AIFS AbroadReviews of aifsabroad.com

I had a mixed experience with AIFS. The program advisors and on-the-ground staff were phenomenal - they were kind, helpful, and responsive. They organized fun trips for us on weekends and gave their recommendations on fun activities in the city. Our housing was also quite good. I shared an apartment with 6 other people. We each had our own bedroom and bathroom and shared a spacious kitchen and living room. The location of our housing left something to be desired as it wasn't a very nice part of the city, but it was quite central, which made commuting very easy. My main issue with my experience came from my internship. Although AIFS is not directly to blame for my internship troubles, they did place me into it and they are responsible for my enjoyment of the experience. My internship was quite frustrating - I hardly did anything all summer, my supervisor did not communicate with me, and half the time I was told not to go into the office since no one would be there. I went into this program hoping for job experience. I do not feel I gained much of that at all. If you are looking for a fun two month trip to Dublin where you tool around the city and get to goof off most of the time, this program is for you. If you are looking for genuine work experience, I would look elsewhere. Overall, I did have a lot of fun with this program. I loved the city and I loved having the freedom to explore. That said, I was incredibly frustrated with my internship. I would recommend this program to others, but I would make sure people go in with realistic expectations - you will have a blast exploring a new city and country, but you won't do a whole lot of work.

My internship placement was great, but my communication with the company when being placed was quite choppy and I wasn't told of my first interview until the day before, and I was traveling at that time.

I liked when we did excursions, but I disliked when they were frequently canceled with little notice. I disliked that I was not able to participate in the cooking class (I wasn't allowed to go first session even though I was not available to go second session).

I think it would have been more helpful to have more information on what the day to day would actually look like, my program really wasn't what I expected but I ended up making the best of it and having a good time.

apartment with no storage space and a mini fridge for 5 girls. cleaning lady didn’t clean. i could’ve found a place for myself by myself and it would’ve been cheaper. too much bureaucracy. classrooms had so much echo. no schedule communication until the week of.

One of the struggles that I had entering this program is that I was under the impression for a long time that it was going to involve enrollment in a real Spanish University. Only upon attending the orientation pre-departure did I realize that it takes our college professors and bring them to teach us abroad. This was a bit of a disappointment that I did not feel was clarified from the start. The issue with this set up of studying abroad is it forced me to stay mostly confined within my American bubble of companions, where we all had the same workload, group projects, excursions making it hard to learn how or when to incorporate ourselves into the culture. Sure, I made some Spanish friends and talked to strangers, but those moments were short-lived because at the end of the day I had to resort back to my peers who I was spending most of the day around in class and on trips, naturally. I feel the program could have provided better opportunities to get to know locals our age on a meaningful level, and they could benefit from us as well. Specifically, if we collaborated with them on something educational or social or intellectual. It would be nice to know that I have real, solid connection with someone from a different country after this semester abroad, but I can’t say that I do. On the other hand, I had good experiences with the pre-paid excursions and the trips included on the program. They were extensive and provided us with great guides and authentic experiences.

Awesome Staff in the Barcelona Program. Overall enjoyed the city and internship placement :)

Overall I had a great experience with the study abroad I enjoyed all the trips and experiences that were given to me along with the housing was impeccable and I couldn’t of asked for a better temporary home as well as I felt safe and that I was getting my moneys worth through the entire program