Program Reviews

I don't know where to begin or how to express the impact API Grenoble has had on my life. I'd like to start by stressing that no matter where you study abroad, you are bound to meet wonderful people and make life long friends. Above all, I'm incredibly grateful to have had this experience because through it, I have met my best friend and I know that I have multiple families here in France.

More about API Grenoble. I think that our resident directors are the greatest asset to this program. They help us with cultural discovery, problems with family, problems with french bureaucracy, with homesickness, etc. They are always around to listen to you, generally with chocolates and tissues at hand. It's wonderful because you have both the perspective of a traditional french woman and that of an american living in France. They are kind and caring--it feels as if they are your friends but also your mothers. The excursions they plan are always enjoyable and I leave them feeling like I've learned that much more about the french language, history, and culture.

If you do choose API Grenoble, make sure you do a homestay! I live with a single mother (both of her children are out of the house). She provides me with at least 2 meals a day, but seeing as how she loves to cook I often eat more than that. Most of her friends and one of her siblings are also hosts. So, we often have huge dinner parties and when my mother is out of town, I'm invited over to everyone else's house for dinner. Some activities that I enjoy with my host mom and other host families: dinners, trips to the movies, hiking in the mountains, trips to the country, museum visits, etc.

Some other cool things I've been able to do through API:
1) Volunteering at a primary school--you can either teach english or you can simply hang out with kids during recess and lunch. A great opportunity to practice your french with the harshest (and cutest) of critics.

2)Language exchanges. Every Friday, I go to a café to participate in a group language exchange. We speak in French and English but sometimes you catch a little Italian, maybe some Spanish, and the list goes on. I've become good friends with the people that go, and we meet multiple times a week to practice our French and English.

I could go on and on about this program. But I think what's most telling is that, I have 15 days left and I'm dreading leaving. I can honestly say that I've been able to develop my language skills here but I've also learned a lot about myself. And isn't that the point?

I couldn't have been more pleased with my API Florence experience. The staff was extremely helpful, the city was amazing, the trips were well organized and fun, and the classes were so enjoyable. I learned so much in such a short time and had a blast in the process. Plus, we all made lifelong friends from all over.

Overall, the semester of my gap year spent in Paris with Aspire by API was above average - but not phenomenal. The program is well organized and the school is excellent, however I didn't feel that API did enough for its gap year students specifically. There were very few of us, and we did everything that the college students did - no more, no less. I wish that there had been some separate get-togethers planned for the gap year students, as we definitely had some different concerns than did the college students.

As for living arrangements, I chose to live in the dormitory, and honestly I don't think this was a great choice. The dorm is alright, but not ideal. API does a great job finding host families from what I could tell by visiting friends staying with local families. I also think that much more would be gained (in terms of language, culture, assimilation, etc.) by having opted to live in a home than in a dorm. The the main dorm used by API is intended for American students, so there is not very much intercultural interaction.

While my experience with Aspire by API did not quite measure up to the standard set by my first gap year semester program, this was not at all entirely API's fault. Most of my discontent - and again, it's not that I had an awful time, overall I gained a lot from the semester - came from issues with other students. I do wish that the program coordinators in Paris had been a little more welcoming so I would have felt more open to talking to them, but they mostly did what they could for so many students. When I lost my wallet at 1am, I was able to call one of the coordinators and she was very helpful despite the fact that I had woken her up.

Paris is an incredible city, and I think that any chance to live there should absolutely be taken. Aspire by API has room to grow, but the program absolutely provides for its students and should be considered when planning a gap year.

