The best experience! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

While in Alicante, Spain I had the best educational experience!! I was able to earn 18 credits at my university in the United States and I was also taking classes with International students who came from all over the world. My primary goal was to improve my Spanish and the classes I took helped me immensely. All of my teachers worked to make classes fun and the classes were overall superb to those of the United States. I learned so much about grammar and what forms to actually use in Spain. The program also offers a Spanish only policy which encourages you to speak only in Spanish, this helped my Spanish improve a ton. Overall, I received the best educational experience!

On-site administration of your program

In Alicante, you are provided with the best support system. Both Pepa and Marissa are always in the office ready to answer all your questions and/or to just chat about what you have going on. Before I went to Spain, I was so worried about feeling alone. However with the company of the Spanish Studies Abroad staff and the new friends I made, I never felt alone.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Spanish Studies Abroad offers host families for the study abroad experience in Spain. This is something I would definitely recommend to everyone. My host family are the kindest people. When in Spain, they would try to teach me Spanish all the time. They would encourage me to come and hangout with them and watch tv. They also cooked the best food ever. Overall, I had the best living arrangements in Spain.

Spanish food is AMAZING. Wherever you go you can get tapas and paella. I was always so happy with the food from my host family and the food from going out. The food is also really easy to adjust to when coming from America, they have a lot of options that are American friendly.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Through Spanish Studies Abroad, I was partnered with local Spaniards to speak and hang out. This really helped me immerse in the local culture. We would always go out to the restaurants the like and meet them on campus. We even were able to travel to their home towns (near Alicante) to go hiking and meet their families. With my host family and my new Spanish friends, I truly felt like an "alicantina."

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Through the program we were given great health insurance which allowed us to see a doctor whenever we needed it. In order to get an appointment we would only send an email to our program directors and they would organize our appointments. The local healthcare was very similar to that of the United States in the case of it was easy to access and the hospitals were very clean. I did not need any vaccines.

I felt very safe in Alicante. Just like in any big city, don't walk alone at night and be aware of what's going on around you. I come from a very small town and Alicante was not that big of a shock to me safety wise.

I loved Spanish Studies Abroad. This program provided excellent support on site and a worthwhile education. I also had the opportunity to make life long friends that I'll never forget.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

During my study abroad, I really took advantage of my host family's cooking so that I wouldn't have to spend a lot of money. The program cost includes 3 meals a day which makes it nice.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

The program had a Spanish only policy which encouraged us to speak the language. Then we were able to vote on who spoke the most Spanish in the program.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students
• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students

• Immersion
• Host Family
• Friends

• N/A