Exceptional staff and overall great experience

Studying in Barcelona was a fantastic experience made all the more better by the community of friends and IES staff that surrounded me. IES provided me the opportunity to see (and build) my first castelle, visit ancient Roman ruins, explore antique cathedrals, volunteer in a children's hospital, and run my very first 15k...in SPAIN! I enjoyed cultural excursions to ancient cities and took in the sights and wonders of local Barcelona city life.

Housing - Let me start by saying I can only speak to my own situation as each student in each program/city/living style has a different one. I will admit that I had a rough homestay experience due to lack of cleanliness in the apartment, but the staff at IES were very willing to help me in whatever way I needed. They respectfully listened to each of my complaints and began immediately to fix the situation. One week I became severely sick, and one of the IES staff made the 30 minute commute over to my homestay on a Saturday to check in on me. This kind of dedication to students is unmatched and I cannot speak highly enough of the amazing character of the IES staff.

Academically, IES prides itself in being rigorous. This rigor comes from a set of requirements that each course has to adhere to, but does not always do so in the most efficient way. For example, having to write 7-12 page essays in most of your classes is not ideal when you wait last minute and have to study for finals. This was a problem many of my study abroad peers fell into.
Most of the professors I had clearly laid out the guidelines for the course they taught. If they didn't, then that professor turned out to not be very organized and the course ended up being exceptionally easy (this happened with one course I took).

Socially, the amount of cultural excursions and day trips in fantastic! Many of my study abroad peers did not take advantage of these opportunities and severely missed out. I would highly recommend signing up for as many as you are interested in (and can afford). Most are well-organized and best to sign up for via IES. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes it could be just as easy (and fun) to get a group of friends and visit a place on your own time and dime.

In all, IES Barcelona is a very well-established program with exceptional staff. There may be a few organizational hiccups within the program (such as outdated course syllabi and excursion info), but these pale in comparison to the wonderful experience you are going to have by taking the effort to make your study abroad experience your own.