Studying through API in Buenos Aires was probably the best experience of my life so far. In between the going to class I was able to meet many interesting people from Argentina and also from around the world. The classes that I was able to take varied immensely. There were business classes, history classes,language classes, and even the opportunity to take classes with the Argentine students that were studying there.
A normal day consisted of going to class and then just exploring the city. There are so many interesting things to do in Buenos Aires. There is a zoo next to Plaza Italia, while I was there there was a large book fair with books from all around the world.
API is great because they let you travel when you want. You are required to attend a majority of you classes by the university, but API allows you to go on weekend trips. They do also have some sponsored cultural trips to an estancia, or ranch, and when I was there we went to Iguazu to see the falls and visit a nature conservatory.
Argentina is also a great place to study because the people are very friendly. Yes, the do appreciate it a lot if you attempt to speak Spanish to them, but there is a large population of people in Buenos Aires that speak both Spanish and English so you will be able to find your way without too much trouble.
API has a short program that they put the students who are arriving through. This program talks about the history of Argentina and the culture. It also informs students about how to be safe while they are walking around and out at night and the normal stuff that you would want to find out about a country. Yes, crime does happen, but the support staff from API was always helpful to the students that they were in charge of taking care of throughout the semester.
I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed this program. You were normally able to find anything that you needed within your community, and anything that you could not find the support staff was able to help you find.
The last thing that I will leave you with is the food. I really enjoyed the food. It was a lot of meats, chicken and beef, and there was a lot of rice and bread as well. The food is not spicy like many people think all Spanish food is. In fact, one of the host families of my friends would always warn him whenever they put black pepper, something that is used all the time in the US, on the food because to them it was spicy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this program and would definitely refer anyone, friend or otherwise, to go to Buenos Aires through API.

Although living abroad was at the top of my priorities in life when I arrived in Costa Rica, I never once took it seriously. I felt it was more of an obligation to my travelself than the student in me. If it was going to happen, it would unfold organically, as part of my travel experience, and not something I was going to go out of my way for.

I arrived in Costa Rica more than a week before the semester began - to get a scope of the area, the culture, and the language. I had absolutely no Spanish in my arsenal (which should never stop anyone from going anywhere), and wanted some first-hand stories before the inevitable Orientation, where we'd be equally fresh meat to be cleaved. Within days I was staying with a local on the rural Caribbean coast. It would shape the rest of my experience in Central America, which went far beyond a semester in San Jose.

The host family was for the most part wonderful, and in that neighborhood I have friends whom I've gone back to visit long after school was out. Be careful of the maids, however. My first few days in the home of my hosts, more than a little bit of plata - cash - went missing. It showed up later, after a diplomatic inquiry, in a very peculiar spot.

It would behoove the student to be clear with what they wish to eat while living with their host families. Usually one will end up with traditional Tico fare - rice and beans with meat or fish, and occasionally plantanos - friend plantains, which are very popular (and for good reason). However, there are subtleties that go misunderstood sometimes, such as the idea that if something has a US American label or stigma attached to it, that all people from that place love and consume it. Coffee is a perfect example: Costa Rica produces arguably the best coffee in the world (I didn't drink it until I moved there, so delicious and rich is it), yet ticos may go out of the way to buy Folgers Instant coffee (at far greater expense than the higher quality local stuff) because they may think their students may prefer it. As a result of such confusion, for weeks my roommates and I were subject to hot dogs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, which is not good for vegetarians about to spend four hours in an intensive Spanish course (sugar crashes at 10 a.m. sharp). We first thought it rude to revise our wanted menus - do not make this mistake.

Also, another important note is that the families are being paid relatively good money to take care of you, and some entrepreneurial folks do student housing for only that reason. On more than one occasion friends of mine (including a roommate of mine) left the originally-assigned host home for one that suited them better. Do not hesitate to ask for this if you want it.

The API program directors, Esteban and Francy, were consistently available if not present, and communication was not a problem. Over the course of the semester, however, some of the other students in my program and I discussed issues with how the money was handled by API; for example, on 'mandatory' trips (which were understood to be 'all expenses paid' by our program fees), we were obligated to pay for meals, even those we all ate together on the way to our destination.

None of us thought this fair, as we felt that if the trip was mandatory and we'd already paid for transport and accommodations, why were meals not included? Freedom of choice was one reason given, which was valid, but in this case a per diem would have provided for that and alleviated some negative feelings.

