Spend the Fall at NYU Florence

I really enjoyed studying away in Florence. I completed a minor in European Culture and Society, took part in NYU Florence's EU in Focus program that traveled to Brussels, and engaged in local community by volunteering in a local museum. I've been learning Italian for a while and the semester really improved my Italian. I enjoyed my classes over there; the topics were interesting and the professors were very helpful and approachable.
The program is of great value. Every student can attend up to three all expense paid day trips to Italian cities outside Florence, not to mention the events with free food and class field trips. You get easy access to all the amazing cities in Europe for spring / fall breaks or simply long weekends.

Florence was the best place to study abroad! Italy is such a beautiful country, one of the best in Europe, and I would do anything to go back. Everyone there is so nice, the food is amazing, and NYU does a great job of helping students adjust and have a great semester. A lot of people there speak English, which was something I was worried about, but there's no reason to have any doubts coming to Florence. Plus, the weather is mostly warm all year!

I had the most incredible semester abroad at NYU Florence and would jump at the chance to go back. The campus is beautiful, the classes are manageable, the staff is extremely friendly, and the living quarters are comfortable and conducive to forming a community. And Florence itself is an incredible city with art, culture, amazing food, and such easy access to endless travel options! Highly recommend!!

Cobblestone streets and pizza on every corner, it’s essentially a semester long vacation with some take home work. Best experience I’ve had so far. Try something new it’s really worth the time and the money. You won’t regrret this and grow as a person and a student as well. Great time all in all I would recommended this to everyone throughout my life one of the best opprutnties available to you right now so just take it and run with it you’ll be alright haha

Study abroad in Florence, why not? It doesn't hurt and you can only gain. Well technically it hurt for me because I got hit by a mo-ped while walking to school one day, so definitely BE CAREFUL. But aside from that, there are lots of museums to go to. Class trips are a thing, so if you don't want to spend money on all the important landmarks in Florence, just check your syllabus. The view is nice, mountains plentiful, sunsets beautiful, as you might expect in a Tuscan landscape. Of course everything in Europe is in relative close proximity to each other, but I suggest taking some weekends off, as in stay, enjoy the street music, the restaurants, discover secret local hang outs, or just climb up one of their many hills and enjoy the view. One thing to note is that everyone's study abroad experience is different, and you don't really know what your experience is going to be like until you leave.

I loved studying abroad at NYU Florence. The campus was incredibly beautiful and was much more of a community than NYU New York. The staff is incredibly supportive and involved. There were events almost every night such as La Pietra Dialogues Educational talks and Cupcakes and Color. NYU Florence also brought us on trips around Italy! My favorite was to Cinque Terre, where we went hiking with our resident assistance, Eduardo. My professors were very involved, knowing every student on a first and last name basis. They were extremely concerned with using Florence as a platform for learning. I took Cultural Foundations III and Social Foundations III while abroad. I got to study text about the culture and history of Italy while being able to directly visit and seeing the pieces and places. I had Elementary Intensive Italian three days a week with Monica Merli, who was incredibly understanding and kind; she did an amazing job of teaching us a brand new language. I volunteered at Casa San Felice, taking care of babies for women who were domestic violence victims. I struggled with communicating in Italian, but there was a lot of support from both the NYU Florence community and native Italians. I lived in an apartment near the Duomo on Via Ricasoli. It was a beautiful apartment and I would always hear music and crowds of excited tourist from the street. Living in Italy was a big change for me; I'd never left New York before and it was my first time on a plane. At first it was incredibly scary, but you start to make a home of the city. Italy is a beautiful place and very easy to fall in love with. The culture is different- but that doesn't mean that it isn't worth learning or experiencing. My favorite memory was in the south of Italy, in a small town near the Amalfi Coast called Vietri Sul Mare. There were no tourist, just me and two girl friends. We spent all day on the black sand beach with natives. I spent hours watching a father and his baby daughter chasing after their puppy near the shore. It was my favorite moment because the sun was setting and disappearing behind the mountains, the lights in the houses flickered on, and it felt like pure peace. In Italy, I experienced the kindest of individuals. It really is a beautiful, loving culture, and I've learned a lot from it.

A big tip is to remember that you are in someone else's country, someone else's home. They do not owe you anything- you are there to learn and respect them. Remember to keep your valuables to yourself because there are a lot of pick pocketors. Use GoEuro for transportation and Italo and Transitalia have special train deals on the weekends!

Had a great time! NYU Florence is different from main campus has its own campus in the area; it's a little far from the city center but the location is beautiful. They also have a wide selection of cultural programming. The academic program itself was adequately challenging but not too demanding; lectures are mandatory, unlike most courses at main campus. I was able to travel almost every weekend while I was there. Overall, I enjoyed my experience.

Ah Firenze, Florence, the rebirth of the Renaissance. However you refer to it, Florence is a city that surprised me. It wasn't just the amazing art and architecture, but what laid underneath all the grand spectacles.

In the Oltrarno, or the area beyond the Arno river, I explored the artisan shops, shooting for my photojournalism class. Walking nervously up to the door of a woodmaker shop, I knocked on the open door, let myself in and said "Fare una foto, per favore?" or short hand for "Can I take a picture, please?" From there, the older man and his son, both wood artisans, tried to explain what they do in broken English while I tried to explain, along with two of my classmates, what we needed for class. This cultural exchange and mutual bond of trying to communicate really connected me to the city. I saw that if I gave to the city, I received just as much back. Speaking Italian was not my strong point, but the act of trying was successful.

Florence is a city where if you attempt to add to it in some way, it will reward you with these human interactions that compete with the spectacular sights. The David, the Duomo, and all the other churches, and museums were breathtaking, but my conversation with these artisans leaves a steady warmth that continues to make me smile today.