I studied abroad Spring semester of 2016 and it was a huge waste of my time and money. ASA placed me in a home where hot water was not readily available, the toilet could only be flushed 1 time a day (and 4 people shared this bathroom), the host offered her extra room to male truck drivers who we girls had to share the restroom/shower with, there was no central air or heat throughout the apartment and there was no access to a washer or dryer. I tried addressing my problems with the site coordinator and ASA director and they blamed my circumstance on possible "cultural shock." This was not the case as I had friends that loved their hosts and did not have ANY of the problems I was experiencing. I felt as if I was studying abroad in a third world country - not Spain! I ended up spending double of what I expected because the food that hosts provided was minimal and lacked substance, so I spent the majority of my funds on eating out in restaurants (and tapas are cheap so that should tell you something). I also did not feel immersed in the culture which was the main reason I chose to study abroad. SO I WARN YOU - DO NOT STUDY WITH THIS PROGRAM.
Academic Studies Abroad
ASA is a wonderful program. Living in London had always been a dream of mine and I got to live in central London, which was amazing. One of my favorite parts was how close I was to some of the best shopping in the world. I was only two tube stops away from Oxford Street which is filled with hundreds of stores and a great place to shop. I definitely recommend ASA to anyone wanting to study abroad! They are very helpful and take the time to help you out.
I had such an amazing, life changing experience during my semester abroad with ASA in Buenos Aires. The site director, Gabriela was so helpful and supportive throughout the entire program. While abroad one of my peers had lost her passport and Gabriela was kind enough to take her to the US Embassy in Buenos Aires and help her retrieve a new one. Gabriela was also very crucial when it came time for all of us to apply for our student visas. Some programs studying at the University of Belgrano did not provide key information to students on how to properly attain a visa. I was so grateful to our site director for helping us every step of the way. Even on our excursions she was more than helpful. What made ASA such a great experience was knowing that my site director truly cared about us. She took the time to get to know all of us on an individual level and treated us not as a "job", but rather as a family.
ASA was an awesome experience and I had an amazing time in Sevilla with the program. Even 3 years later when I needed help locating my transcripts, ASA was still more than helpful and got me just what I needed. A smaller more personalized program is what you will get with ASA and I highly encourage considering it!
ASA was an excellent program to study abroad with. The staff is extremely friendly, accessible, and helpful, and having somebody to go to during my first weekend in London for on-site orientation was very helpful. The program makes all of the paperwork associated with study abroad much more straightforward, and the package deal approach meant that I had much less organizing to do. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about my semester abroad in London at Regents College thanks to the support of Academic Studies Abroad. I also got to do a lot of outside traveling on my own time. The only setback was the school itself. I highly recommend London for a semester abroad because there is such a diverse culture and so many things to see, but the academics at Regents College are not up to American standards, even if they are labeled "Regents American College London." While the campus, facilities, faculty and staff at Regents are nice, their curriculum is nowhere near challenging enough, and some of the tutors were extremely poor teachers. The school lacks unity, and in spite of its incredible diversity, I was unable to make many international friends-I had very few classes with students from anywhere but America. What's more, I found many of the international students to be unapproachable. If I was considering a semester abroad in London, I would definitely go with ASA, but perhaps consider their London Southbank University Program instead, although I don't know much about that school.