One essential piece of information which needed to be more clear upon class signups was how the credit distribution works: in my case, I was under the impression that when I signed up for a Spanish class, I would be in the class for the duration of the semester. It turned out to be a one-month intensive class, followed by a month-and-a-half of the elective classes I signed up as auxiliaries.

As a result, when the uni class ended, I signed up for a local language course in my neighborhood. It was perhaps the best decision I made in San Jose - a direct injection into the local culture. It was exactly what I was looking for in my semester of study abroad, and it had very little to do with university at all. Not having read the fine print before my trip made my experience the richer.

My experience in Costa Rica was unique to the lot of them, and saw myself as a special case there - I was 25 and had just started university. Many of those I met were about to graduate, and barely old enough to drink in the States. In theory, it does not sound unreasonable - I wasn't the oldest student there by any means - but it made connections more difficult and tenuous. I was well past my party-all-night days (unlike, for example, my roommate, who saw our apartment next to the host home as the perfect place to host parties), and found the opportunity to integrate into the local culture rather than the imported one as less a challenge than escape.

With regards to safety, one must understand that San Jose is not an inherently safe, or particularly friendly, place. The people are generally kind, but the city dulls its beauty with fear, and bears a sad amount of 'security' gates and guards. There are graffiti stencils everywhere around the city that read 'Imaginate San Jose Sin Rejas.' Imagine San Jose without bars. Give it a shot, but be careful where you walk. And, a small piece of advice: don't walk into Barrio Cristo Rey, especially with a backpack full of valuables. You might walk out of the neighborhood with your life, but not with your stuff. To the adventurous who might read and think 'exaggeration', try it. Go ahead.

There were beautiful aspects of my study abroad experience, while others decidedly less so. Many of the former had little to do with the program directly, but would not have happened were it not for every element, including my choice to go with API, falling into place like it did. Such as in travel, and life.

Would I recommend this program to a friend? I would mention it to them. I would tell them what I knew about it, and suggest they look at all of their options. I arrived in Costa Rica because I spun a globe and my finger landed near its Caribbean coast. An API brochure just happened to have Costa Rica listed in it. If I had done more research, perhaps I could have found something more preferable - I heard both positive and negative reviews of other programs, and in my opinion, API's features fell somewhere in the middle. But I didn't, ended up where I did, and given the chance to do it again, I would without hesitation.

This program was great for me, because I chose (and was accepted to) the immersion with Spaniard students option. If you can't get into this program, Salamanca might not be the place to go. API is great, but if you want to meet students from there, the best option is to take class with them. If you're looking for rewarding but tough academics, this is also your only option (although the spanish classes that API provides are great, because the teachers really know what they're doing and try to make class interesting).

API allows for a lot of travel, and even takes you many places which is a plus, we went to Paris for free as well as Barcelona. It was so exciting. And the directors and counselors we had contact with were so welcoming and understanding and always available for anything we needed. This was definitely the plus of the program.
Salamanca itself is a great, but small city. You can walk literally everywhere. So if you're a big-city person, you might like Madrid more, but I personally felt safer than ever in this city and no taxi fare ever!
In general, the problem isn't with API, its with the level of spanish you go with on this program. I would recommend it for high level spanish speakers who want to improve their 'Spain' spanish, and take classes seriously.

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the API program. The directors were great and always available if you needed anything or just wanted to talk. There were, I believe, about 25 of us in the API Madrid program and the directors did a really good job at bringing us all together. I made some of my closest friends through this! Also, as far as program costs go I found this one to be a very good deal. In one semester they took us to Paris, Sevilla, Santander, and Toledo and paid for our transportation hotel and breakfast. They would also include a tour of some sort throughout these places.

As far as the different universities, I chose Antonio de Nebrija because they offered an intensive language program. It was great! I loved my teachers and I feel liked they pushed us a good amount. For example, we had to only speak spanish to them no matter what. Which I found to be pretty tough at first, but they help you along and everyone was in the same position as you. But in my one semester taking all spanish classes, I learned more spanish then in the 5 years of taking it in the US.

