that I'd have to try harder to learn Korean so I can actually speak to them. We used the Papago (translator) app to speak to each other whenever we couldn't act out what we were trying to say (acting out what you're trying to say is probably like the funniest thing ever. We kept on laughing at each other from our expressions). I had to take the subway every morning to get to class which was about forty minutes so buy a sim card so you can watch Youtube videos and stuff while you're on your way to school. I didn't have a sim card because my network was locked so I just spent the ride listening to music offline and time flew by pretty fast. Transportation is pretty easy in Korea so if you've never gone in a subway before, don't worry. It's very easy and if you miss your stop, it's not the end of the world. One downside to host families is that they probably won't have air conditioning (mine didn't), but they will have fans. I honestly didn't mind the heat, but if you're a wimp, then don't pick host family. The best part about host families is that they feed you so you don't have to waste money on food unlike the residence where you're in charge of feeding yourself. Living in a host family is a plus for your education because you won't have distractions from practicing your homework or classwork. In my opinion, the host family was the best choice for me.

EF residence (what most of my friends chose) is living in a hotel full of other teenagers. You can probably predict how that's going to be. The good things about this is that you're going to have a very fun time messing around in each other's dorms, maybe watch a movie with a couple friends, have a sleep-over or something, whatever you want to do. You're basically taking care of yourself and living like an adult. Now if you live in a host family and want to sleep over at a friend's dorm at the EF residence for a night, you must have your parent(s) email the EF staff saying that it's okay for you to do that. Pretty simple. The residence is also very close to the school (short metro bus ride) and right smack in one of the wealthy areas of Seoul. There's also air conditioning. The only downside to the residence depends on you. If you're someone who'll easily get distracted (like me) and won't be able to reject peer pressure to hang out and etc, then you probably won't learn as much Korean as you would've wanted to. To people like me: if you want to attend EF for more of a fun time, pick the residence. If you want to attend EF for an equalized balance of having the time of your life and being productive while doing it, choose the host family.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU STAY

I stayed for two weeks. Definitely not long enough. I learned a pretty good amount of Korean for that short period of time, but I feel like I could've learned more if I was more responsible and didn't go out so much.

EDUCATION

I took the intensive course. I only had two tests and I thought they were pretty easy in my opinion. The homework is a pretty reasonable amount as some classes won't even give you homework because the teachers know that the best way to learn the language is to practice what you learned in class on your own. If you want to get the most out of this education, you must do beyond the homework you're given. Korean is pretty easy. It's just a matter of how much you practice.

THE STAFF

I love them. Every single one of them. They're the best people bestowed on planet earth. Director Yohan is so friendly and easy to talk to as well as everyone else. I actually commented on most of the teachers and how they're like on EF Seoul's instagram highlights: @efseoul. So if you're curious as to how the teachers are like, go read what I put out.

PREPARING FOR THE TRIP

- If you have a credit card or debit card, tell your bank you'll be making transactions outside of your country.
- Search up Youtube videos on the customs here. There are manners you need to learn so you won't end up being rude.
- Learn the Korean alphabet. This is easy. There are lots of apps for this. I used Memrise (it's free, but you have to pay for the full version. However, you can learn the whole alphabet and more with just the free version).
- Practice reading Korean even if you don't know what it means. The faster you are at reading the characters, the easier classes will be for you.
- If you want to go to 1Million Dance Studio, search up how to do it PRIOR to going there and how much it will cost aside from other expenses. Also, ask a bunch of people that have gone there already (your fellow classmates that have been at EF already should know). Don't ask one person. Ask several. Remember that people's experiences are different so it's best to get it from many people. Which is why I encourage you to read another review after this one.

I am 100% sure about what I've said and I'm also 100% sure that I missed some crucial things so if you want some clarification, or have a question, or think I'm cute, my instagram is @franco.afs and I'll be happy to answer whatever you need to know lol.

Thanks for reading this long review and I hope you'll consider going to EF Seoul. It's a wonderful experience and it's worth every cent.

If you end up going because of this review, tell Director Yohan so I can get him to hire me. I'm broke.

