IES Abroad London - Study London

I stepped off the plane at Heathrow almost 5 years ago excited, terrified, and armed with about a million questions and concerns, and every step of the way, the IES staff were absolutely incredible. Living, studying, and interning in London has made such a lasting impact on me, and I return to the city every chance I get (and I’m certain everyone I know is sick of me talking about it). The experience even inspired me to get a working holiday visa to Ireland after graduation, during which time I popped back into the IES London office unannounced with my best friend (who I met during my semester abroad) and was floored when the staff still remembered who we were, including our names and our university. The IES staff really care about you having the best experience and seeing as much of the city as you can. Nothing can quite compare to reading a novel set in London and then literally walking in the characters’ footsteps with your class! IES also offers so many great trips outside of London that are included in the program, make sure you go on all of them! If you are uncertain about making the leap and going to London through IES, you should absolutely go for it (but only if you want lifelong friends, to grow academically, culturally, and personally, and have stories to tell that will make your coworkers cry laughing).

I signed up for the Study London track on a whim; I knew I wanted to go to London and I knew that I wanted to do an internship, but that's it. However, I am so happy that my school's Study London program was cancelled. Being able to go abroad with IES provided me with once in a lifetime experiences. With the program, I was able to meet and make new friends from different colleges around the US, expand my professional career with an internship, travel to different areas of the country and overall showed me so much of what London had to offer. The staff were helpful, the accommodations were amazing, and I can now saw that I feed reindeer in the highlands of Scotland.

If you have the opportunity to go to London with IES, do it!

This was the best year of my life. Living only 20 minutes by tube from central London was extremely convenient. I got to live with students from around the world, not just England. I made unforgettable memories and learned how to be much more independent. It is certainly a different academic experience, but that's the point. Don't let this opportunity pass you by; London is the best city in the world to study abroad, and IES will make it happen.

Studying abroad in London was one of the best decisions of my life. IES provided a great living location that made it easy and quick to get around London. All of the IES staff were welcoming from the moment we arrived and were always trying to make our experience abroad more enjoyable. IES provided multiple planned trips to other cities and towns around England that gave us more opportunities to travel and meet other students in our program. I enjoyed every one of my classes I took at our program's center. I was able to explore parts of London through my classes on a daily basis which helped make the classes and learning more enjoyable. My time abroad was one of the best experiences and I am happy to say that I am still connected with the the friends I made in London. I would highly recommend studying abroad because you get to experience new cultures and make unforgettable memories with new people.

Studying through this program was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I would go back tomorrow if I were able. Not only were the professors absolutely amazing, but the way the program itself allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in the city through classes and group outings really gave us a unique perspective of being able to use the city to our advantage. The staff at the IES center were always willing to help you with even the smallest concerns and I can't thank them enough for their support on the journey. If you're able, make sure to take every single tiny trip that IES offers you! They provide some of the most interesting tours and most interesting insight on the UK and I'm forever grateful for the experience.

The program offered at IES Abroad London was one I am very happy I joined. The program itself is very well organized and it is easy to see the effort that the entire staff at IES put into making this a great opportunity. I personally took part in the semester internship program as well, which brought another exciting aspect to my time in London. I seriously enjoyed the work I did at my internship and the staff teaching the courses were great as well. These individuals all had great industry experience, marketing in my case, and were passionate about the content they were teaching. As a city, London has so much to offer as long as students are willing to take full advantage of it. I personally became very involved with multiple local organizations which led me to create lasting relationships with countless Londoners. I highly recommend students consider this program when looking at their potential options.