Overall, best program by far. I also spoke with some of my friends who did study abroad through other companies and they were either far more expensive or same price but didn't include a lot. Also, the directors were phenomenal and I have to say that that definitely helps when you are beginning a fresh start in a foreign country!

If I were to explain my experience in Buenos Aires without using clichés of what studying/living abroad is, this is how I would describe it. Keep in mind no analogy is perfect.

It is watching a really profound, enthralling movie. First, you sit down in your seat and you are really excited because there has been a lot of hype about the movie. The synopses you have heard and reviews you have read do not tell you much other than that you must see it yourself. The movie begins and you start soaking in visual and aural stimulation and you understand that you are watching a movie. You are a little detached because you do not fully understand what is going on or what it is all about.

After a while, you stop noticing the chair spring that has been poking you in the back and the fact that the floor is sticky because the action and dialogue start to truly captivate you. The movie’s reality steadily becomes your reality. You become so engrossed in the movie that you begin to feel like part of the movie. You see the characters develop and grow and change and the scenery and setting start to become familiar and home-like. You get lost in the movie. Have you ever watched someone watch a movie? You will not quite understand how engrossed you are watching a movie until you watch someone else’s face while he or she watches a movie.

Towards the denouement, you begin to understand that the movie is coming to an end. You can feel things winding down. You slowly gain objective perspective again of that in which you have just involved yourself. You might even feel a jerk in your heart because you want to see what happens to the characters after the movie is finished, as stories like that cannot and do not just come to an end. The storyline is wrapping up and you are wondering if you put enough quarters in the parking meter. Also, you really have to pee.

Then the movie ends and you leave the theater feeling you finally understand what the hype was about. You have gained a new perspective on just what a movie can be and how it can relate to real life. What you saw was visceral because there was a surfeit of content and aesthetic pleasure that will stick with you. In addition, time was irrelevant because you were so lost in the movie. In the hours it took to watch, you wonder how the little hand on your horologe made so many revolutions. You know you will see it again, but when you feel ready to absorb all that information anew is uncertain territory because it was so beautiful and gratifying that it would not do the movie justice to watch it twice in a row. You have other movies to watch, books to read and music to listen to. Also you spent your last $20 on the ticket and Milk Duds and popcorn to mix together so you get chocolate, carmel and salt all in one bite.

There are no leaks of this movie. You cannot pirate it. You must see it on the big screen with strangers in the theater who will share this movie with you even though you may never see them ever again in your life.

You will return to that theater some day when another movie is worth seeing because as much as you would like to, you cannot spend all your money and time going to the movies. You will bring a friend next time so that you can share the experience together because telling someone about a movie he or she has not seen, no matter how great it is, is about as interesting to the listener as handwriting class in grade school.

I had a great experience with API. The API staff in Paris were extremely helpful in helping the students get used to the Parisian lifestyle. They helped us sign up for classes. This was a direct enrollment program, so we were assisted throughout most of the enrollment process.
The classes ranged from easy to challenging. It's good to take a couple easier classes along with a couple harder ones. The most difficult part, in my opinion, was learning how to write a French paper. The program RD helped us understand how to write one, but without her help I wouldn't have known how different it was from a paper I would have written in the States.
It's great to just be able to live in Paris and experience going to boulangeries and fromageries. The food is delicious and it's definitely worth spending a little more money and going to a nice restaurant for dinner once in a while.
There are also so many museums to visit, and most of them are free or have a discounted entrance price since we have our student IDs.
I definitely got a lot out of living in Paris for a couple months. I learned my way around a new city, made new friends and had experiences I wouldn't have been able to have back home.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is looking to study abroad off the beaten path. API provides a good mix of immersing you in the culture, while providing plenty to make you feel supported. I became good friends with Hungarians and other study abroad students from all over the world alike. The overall experience was fantastic, and its a great location to travel from.