For the third year in a row, USAC was selected by GoAbroad.com as a Top-Rated Study Abroad Organization, and for the second year in a row, by GoOverseas as a Top Study Abroad Provider. This recognition means a lot to us because it’s heavily based on student reviews of USAC programs. In 2019, we received more than 300 reviews of USAC programs across these two sites.
Here’s what each of these rewards means:
GoAbroad.com is a leading site in providing information on international education. Students can research study abroad, volunteer, and internship opportunities from over 700 providers. The GoAbroad Top Rated Organization awards are based on number of reviews on a program and review ratings.
USAC has been ranked as a Top Study Abroad Organization with GoAbroad in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
GoOverseas is a community review site that allows students to explore and discover international study abroad, volunteer, and internship programs. GoOverseas list more than 16,000 programs. The GoOverseas Community Choice Awards looks at programs who excel at offering students an unforgettable study abroad experience.
USAC has been ranked as a Top Study Abroad Provider by GoOverseas in 2018 and 2019. This year, USAC was recognized as a a top provider in the FUN category!
While there are hundreds of study abroad organizations to choose from, these awards emphasize USAC’s mission to provide authentic, culturally rich, and life-changing experiences at an affordable cost to students across the United States.
Here are what some of the students who studied abroad with USAC in 2019 had to say about their experience studying abroad.
Nora Kabbani – USAC Valencia, Spain
“Spending 4 months in Valencia last year was absolutely INCREDIBLE! I learned so much about the culture in Spain and about myself in general. I was given amazing opportunities from the moment I stepped foot in the city. The program directors were always there when I needed them and I really could count on them for anything even from the very start of the program.
As an Industrial Engineering student with a Spanish Minor, I really struggled to find a program that would supplement my major courses and minor courses all at the same time. I was so lucky to find this program as it gave me major credit, technical elective credit, general education credit AND minor credit. I also really benefited from every professor I had who came from vastly different backgrounds. I took Operations Management with a man from France who also spoke Spanish and English fluently, International Business with a very nice gentleman from Venezuela, Dances of Spain with a professional dance instructor, and Spanish Composition and Spanish Culture and Civilization with native Spaniards. I couldn’t image being in any other university. La Universitat Politècnia de València (UPV) was the perfect immersion of American and Spanish education. I had half my classes taught in English and half in Spanish. I met students from all over the U.S who were in the same study abroad program, as well as many locals. I took advantage of the robotics program at the UPV and assisted students my age from UPV in a 10 week robotics course for 9-12 year olds in the community. By the end of the program they kids had built fully functioning mini cars!!
I also worked as an English language tutor for a family close to campus once a week. Even though we only met for an hour at a time, I really really valued the experience and improved my Spanish while helping them improve their English. Additionally, all the “intercambio” language exchanges were super helpful and allowed me to meet people out of the program who I am still in contact with today. I really cherish this experience and wouldn’t have it any other way! Gracias por la oportunidad!”
Carl Resnick – USAC Santiago, Chile
“For those looking to travel and improve their Spanish, this is a fantastic program. USAC Santiago partners with a host university, so it’s easy to meet Chilean students. They often wanted to practice their English, so we’d sit and talk for hours, switching between the languages. I made friends and got added to Whatsapp group chats for soccer, hiking, and salsa, where I met even more people!
I can’t say enough about the program directors, who are fluent in both languages and really funny. They led our Friday trips to Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, and more, then let us go to explore in our own way. The last great thing was the people. USAC attracts students from the entire U.S., and I met a wide range of friends who wanted something more unique than the typical “study in Spain” route for Spanish majors/minors.”
Saul Turcios – USAC Khon Kaen, Thailand
“In my few months living in Thailand it has been a great expense for me, there is so much that I have learned while living in Khon Kaen. One of my biggest change for me was the foods, mostly all the foods in Thailand is spicy but in my class of Thai language my teacher teach me how to say no spicy in Thai for me that was a big help! Also the next things is that I have meet new friends a long the away while studying in living in Khon Kaen! Now I keep in touch with them, even though I live across the other side of the world. On my last day there it was hard for my to say good bye to my new friends that I meet in the university, but I know that our paths will cross again one day! Over all this program has really opened my eyes and my mind to see how it really is in the world! I don’t regret my decision that I made in going over there! For me I have grown as a person being away from my life for the first time and I have learned so much more of what I want to do in the future. Lastly I would recommend to any one that travel abroad is a great choose that they can do in there life, at first it can be hard but once you learn and experience a lot in a new country you’ll want to travel again and again.”
Kaitlyn – USAC Seoul, South Korea
“I was able to end my last semester of college in the most spectacular way, thanks to my USAC study abroad program in Seoul, South Korea. I attended Yonsei University, one of South Korea’s most prestigious colleges. Before even landing a foot in Seoul, I was able to bond with fellow students as USAC opened opportunities to connect with our study abroad peers. While in Korea, I had constant and speedy communication with my USAC advisors, who helped to sort any travel or academic issues. Through USAC, I was able to learn about so many fascinating aspects of Korean culture ranging from food and cinema to philosophy and history. Seoul would have many fun places to go, including tourist attractions, parks, cafes, restaurants, nightlife, historical sites, etc. On the flip side, Korea is a very mountainous country and there are a lot of places to go hiking and enjoy nature in Seoul and around the country! My study abroad in Korea was filled with delicious meals, karaoke, and new adventures every single day. It was truly, the Seoul search of a lifetime.”
“As a Political Science and International Affairs double major, I knew that I wanted to study abroad in a place that has a rich culture, has the ability to enhance my current understanding of politics and society, and could give me a hands-on learning experience. On top of that, as a requirement for my International Affairs major, I had to learn a language for my planned country of study. Italy’s preserved history, roots in the foundations of government and politics, and intricate cultural facets made it the obvious choice for me.
Six semesters of Italian language, countless hours planning my academic schedule ahead, and many visits to the Global Education Center shifted my focus away from the traditional Rome or Florence experience to a program that could give me the language practice and intimate cultural experience that I wanted. The affordability, proximity to Rome, and program size ultimately made me choose Viterbo, Italy. As a first-generation student with little travel experience, I was intimidated of the study abroad process. However, after visiting an info session, being in contact with the GEC advisors through appointments and emails, and going through the step-by-step UNH Approved Program checklist, I can say that the process was so much easier than I had anticipated. Additionally, the accessibility to education abroad scholarships through UNH and USAC made that semester the most inexpensive one during my time in college.
I loved my time abroad because Viterbo gave me the most authentic Italian experience that I could have asked for. Viterbo is a medieval city, lined with cobblestone, with history in every single nook and cranny. One of the classes I took for a Humanities Discovery, Medieval Italian History, entailed walking around the city and taking field trips to nearby places and then having a discussion about the stories behind what we observed. The contemporary Italian lifestyle combined with an ancient landscape was so unique to itself. Additionally, the central location of Viterbo allowed me to travel to cities and towns throughout three different regions in Italy, as well as six other countries outside of Italy. Before this semester, I had never been to Europe and had only been on a plane a handful of times. After this semester, I have become more confident, independent, and am now finding ways to incorporate more travel into my personal life and career path.”
To read more student reviews of USAC programs, head to GoAbroad.com or GoOverseas.com
You might also like
