The perfect blend of cultural and academic challenges

The IES Paris program and its staff understand what it is like to be an American college student living in Paris. While many of the courses are rigorous, the staff and professors never lose sight of the fact that you are studying abroad. Living in Paris is full of challenges outside of the classroom, whether it's conquering the metro system or simply mastering your french at the dinner table. The academic curriculum, in my opinion, provides the perfect level of difficulty while still giving you the opportunity to deal with these other challenges. You will most definitely find yourself well prepared academically coming in, even if your french is not superb. Living in a homestay was the most rewarding aspect of this program. The families IES has selected are well acclimated to the foreign student experience, and are quite empathetic in helping you adapt to a new lifestyle. Overall, this is an extremely challenging semester abroad but the reward is far greater than you could expect coming in.