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.

I loved AIFS! I knew absolutely no one going into this program and had an amazing experience. I'm so glad I chose to study abroad with them.

Do not go through this program. The internship in Paris cost over $3,000 just for two months in the tiniest studio apartment. You’re not even allowed to have overnight guests for an apartment that you paid for. You’re paying for this entire experience and really don’t make any meaningful connections for work. There were a multitude of complaints regarding interns placements and the lack of professionalism with their boss. I do not believe AIFS truly vets their candidates and this is a cash grab. They expanded their program this year which showed me they are interested in quantity not quality. Multitude of interns had broken appliances that were never replaced or fixed during their stay. You’re not being paid by your host company either. This was a huge waste of time

It was super easy to make friends through the program and go on unique weekend trips. I was blessed to have a great dorm room with air conditioning. My internship placement was amazing, I really don’t think anything could have worked out better than it did!

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 went abroad with AIFS in the fall semester at Université Grenoble Alpes, and I was very attracted by the immersion and language-learning aspect that AIFS and the UGA program provided. I was placed in a wonderful homestay (with pets!), and I knew I could count on either my host or the AIFS resident director if I needed anything at all, from homework help to personal matters like homesickness. AIFS supported me--and my parents--during the entire registration and departure process. There were a lot of nerves going into the semester, but I was put at ease by how welcoming and helpful my host and resident director were, as well as the new friends I made at UGA. The AIFS resident director helped familiarize me with the city, and I got to experience so many aspects of French culture from cuisine to history to art while exploring Grenoble during the semester. My classes taught me a lot about French culture as well, including social and linguistic customs that you I never learned from a textbook. My French skills increased exponentially from the beginning of the semester to the end thanks to the immersive courses in UGA's CUEF program. Being abroad not only showed me how adaptable and confident I could become in my independence, but I also got to make friends from opposite ends of the world that I still stay in touch with today. I would recommend AIFS Abroad to any student looking to be challenged academically, is adventurous, and wants to go out of their comfort zone to explore the world and the culture and friendships it has to offer.

I chose to go abroad with AIFS Abroad because they had a unique program that I wanted to do: Cannes Extended Spring Semester Study Abroad & Internship. While I was abroad in the Spring of 2024, I had great support from staff, in particular my program director, Aude Romens, who made herself available to help myself and other students with whatever we needed help with. She worked hands-on with us to lead program excursions to local cities such as Nice, Monaco, and Grasse, as well as taking us on longer trips to Paris and Florence, Italy. She is the absolute BEST and is considered by me and others to be our French mom. My housing experience was pretty great. I had my own room and had the best view ever, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I had the opportunity to go on excursions with my program director and do other cool experiences in my classes, such as creating a short film for my film class and putting on a play, all in French! I made some of the greatest friends abroad, who I still talk to today. My program consisted of about 25 people, so the group became a very tight-knit group of people, which was great as we did all the activities and excursions together. This experience allowed me to grow my French language skills and also allowed me to participate in an internship during the Cannes Film Festival. I’d recommend AIFS Abroad to students who really want to make the most out of their experience abroad. They provide you with all the resources you need to not only survive but thrive abroad.

Truly I could not tell you what I would have changed about my experience with AIFS. The travel package was so nice, I can book a plane ticket easy peasy, but I was concerned about landing and trying to figure out the tube. They made it so I didn't have to worry about a thing. The accommodations were so nice, and well located. The first day they showed us the route to get from our accommodations to our classroom which I really appreciated. The staff were all so kind, helpful, and accommodating. The experiences they booked for us were so fun and a good balance of catered experiences and free time for you (and friends) to explore London on your own. The professor was amazing! He was incredibly knowledgeable and kind. I truly would not change a thing about my experience and I cannot recommend it enough!