Deciding to study abroad was one of the hardest decisions to make. I'm so glad I did it though. One of the best things I loved was that the IES Center was in the heart of London and my dorm room was right next to platform 9 3/4! I think that is what made it an even better experience. I was able to walk to big ben and trafalgar square in between classes. I was taking communication courses at the school and thought they were not super difficult which was great because I could focus more on traveling and less on stress! One thing I learned from this trip was that there is so much beauty out there, and I learned so much about myself. I learned how to travel and go unplugged from the internet and still find happiness. I didn't even care about my phone at that point. It was a twenty minute walk from my dorm to class everyday, and I loved it. Most students took the double decker bus, but I walked. I put headphones in and would walk miles everyday. I did this because I knew I wouldn't remember the bus seats, but I would remember all the great things on the streets I would see. Overall, I was very very pleased with IES. I even went on five field trips.... including going inside 10 Downing Street!

I studied in London in the Fall of 2016, where I enrolled in 15 credit hours of courses and worked about 16 hours a week for my internship. The IES program gives you the option to choose from some really interesting classes that you wouldn’t normally take at your home school – I chose to take a film production course while some of my friends chose architecture or theater courses. The internship program is amazing as well because IES will put you directly in contact with businesses and organizations that fit your interests and career goals. My internship experience matched my interests perfectly and helped me to grow my business and cross-cultural communication skills.

If I were to do it all over again, I would still choose London – hands down. In my personal opinion, London is the best city to study abroad in and the IES program provides you with incredible experiences and plenty of opportunities. Students get to live right by Kings Cross station, from where you can get virtually anywhere throughout London – and promise me, you will never run out of things to do in London! Ask the IES advisors or professors if you want some recommendations. Due to the way university is organized in the UK (the bulk of your projects and exams are towards the end of the semester) I felt that I had plenty of free time during the semester explore the entire city of London, and to travel around the UK and to other countries in Europe. If traveling is important to you, keep this in mind! The only downside to this program is that it’s difficult to befriend locals because you are living and taking classes with your fellow American IES students.

London, my choice city, is anything but ordinary. Walking on the popular Holborn street in London where I took most of my classes I heard just about every language except English, an indication of diverse cultures. While I was there I visited many cities on weekends including Cambridge, Brighton, Liverpool, Stonehenge, Stratford Upon Avon and Canterbury, thanks to the IES staff who organized these well planned trips on weekends. The courses that I studied in London, including one at Oxford University, immersed me in the health care world of the United Kingdom (UK). A lot of the courses challenge you to find solutions of the modern day health problems, which are mainly Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). My program also included a service learning section working with Healthwatch Tower Hamlets. This organization acts as a liaison between the National Health Service (NHS) and their clients. I was able to visit hospitals, clinics, day centers and mental clinics in London and to see the approach the U.K. takes in providing healthcare for its citizens.

The study abroad program included a 10 day trip to Jamaica. In Jamaica we were placed at the island’s leading tertiary institution, the University of the West Indies. The program included visits to health clinics in both rural and urban areas in the capital Kingston. This experience gave us first- hand experience in comparing and contrasting the health care services in both UK and Jamaica. Professionally, my study abroad experience has made me more diverse in my field as a Health Management major. Health is global and this experience exposed me to the different health care systems employed by European countries .

IES London is a well executed program. They have though of just about everything to make the students feel comfortable and excited about their study abroad experience. I stayed in a dorm style room with a random roommate, who luckily turned out to be a great friend, and a shared kitchen with the floor. The place was all up to date and a maid came to clean our rooms once a week. We were also located near the biggest tube station in London so getting places was very easy. The classes at IES were interesting and a lot of the times were not held in an actual class room. The instructors would take the class around the city to give us an in person view of the building or the exact spot where a monumental event happened. This brought the information alive and was far more engaging than reading about it in a book. I planned my class schedule to allow me to have a 4 day weekend, leaving a lot of free time to travel to different countries and to also explore the great city of London. The city has so much to offer you and you'll only regret it if you don’t go and see for yourself.