My daughter spent 4 weeks in Munich. Her host family was a 45 minute train ride to the class each day. I thought she would have a roommate in her age group and also assumed there would be more of a "part of the family" feel. She was in a home where the students were in and out, some staying only for days. My 14 roomed with an 18 yo for a few nights, sometimes there were male students in the home as well. No real family "feel". In fact when we came to the home to pick her up, gift in hand, we weren't even invited in! Instead we were asked to wait at the door and out came our daughter! During the evenings there was very little supervision, many of the 14 and 15 yos drank beer. In fact my daughter was given her first beer under EF's supervision! She also was "courted" by a few different boys and once again, much less supervision than I am accustomed to. Needless to say, things did not go well. One evening my daughter got on the wrong train going home from an unsupervised event, took the wrong train and was lost in the city. She lost her phone and borrowed a strangers phone to call for help. She got back at 2 am! When I needed to call the emergency number...it didn't work! They apologized but the damage was already done. Mydaughter saw a lot of Munich, not sure how much language she learned, but she speaks more easily and quicker so I suppose she learned enough. I would NEVER go back to EF, as I am not comfortable with the oversight, and I would worry for the safety of my daughter

Translation from Spanish: The great experience of spending 15 days in Paris was overshadowed by the great SCAM and incoordination of EF, which ended up sending us to a 2-star hotel with BUGS and no alternatives. I'm not exaggerating.

Next I count it step by step:

This trip to Paris to learn French was a gift from my son to my niece and to me, knowing the great illusion that would make us. During the reservation process in Spain, we were informed about the EF residence where we would stay, with kitchen, common areas and very good looks. We fly to Paris with all the illusion of the world to spend the first half of July and what is our surprise to discover once there, that the residence is saturated and they will redirect us to a hotel. The “surprise” becomes perplexed when we see the state and conditions of this 2-star “Jeff” hotel and the room they give us: a fourth floor with a narrow spiral staircase that had a ridiculous elevator with room for 1 person and highly claustrophobic. Therefore, and despite my arthritis, we did not even use it because it gave me no confidence.

But the big bomb arrives in class, when they tell us that we cannot return to the hotel all day (without prior notice to collect our things, stored in the suitcases in any way by the cleaning ladies) because there was a BUG INFECTION in the hotel and they had to spray.

At that time I lost my patience and went with my niece to the address, to ask how it is logical that please change us to the official Residence, which was what was advertised when the course was paid. They tell us that it is impossible, so we are helpless in the face of the problem. I do not want to worry my family and we endure the return to the hotel with the corresponding fear and disgust of the plague of bed bugs. This makes us sleep very uncomfortable, waking up and not being focused on the course we wanted to learn.

And this does not end there. In 3 different days this scenario was repeated in which we cannot return to the hotel all day for anti-bed bug treatments, even with the appearance of bites and a student's hospital visit.

I had the opportunity to visit the residence and verify that they do have a kitchen, a normal elevator and, above all, hygiene.

As we did not have a kitchen, we were forced to eat out all the time, with the corresponding expense of money that implies, also in a city that is not cheap. We went with the idea of ​​having the advantage they enjoyed in the Residence of being able to buy, store, and cook our own food.

I don't have anything bad to say about teaching and teaching at school.
The teachers are of excellent quality and impeccable class education, a great dedication for all their professionals.

However, the schedules were not what they said in Madrid, where they assured us that the classes would be at 8 in the morning and from noon we would be free. At the end each day we had a different schedule, and also classes until 6 in the afternoon. In addition, the excursions were not coordinated with most of the classes, so in order to go you had to miss class.

In conclusion, the teaching is of quality, but the organization of EF is a DISASTER. From the beginning there has been great false advertising. We were not even mentioned the possibility of sending us to a place other than the residence, much less Jeff, a hotel that had nothing to do with the conditions of the official Residence, in which we were in fourth-floor rooms, with a Indecent and most outrageous elevator, infected with bed bugs.

It is not fair to pay for services that are supposed to offer and we find this amount of nonsense, which when we complained we were not given any kind of solution or compensation.

On the last night of our stay, the roommate next door cried to our room, because she went to get a bag and a bed bug fell on her shoulder. He spent the night in our room with a phobia attack. By the way, she intended to stay a month, but has gone to Malaga back, because they did not seek a solution to the problem.

Regarding the hotel receptionist and the person in charge of us at the hotel, they did what they could to please, but the solution was not in their hands.

Too bad for not being able to take advantage of and enjoy the excellence of the classes for being worried about something unnecessary and that it did not correspond to us as it is everything mentioned before.

Back in Spain, I have the conviction that EF takes advantage of the young age and inexperience of most of his students to deceive them in this way. However, I was an exception because at my 58 years I was fortunate to be able to travel to Paris for 15 days, and I was able to realize everything that happened.

I am not a particularly demanding person. Some of the problems that I have mentioned such as the disorganization of schedules or the lack of cooking can be compensated with the quality of teaching and the great experience of being in a city like Paris for a few days. Even the inability to go to the residence could have been resolved by sending us to decent accommodation, or attending to our request once the situation in the hotel became embarrassing. BUT NOTHING!

The saddest thing is that the problem of this hotel, looking for information, we know that they have it since 2017, it is in the networks. And EF knows it. My complaint is to the organization and responsible for EF. It is a shame after the money paid for everyone to go crazy and keep fooling people selling an experience that is not real.

Ana María López Martín