Program Reviews

I had the BEST time spending the spring semester 2022 in Sorrento, Italy. I learned Italian, made wonderful friends, and went on amazing adventures. CIS really helped with getting the study visa and any covid related questions before I left. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this program! The food in Sorrento is incredible and the people are very personable. Take the time to introduce yourself to the locals and they will remember your name. Everyone was placed in accommodations walking distance from the school and the school had an amazing ocean view!

Hi!!! My name is Jasmine Villavicencio and I'm an International Studies and Spanish major at the University of Tampa. I got the amazing opportunity to study abroad spring semester during my sophomore year in college and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever. There I lived with a Costa Rican family who owned a restaurant and I was a five-minute walk away from the Universidad. Each weekend I was always out traveling to a new part of the country and during the school week my roommate and I would check out all the amazing vegan restaurants! One thing I recommend for sure is living with a host family. There, you can really get good advice on where to go and what's safe or not. They also make you feel so at home and welcome and you can really immerse yourself in the language!

Costa Rica was truly the experience of a lifetime for me. I made some of the most amazing friends and got to learn from such incredible professors at Veritas. As someone who is an environmental science major, this country spoke so near and dear to my heart as they are very environmentally oriented overall and really are striving to keep their forests thriving. I had the sweetest host mom, an absolutely amazing site director, great university staff and I made some of the greatest friends on my trip, not to mention the vast number of breathtaking places I got to visit during my summer in Costa Rica. I have such an appreciation for the spanish language, the Costa Rican culture and the world! Pura Vida!

This experience was amazing as a junior psychology major from Massachusetts. I have been to China and Canada but I have never been to Italy and I am so happy and lucky that I was able to go, even though it was during peak pandemic. My program did its absolute best to provide all the could during this really tough time when a lot of places were closed. I was able to travel throughout Italy, go to Capri, museums, cities, countrysides, and it was all equally as beautiful no matter where I went. If you're going to go abroad definitely use CIS!

In the midst of a pandemic, Connect-123 was able to pair me with valuable work experience across the world. I am working for a nanotechnology company in Barcelona, and the experience learning how nanotechnology reactors work and how a start-up technology company functions has been invaluable. I have been a part of a vital process in growing their company, and with the wonderful advisors in Connect-123, I have been able to make the most of it. I have been able to make a productive use of my time as well as learn and grow in a field I’m interested in. Apply now!

This program was amazing! The advisors from CisAbroad and University of Roehampton help you with anything you need! There are many excursions that come with the program, which is also a plus! During my time abroad, I felt very welcomed and made life long friends with not only other study abroad students, but with locals that attended the University. I got to travel to surrounding countries and emerge into the different cultures. Seeking Discomfort was my motto when I embarked on this journey, it was the best thing I ever did. Now I am more outgoing and confident with everything I do! London is a place that will always be special in my heart and I can't wait to return in the near future!

During my four months in Cusco, Peru, I was able to gain experiences and memories I never thought possible. I studied abroad with CISabroad as my program, and the support I received was amazing. Every question I had before leaving for my trip was thoroughly answered, and I felt more than prepared. While in Peru, I loved being able to take courses that were drastically different from those that are traditionally offered here in the U.S., such as Healing and Shamanism. I was able to travel all over the country and experience different ecosystems including the desert in Huacachina, the Amazon rain forest in Puerto Maldonado, the coast in Paracas, the cloud forest at Machu Picchu, and various Incan ruins throughout the country. We also hiked (all the way up to 14,000 feet!), went horseback riding, and volunteered at schools, an animal shelter and an orphanage. I think the best part about studying abroad is learning to love the culture shock and being in new situations you may never have thought you’d be in but are so glad you had the privilege to experience. Overall, studying abroad was one of the best experiences of my life.