I studied abroad in London with IES Abroad this past spring semester. I come from a small town in West Michigan, USA and I have never lived further than 30 minutes away from where I grew up. Making the decision to go live in one of the biggest and most famous cities in the world was the best decision of my young adult life that I have made thus far. IES London helped me get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself in ways I didn't think possible. I learned so much about organization, time management, stress management, and taking in every opportunity that life has to offer. I also learned things about myself including how I react to certain things, what I value in other people, and what is most important to me. I'm sure I won't ever be able to fully grasp the impact that studying abroad had on me.
My classes only met once a week, but I was always excited to go to them because it was a different and new experience than what I had back home. I had the opportunity to learn from professors who grew up and lived in London and they shared experiences and secrets of the city that I never would have heard of otherwise. I made lifelong friendships in just one semester and I will take the memories I made with me wherever I go for the rest of my life. The staff of IES and the program field trips made the experience even more memorable. We travelled all over the UK to places like Scotland, Bath, Stonehenge, Brighton, and more. I learned just as much inside the classroom as out of it.
Studying abroad truly changed the way I look at the world and has sparked an interest in me to see everything the world has to offer. IES helped me live out dreams that I didn't even know I was dreaming.

It's extremely hard to describe how amazing this program was and how much I learned and grew from being a part of it. The staff at IES were truly incredible--many of them were young and love experiencing the city so they were able to provide advice and suggestions (whether it was where to go for dinner, what museums were the best, or what are of London had the best nightlife). The classes were very interesting and I loved being able to learn about the UK and then have the opportunity to go out and experience what we were learning in the classroom. In all of my classes we took at least one trip out of the classroom and into the city--being a visual learner this was extremely helpful in learning the class materials and it also helped me learn a lot about the history of certain parts of London. Living right near King's Cross was incredible and it was so easy to get around London considering the tube was right down the street! I also was able to make so many amazing friends from this program that I know I will always share my experiences with! I cannot wait to go back to London and wish I could experience it all over again!

London is truly the most amazing city I have ever had the honor to call home for a semester. There was always something new to explore and see. Everyday was filled with new sights: it was exciting not knowing what would happen tomorrow. I owe so much to IES Abroad for facilitating such an incredible experience. From organized field trips to safety to classes, the IES staff was so organized. I felt so at home in London and part of that is because of IES Abroad. Go study abroad!! This will always be my favorite semester and I learned so much that I never could back home. You won't regret going!

London is an amazing city to study abroad in because it exposes you not only to a local culture, but an international culture. As one of the international capitals of the world, London is absolutely massive and is home to an ethnically diverse population. This dynamism is part of the reason I fell in love with the city. You could walk from the Tower of London, an iconic British and ominously medieval emblem of dark ages, across the Thames to the colorful Borough market, which overflows with food stalls from all corners of the world.

IES and the IES staff did a really excellent job of making sure that we didn’t leave London without having explored all rich deposits of culture that the city had to offer. The program often offered free trips to different neighborhoods in London. One of my favorite day trips was to Camden Market, in Camden Town. The streets leading to the market are lined with brightly-colored store fronts housing eclectic vendors. The market itself is home to some of the best food I have ever tasted. Literally I don’t think I could even name every country represented by the all the different culinary options there. At one stand you get can get traditional paella, at another they have Jamaican jerk chicken, or you can go to the curry cart and enjoy some of the best Indian food you will ever eat in your life. The food in London is amazing and I don’t think I will ever again have the chance to try Mesir Wot from Ethiopia and Thai green curry in the same place again (just one of the many reasons I love London). If you love food, trust me, you will love London too.

These outings were led by student assistants, whom are British university students working with IES. I really liked having these trips because it gave you an opportunity to talk with the student assistants in a more relaxed setting and ask about things like nightlife or their favorite restaurants.

My study abroad experience in London was better than I could have imagined going in. The IES Study London program offered a good balance of structure as well as freedom to let the experience be shaped by each student. Through this program I was placed in an awesome internship, took classes from professors who were experts in their fields as well as genuinely great people, and went on some incredible trips organized by IES such as an excursion to Scotland where we got to feed reindeer. The staff in the IES London program are all incredibly nice and welcoming and provided so much support throughout my four months abroad.