AIFS AbroadReviews of aifsabroad.com

I did a marketing internship through AIFS a year ago and still have nightmares about the company they matched me with. I was given zero instruction and yelled at about the smallest mistake. ALSO AIFS would not let me back out of it without paying an absurd amount of money. I seriously do not recommend their internship in Italy most of my friends had horror stories as well.

My employers guilt tripped, body shamed, and were overall rude throughout the whole duration. For work done incorrectly (because of poor instructions) we were criticized, but for work done well there was zero acknowledgment

Staff lacked cultural competency, there was little to no information provided about racism and prejudices within the city I stayed in. While I enjoyed my time abroad there was little effort put in to discuss integrating into such a toxic environment as a student of color. Staff in the states took along time to respond to questions and were rude when called and asked. While there were quite a few scholarships offered I would be interested to see how many students actually got them and what the demographics are for those scholarship recipients.

While I appreciate the efforts AIFS made to positive study abroad experience, there were many challenges that were met. 1) Health insurance was insufficient. As a student with a chronic illness who needed urgent help abroad, only $500 was covered for my care. The rest was up to me. 2) The rooming situation could have been better. We were randomly assigned with students who were incompatible with us despite the survey we did online. I feel like more effort should be made into selecting students who fit one another's personalities better. 3) Housing/Boarding should have been closer to campus. I lived a 30 minute walk away from school, and it was during summer when there was no air conditioning in our apartment nor a functional fan. In fact, we had to buy our fans the first day we arrived because it was so unreasonably hot. Nights were sleepless, and the days were fatiguing because of the heat. This does make studying a challenge. 4) Provide students with transportation. No transportation was covered for us at all. During the one month I spent in Italy, all taxi rides were personally covered by me because the bus was unreliable and inefficient when there were different obligations within one day. The costs quickly racked up. This one month was a comprehensive learning experience, and it was very uncomfortable with the lack of accommodations. I just wish more effort was made into making the experience more focused on learning/education as opposed to tending to the living situation.

For the cost of the program, I was very disappointed in a number of things. For the first month, the A/C in my room at the Cannes campus was broken, even though I had paid extra for a private room with A/C. Additionally much of the staff on campus, particularly the cafeteria and administrative staff were rude and unwelcoming. The food was horrible. Many of the amenities promised on the campus, such as a gym, kitchen, basketball court, etc. were either in very poor quality or not offered at all which was misleading. The AIFS employees were great as were the professors. The side excursions were nice too. However again, considering other people on the Cannes campus paid a much lower fee (as they were traveling individually without AIFS), I felt like AIFS was overcharging. In fact, the program essentially cost a several thousand dollars more just for a few side excursions. I felt ripped off in a way. I wouldn’t have minded paying more if the quality of the campus, food, etc was better than it was.

Teachers and program coordinator were amazing and very helpful. However, most of the staff when I arrived were rude, as were the high school students from other countries in the same school. There should be more communication with students about the program. Should have known that this trip was not exclusively for college students since I applied through my college. I was also very disappointed with the quality and lack of selection of the food. It would have also been nice to mention that dinner would not be included, especially since none of the rooms have any sort of fride or microwave. Also was very upset at the fact that the school had cold fresh water that we were not allowed to get unless the caferteria was open, and their hours were very strange.

I was under the impression my experience would be immersive when it was not. This was a major disappointment. I also had a really annoying time trying to get all the paperwork to the liking of Justin Lee even though his instructions were as vague as possible. I needed disability accommodations that I didn’t get until halfway through my program because Justin Lee didn’t notify anyone. Once in the country, the trips we went on were pretty fun and the overall experience was pretty good. I would not choose this program again though.