IFSA: Mendoza Universities Program

Probably the best experience of my life! If you are looking for a super culturally and language immersive experience, this is the best program/city combination you can find. It is an academically challenging program, but allows for a lot of free time to travel and explore the city. The locals are amazing and so willing to interact. My host family experience was amazing, and probably my favorite part of the experience.

The school system is very different than in the US, which was the biggest challenge. The IFSA teachers were not very understanding of that and I actually had a better experience as an international student with the University professors. Travel is easy and there is a lot of support from the IFSA office in Mendoza. Ifsa encouraged me and the other students to try the pickup ultimate frisbee team, and that was the best advice I got. Through that I met so many amazing locals who took us on day trips that we otherwise never would have known about or been able to get to.

Because the city is smaller (at least for me coming from a bit city), it felt like home very quickly. The people are kind.. the machismo is not. The nightlife is fun and Aristides is a fun street with unlimited places to watch games or just hangout. For men it would feel a lot safer, I think just because of the cat-calling culture. The program helped us through all the steps but it would have been nice to know that we had A LOT more free time before classes actually started. I think it would be nice if they also made sure housing had families that were a lot more active and engaged. The families are nice but they are busy as well.

I had a fabulous experience at this University studying through the theatre program. I was able to enroll in theatre classes and learned a lot from fabulous and helpful teachers in the department. The students were open to new people and helpful. Spanish classes through the institution were also extremely useful. I was fluent by the end!

The social life is quaint- nothing like Buenos Aires, but very lovely all the same.

Overall it was a great experience that I would recommend to others!

I thoroughly enjoyed living in Argentina – rarely does a week go by where I don't fondly recall a memory or experience from Study Abroad. I lived with an awesome host family in the middle of the city, walking distance to the university and lots of restaurants/bars and corner markets. The public transportation was exceptional with lots of bus routes that ran frequently. The IFSA-Butler in Mendoza were extremely helpful and I formed great friendships with my professors and the program director. My spanish improved dramatically. I was in two classes with 60 Argentines and am still in touch with the friends I made in those classes. I would definitely say the friendships I made within the Study Abroad program are stronger than some of the friendships I have from the university I attended in the United States.

This IFSA-Butler program is one of the few that allows you to study in Mendoza, a great city near the border of Chile (easy to travel back and forth to see both places). The support staff is the best part about this program, they meet you at orientation, are so much fun and then when you're in Mendoza, they'll always be there for you.
There's plenty of trips and excursions (within Mendoza) and plenty of nightlife.
You have to get used to traveling 'safe', there's some problems with theft like in any big city with a lot of tourists and walking a lot because there's public transport but it's usually easier to get around on foot.
There's also a lot of opportunities to teach english while you're learning spanish, which is a good way to meet local people who want language exchanges, etc.
Great place to go!!