I did the CISabroad Semester in Limerick program during the Fall 2019 semester. It was an incredible experience and I loved it so much that I am hoping to go back for graduate school. Some of the positive aspects of going to the University of Limerick through CISabroad was the assistance with pre-departure stuff, advising throughout the semester and after, and having a separate orientation with just CISabroad students. CISabroad made preparing to leave for Ireland so easy. They emailed you many times with detailed instructions and made sure you understood everything that was required before leaving to study abroad. They gave you specific times to book flights, took care of health insurance, paid your deposit, and got on campus housing for you. This was all so helpful and I felt like it made departure a lot less stressful and allowed me to worry less about leaving my home country. They even arranged for a bus to pick us up from Shannon airport and drop us off at our accommodation. I am thankful that we had CISabroad staff available for help throughout the semester as well to help with any questions. It was nice to know I always had a point of contact. The separate orientation was helpful as well, because although it felt like we had learned most of the information at University of Limerick's orientation, it was nice to hear it again in a smaller group setting. Meeting with other CISabroad students also allowed me to quickly find friends and to have more people to contact if I had questions. Where I felt CISabroad fell flat was with the planned excursions. Although the program did provide us with a few free meals and CISabroad dinners, the students in my program were under the impression that CISabroad would plan trips for us. We were told that there were 2 students in Dublin who would come on these trips with us, but that never happened. Granted, our on site advisor got another job, and we can't blame her for accepting a great opportunity, we felt that CISabroad didn't offer a good solution to this. We were provided a new advisor, however, they did not work for CISabroad and were instead a member of the University of Limerick staff. There solution for providing trips for us, was to cover the cost of any trips we went on through the University of Limerick's Student Life. While it was nice that these costs were being covered, it didn't add up to much. Trips typically were around 30 euros and we usually had to pay for our own meals while on these trips. The cost of food wasn't covered so, overall, we didn't feel we got our money's worth. Plus, these trips were open to the entire school, so we didn't feel like CISabroad followed through with planning trips just for us. Aside from the planned excursions, I feel CISabroad did their best in trying to come up with a solution to a problem that arose so quickly. It was an unfortunate situation, and we felt a little cheated out of excursions. That being said, I still was able to travel a lot and saw plenty of places on my own. The planned excursions would've been nice, but sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and adapt. Me and a few CISabroad students ended up planning trips amongst ourselves. It wasn't ideal but it turned out to be very fun. I will always be grateful for my time abroad and I have found a new love for travel. There are so many more countries I want to go to and I don't think I'll want to ever want to stop seeing new places. I didn't get everything I wanted out of CISabroad, but I do think it is a great program. They help a lot with advising, planning, and answering questions. I felt much more comfortable using a third party program than planning on my own. I'm sure excursions have been better in the past and will be better in the future. CISabroad did what they could given the challenges of trying to find a new advisor last minute. Things happen and they tried to offer a solution. I would recommend CISabroad for someone looking to study abroad because of how helpful they were and how easy they made transitioning into life in Ireland. Overall, whatever way you end up studying abroad, you'll have an amazing experience regardless.

My study abroad experience was more than I could have ever hoped for. It really challenged me and taught me to be independent, while allowing me to see so much of Australia and form so many lifelong friendships. CIS Abroad made everything so easy and stress free. The pre-planned excursions gave me something to look forward too and allowed me to truly experience Australia without all the stress of planning every single thing I wanted to do. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the CIS Abroad staff and for the program as a whole for facilitating so many incredible friendships and memories. Newcastle itself was a dream and being only a short train ride from Sydney, I was never bored. Now i'm just trying to figure out how I can get myself back there!

Going abroad in Scotland was the time of my life. I was so nervous to leave the normalcy of my life, but I am glad that I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone and go for it. I was able to have amazing experiences that I could never have dreamed of doing, and was able to travel all over Europe, even on a college student budget. I felt safe and comfortable in Edinburgh, and was able to navigate the city very easily even though I am not used to being in cities. I made amazing friends that will last a lifetime. I hope that everyone takes the opportunity to go abroad as it was the most amazing time of my life!